Housing is Infrastructure Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2951 To facilitate the development of affordable housing, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES NOVEMBER 21, 2019 Mr. SCHUMER (for Ms. HARRIS (for herself, Mr. DURBIN, and Ms. DUCK- WORTH)) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To facilitate the development of affordable housing, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Housing is Infrastruc- 4 ture Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) Affordable housing is a critical part of the 8 national infrastructure of the United States, but 9 there is a severe shortage of affordable housing in 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2951.IS S2951 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2951 IS the United States and the existing stock is badly in 1 need of repair. 2 (2) According to a 2010 study sponsored by the 3 Department of Housing and Urban Development, 4 there was a $26,000,000,000 backlog of capital 5 needs for public housing. That figure is likely higher 6 today, with some groups estimating the backlog of 7 capital needs for public housing to be as high as 8 $70,000,000,000. 9 (3) According to the Department of Agri- 10 culture, there are 14,000 dwelling units receiving 11 rental assistance under section 514 or 515 of Hous- 12 ing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1484, 1485) that have 13 an estimated unmet reserve need of $5,600,000,000. 14 (4) Federal investment in housing helps to cre- 15 ate jobs and stimulate the economy. 16 (5) When the American Recovery and Reinvest- 17 ment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–5) was enacted, 18 which included funding for public housing, research- 19 ers found that for each $1.00 in direct spending on 20 public housing, there was an additional $2.12 of in- 21 direct and induced economic activity nationwide for 22 a total economic impact of $3.12 for each $1.00 in 23 direct spending on public housing. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2951.IS S2951 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2951 IS (6) According to the National Association of 1 Home Builders, building 100 affordable rental 2 homes generates $11,700,000 million in local in- 3 come, $2,200,000 in taxes and revenue for local gov- 4 ernments, and 161 local jobs. 5 (7) Researchers estimate that the growth in the 6 gross domestic product from 1964 to 2009 would 7 have been 13.5 percent higher if families had better 8 access to affordable housing, which in turn could 9 have led to an additional $1,700,000,000 increase in 10 income, equivalent to $8,775 in additional wages for 11 each worker. 12 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 13 In this Act— 14 (1) the terms ‘‘adjusted income’’, ‘‘low-income 15 family’’, ‘‘public housing’’, and ‘‘public housing 16 agency’’ have the meanings given those terms in sec- 17 tion 3(b) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 18 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)); 19 (2) the term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the Ad- 20 ministrator of the Federal Emergency Management 21 Agency; 22 (3) the terms ‘‘area having special flood haz- 23 ards’’, ‘‘substantial damage’’, and ‘‘substantial im- 24 provement’’ have the same meanings as when used 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2951.IS S2951 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2951 IS in the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973 (42 1 U.S.C. 4002 et seq.) and the National Flood Insur- 2 ance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4001 et seq.); 3 (4) the term ‘‘at risk of homelessness’’ has the 4 meaning given the term in section 401 of the 5 McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 6 U.S.C. 11360); 7 (5) the term ‘‘homeless’’ has the meaning given 8 the term in section 103 of the McKinney-Vento 9 Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11302); 10 (6) the term ‘‘minority’’— 11 (A) has the meaning given the term in sec- 12 tion 308(b) of the Financial Institutions Re- 13 form, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 14 (12 U.S.C. 1463 note); and 15 (B) includes any indigenous person in the 16 United States, including in any territory of the 17 United States; 18 (7) the term ‘‘minority and women’s business 19 enterprise’’ means a business that is not less than 20 51 percent owned and controlled by members of a 21 minority group or women; 22 (8) the term ‘‘qualified affordable housing’’ 23 means a housing development that— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2951.IS S2951 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2951 IS (A)(i) is funded in any part by assistance 1 provided by the Department of Housing and 2 Urban Development or the Rural Housing Serv- 3 ice of the Department of Agriculture; or 4 (ii) includes a qualified low income build- 5 ing, as defined in section 42 of the Internal 6 Revenue Code of 1986; or 7 (B) consists of not less than 5 dwelling 8 units of which not less than 20 percent are 9 made available— 10 (i) for rental only by a low-income 11 family; 12 (ii) at a monthly rent amount that 13 does not exceed 30 percent of the monthly 14 adjusted income of the tenant low-income 15 family; and 16 (iii) maintains affordability for resi- 17 dents who are low-income families for a pe- 18 riod of not less than 30 years; 19 (9) the term ‘‘relevant agency head’’ means, 20 with respect to funds made available pursuant to 21 any section of this Act, the head of the Federal 22 agency responsible for administering the program 23 under which those funds are to be expended; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2951.IS S2951 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2951 IS (10) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 1 of Housing and Urban Development. 2 SEC. 4. PUBLIC HOUSING CAPITAL FUND. 3 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 5 appropriated for the Capital Fund under section 6 9(d) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 7 U.S.C. 1437g(d)) $70,000,000,000. 8 (2) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Any amounts 9 appropriated pursuant to this subsection shall re- 10 main available until the date that is 5 years after 11 the date of the appropriation. 12 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary shall— 13 (1) distribute not less than 35 percent and not 14 more than 75 percent of any amounts appropriated 15 pursuant to subsection (a) under the same formula 16 used for amounts made available for the Capital 17 Fund for fiscal year 2019, except that the Secretary 18 may determine not to allocate funding to public 19 housing agencies that are designated as troubled at 20 the time of such determination or to public housing 21 agencies that elect not to accept such funding, or 22 both; and 23 (2) make available all remaining amounts by 24 competition for priority investments, including in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2951.IS S2951 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2951 IS vestments that address lead hazards, other urgent 1 health and safety concerns, and such other priorities 2 as the Secretary may identify. 3 (c) TIMING.—The Secretary shall obligate amounts— 4 (1) made available under subsection (b)(1) 5 within 30 days of enactment of the Act appro- 6 priating such funds; and 7 (2) made available under subsection (b)(2) 8 within 12 months of enactment of the Act appro- 9 priating such funds. 10 (d) LIMITATION.—Amounts provided pursuant to 11 this section may not be used for operating costs or rental 12 assistance. 13 (e) USE OF FUNDS.—Not more than 0.5 percent of 14 any amount appropriated pursuant to this section shall be 15 used by the Secretary for costs associated with staff, train- 16 ing, technical assistance, technology, monitoring, travel, 17 enforcement, research, and evaluation. 18 (f) MONITORING.—With respect to any public hous- 19 ing agency that is designated as troubled at the time that 20 amounts appropriated pursuant to this section are obli- 21 gated for the public housing agency, the Secretary shall 22 provide additional monitoring and oversight of the public 23 housing agency to ensure that any amounts provided are 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2951.IS S2951 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2951 IS used in accordance with this section and any applicable 1 laws. 2 (g) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—The Secretary 3 shall ensure that amounts provided pursuant to this sec- 4 tion shall serve to supplement and not supplant other 5 amounts generated by a recipient of those amounts or 6 amounts provided by other Federal, State, or local 7 sources. 8 (h) WATER AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY.—In distrib- 9 uting any amounts pursuant to subsection (b), the Sec- 10 retary shall give priority to public housing agencies located 11 in States and localities that have a plan to increase water 12 and energy efficiency when developing or rehabilitating 13 public housing using distributed amounts. 14 SEC. 5. RURAL MULTIFAMILY PRESERVATION AND REVI- 15 TALIZATION DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM. 16 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro- 17 priated for carrying out the Multifamily Preservation and 18 Revitalization Demonstration program of the Rural Hous- 19 ing Service authorized under sections 514, 515, and 516 20 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1484, 1485, 1486) 21 $1,000,000,000, to remain available until expended. 22 (b) WATER AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY.—Not less 23 than 10 percent of all amounts made available pursuant 24 to this section shall be used only for activities relating to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2951.IS S2951 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2951 IS water and energy efficiency and, at the discretion of the 1 Secretary of Agriculture, other strategies to reduce emis- 2 sions. 3 SEC. 6. FLOOD MITIGATION ASSISTANCE GRANT PROGRAM. 4 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro- 5 priated for carrying out the Flood Mitigation Assistance 6 Grant Program under section 1366 of the National Flood 7 Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 4104c) $1,000,000,000, 8 to remain available until expended. 9 (b) FLOOD RISK MITIGATION.—Except as provided 10 in subsection (c), the Administrator shall require that any 11 structure that is located in an area having special flood 12 hazards shall be elevated with the lowest floor, including 13 the basement, not less than 2 feet above the base flood 14 level if the structure, with amounts appropriated pursuant 15 to this section— 16 (1) is newly constructed; 17 (2) receives repairs to substantial damage, or 18 (3) receives substantial improvement. 19 (c) MULTIFAMILY RESIDENCES AND ATTACHED AND 20 SEMI-ATTACHED HOMES.—With regard to any structure 21 that is a multifamily residence or an attached or semi- 22 attached residence, the Administrator shall— 23 (1) consult with the Secretary and establish al- 24 ternative forms of mitigation; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2951.IS S2951 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 2951 IS (2) exempt any multifamily residence or any at- 1 tached or semi-attached residence that meets the re- 2 quirements of any such alternative forms of mitiga- 3 tion from the requirements under subsection (b). 4 (d) WATER AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY.—Not less 5 than 10 percent of all amounts made available pursuant 6 to this section shall be used only for activities relating to 7 water and energy efficiency and, at the discretion of the 8 Administrator, other strategies to reduce emissions. 9 SEC. 7. HOUSING TRUST FUND. 10 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro- 11 priated for the Housing Trust Fund under section 1338 12 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1992 (12 13 U.S.C. 4568) $5,000,000,000, to remain available until 14 expended. 15 (b) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall ensure that pri- 16 ority for occupancy in dwelling units assisted with 17 amounts made available pursuant to this section that be- 18 come available for occupancy shall be given to persons and 19 households who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. 20 (c) WATER AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY.—Not less 21 than 10 percent of all amounts made available pursuant 22 to this section shall be used only for activities relating to 23 water and energy efficiency and, at the discretion of the 24 Secretary, other strategies to reduce emissions. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2951.IS S2951 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 2951 IS SEC. 8. SINGLE-FAMILY HOUSING REPAIR LOANS AND 1 GRANTS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro- 3 priated for carrying out single family housing repair loans 4 and grants under section 504 of the Housing Act of 1949 5 (42 U.S.C. 1474) $100,000,000, to remain available until 6 expended. 7 (b) WATER AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY.—Not less 8 than 10 percent of all amounts made available pursuant 9 to this section shall be used only for activities relating to 10 water and energy efficiency and, at the discretion of the 11 Secretary of Agriculture, other strategies to reduce emis- 12 sions. 13 SEC. 9. NATIVE AMERICAN HOUSING BLOCK GRANT PRO- 14 GRAM. 15 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro- 16 priated for carrying out the Native American housing 17 block grant program under title I of the Native American 18 Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 19 (25 U.S.C. 4111 et seq.) $1,000,000,000, to remain avail- 20 able until expended. 21 (b) WATER AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY.—Not less 22 than 10 percent of all amounts made available pursuant 23 to this section shall be used only for activities relating to 24 water and energy efficiency and, at the discretion of the 25 Secretary, other strategies to reduce emissions. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:42 Dec 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2951.IS S2951 jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 2951 IS SEC. 10. HOME INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAM. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro- 2 priated for carrying out the HOME Investment Partner- 3 ship Program under title II of the Cranston-Gonzalez Na- 4 tional Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12721 et seq.) 5 $5,000,000,000, to remain available until expended. 6 (b) WATER AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]