Homelessness Emergency Declaration Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 5609 To authorize the President to declare a homelessness emergency, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 15, 2020 Mr. HARDER of California introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Budget, and in addition to the Committees on Financial Services, and Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider- ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To authorize the President to declare a homelessness emergency, 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 ‘‘Homelessness Emer- 4 gency Declaration Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jan 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5609.IH H5609 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 5609 IH (1) Homelessness in the Central Valley and 1 across the country is a threat to public health and 2 safety. 3 (2) One-third of people in the United States ex- 4 periencing homelessness are families with children. 5 (3) 1.2 million children under age 6 experience 6 homelessness. 7 (4) Sixty-nine percent of California’s homeless 8 population is unsheltered. 9 (5) There are 12,396 homeless children and 10 11,000 homeless veterans in California. 11 (6) One in 5 California Community College stu- 12 dents is homeless. 13 (7) The rate of increase in homelessness is 14 cause for national concern and action. 15 (8) Incidences of homelessness grew 14 percent 16 in California between 2014 and 2018. 17 (9) On a given day, 40,000 U.S. military vet- 18 erans experience some form of homelessness. 19 (10) The experience of homelessness is dam- 20 aging to a child’s mental health and development, as 21 evidenced by the fact that 40 percent of homeless 22 children experience mental health challenges. 23 (11) Homelessness is a deadly condition, de- 24 creasing life expectancy by up to 36 years. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jan 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5609.IH H5609 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 5609 IH SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE FOR HOMELESSNESS EMERGENCY 1 DECLARATION. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Upon the request of a Governor, 3 or other appropriate agency, of a State under subsection 4 (b), the President may declare a homelessness emergency. 5 (b) REQUEST FROM GOVERNOR.—The Governor, or 6 other appropriate agency, of a State that is or will be af- 7 fected by a significant number of or increase in the num- 8 ber of homeless individuals may request a declaration 9 under subsection (a). 10 (c) ASSISTANCE.—If the President declares a home- 11 lessness emergency under subsection (a), the President, 12 acting through the Federal Emergency Management 13 Agency and other appropriate Federal agencies, may pro- 14 vide homelessness emergency assistance, including housing 15 vouchers and increases in fair market rents under section 16 8 of the United States Housing Assistance Act of 1937 17 (42 U.S.C. 1437f), to States and local communities that 18 are or will be affected by the homelessness emergency, in- 19 cluding resources for establishing temporary or permanent 20 homeless shelters, emergency food assistance, transpor- 21 tation, access to physical and behavioral healthcare, and 22 access to Federal employment and job training programs. 23 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 24 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 25 necessary to carry out this Act. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jan 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5609.IH H5609 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 5609 IH SEC. 4. BUDGET ADJUSTMENT FOR HOMELESS EMER- 1 GENCY ASSISTANCE. 2 Section 251(b)(2) of the Balanced Budget and Emer- 3 gency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 901(b)(2)) 4 is amended by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(H) HOMELESS EMERGENCY ASSIST- 6 ANCE.— 7 ‘‘(i) If, for any fiscal year, appropria- 8 tions for discretionary accounts are en- 9 acted that Congress designates as being 10 for homelessness emergency assistance in 11 statute, the adjustment for a fiscal year 12 shall be the total of such appropriations 13 for the fiscal year in discretionary accounts 14 designated as being for homelessness emer- 15 gency assistance. 16 ‘‘(ii) For purposes of this subpara- 17 graph, the term ‘homelessness emergency 18 assistance’ means assistance provided 19 under a determination under section 2 of 20 the Homelessness Emergency Declaration 21 Act. 22 ‘‘(iii) Appropriations considered home- 23 lessness emergency assistance under this 24 subparagraph in a fiscal year shall not be 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jan 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5609.IH H5609 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 5609 IH eligible for adjustments under subpara- 1 graph (A) for the fiscal year.’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:47 Jan 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5609.IH H5609 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS