Public Housing Emergency Response Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3212 To authorize additional monies to the Public Housing Capital Fund of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 16, 2020 Ms. WARREN (for herself, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. DURBIN, and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To authorize additional monies to the Public Housing Capital Fund of the Department of Housing and Urban Develop- ment, 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 ‘‘Public Housing Emer- 4 gency Response Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 The Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:28 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3212.IS S3212 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3212 IS (1) Housing is a foundational determinant of 1 health and has been recognized as such since the 2 early days of public health. 3 (2) Poor housing conditions contribute to a 4 broad range of infectious diseases, chronic diseases, 5 injuries, childhood development complications, nutri- 6 tion issues, and mental health challenges. 7 (3) The United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 8 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.) charges the Department of 9 Housing and Urban Development (referred to in this 10 section as ‘‘HUD’’) with providing residents with a 11 decent, safe, and affordable place to live, including 12 those that live in public housing. 13 (4) While public housing is a federally created 14 program overseen by HUD, the properties are owned 15 and managed at the local level by quasi-govern- 16 mental public housing authorities under contract 17 with the Federal Government. 18 (5) Thus, the public housing program is gov- 19 erned in part by Federal rules and regulations and 20 in part by policies enacted at the local level. 21 (6) Passage of the United States Housing Act 22 of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.) sought to address 23 the needs of low-income people through public hous- 24 ing. At the time of passage of such Act, the Nation’s 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:28 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3212.IS S3212 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3212 IS housing stock was of very poor quality. Public hous- 1 ing was a significant improvement for those who had 2 access to it. 3 (7) However, over the years, the living condi- 4 tions in public housing began to deteriorate as the 5 operational needs of the units and costs necessary to 6 remedy major capital deficiencies began to outpace 7 the level of funding provided by the Federal Govern- 8 ment and the residents’ rent contributions. 9 (8) By 1990, no significant investment in hous- 10 ing affordable to the lowest-income individuals had 11 been made by the Federal Government in more than 12 30 years. 13 (9) In 1998, the enactment of the Quality 14 Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 (Pub- 15 lic Law 105–276; 112 Stat. 2518) prohibited public 16 housing authorities from using any Federal capital 17 funding or operating funding to develop net new 18 housing. 19 (10) More than a decade after the enactment of 20 the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 21 1998 (Public Law 105–276; 112 Stat. 2518), the 22 number of public housing units nationally began to 23 steadily decline, as more units were torn down than 24 rebuilt. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:28 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3212.IS S3212 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3212 IS (11) With the exception of an infusion of fund- 1 ing from the economic stimulus legislation in 2009— 2 the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Pub- 3 lic Law 111–5; 123 Stat. 115)—Federal capital 4 funding has remained relatively level for more than 5 a decade, despite an increasing backlog in unmet 6 capital needs. 7 (12) Today, there are approximately 1,200,000 8 units of public housing across the country receiving 9 Federal funding. The Nation’s largest public housing 10 authority, the New York City Public Housing Au- 11 thority, houses approximately 380,000 residents in 12 316 developments across New York City. 13 (13) As of April 2019, the national public hous- 14 ing capital repair backlog stood at more than 15 $70,000,000,000. 16 (14) In his Budget Request for fiscal year 2020 17 for the Department of Housing and Urban Develop- 18 ment, President Donald Trump requested $0 for the 19 Department’s Public Housing Capital Fund, which 20 continues to be the primary source of funding public 21 housing authorities rely on to address necessary in- 22 frastructure upgrades and repairs. 23 (15) Federal disinvestment in public housing 24 has forced many residents to live in accelerating sub- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:28 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3212.IS S3212 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3212 IS standard living. For example, the New York City 1 Housing Authority has a capital repair backlog of 2 approximately $32,000,000,000. New York City 3 Housing Authority residents suffer from a consistent 4 lack of hot water, insufficient heat during the winter 5 months, rodent and insect infestations, broken ele- 6 vators, and widespread and recurring lead and mold 7 problems. 8 (16) Substandard housing conditions, such as 9 poor ventilation, pest infestations, and water leaks, 10 are directly associated with the development and ex- 11 acerbation of respiratory diseases like asthma. 12 (17) The Centers for Disease Control and Pre- 13 vention has made clear that no level of lead poi- 14 soning is safe. Lead poisoning can result in irrevers- 15 ible brain damage and affects every major bodily 16 system. At high levels, lead poisoning can cause ane- 17 mia, multi-organ damage, seizures, coma, and death 18 in children. Even with the lowest levels of lead expo- 19 sure, children experience physical, cognitive, and 20 neurobehavioral impairment as well as lower IQ lev- 21 els, lower class standing in high school, greater ab- 22 senteeism, lower vocabulary and grammatical-rea- 23 soning scores, and poorer hand-eye coordination rel- 24 ative to other children. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:28 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3212.IS S3212 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3212 IS (18) Exposure to cold indoor temperatures is 1 associated with increased risk of cardiovascular dis- 2 ease. 3 (19) Due to its aging infrastructure, the living 4 conditions in public housing are causing severe 5 health consequences for public housing residents 6 throughout the Nation, including asthma, res- 7 piratory illness, and elevated blood lead levels. 8 (20) This is a fixable public health crisis. Fed- 9 eral disinvestment in public housing has con- 10 sequences and aging infrastructure is, in many 11 cases, the root cause of many of these health issues 12 for residents. 13 (21) For example, one leading study found that 14 children living in public housing have higher odds of 15 asthma than children living in all types of private 16 housing, even after adjusting for individual risk fac- 17 tors such as minority ethnicity and race, living in a 18 low-income household, and living in a low-income 19 community. 20 (22) Therefore, it is necessary to reinvest in 21 public housing, provide the money needed to fulfill 22 outstanding capital needs, and to again ensure that 23 all Americans have a decent home and suitable living 24 environment, as is HUD’s charge. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:28 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3212.IS S3212 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3212 IS SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 1 There is authorized to be appropriated for assistance 2 from the Public Housing Capital Fund under section 9(d) 3 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 4 1437g(d)) $70,000,000,000, which amount shall remain 5 available until expended and, notwithstanding subsections 6 (c)(1) and (d)(2) of such section 9, shall be allocated to 7 public housing agencies based upon the extent of such 8 agencies’ capital need, as determined according to the 9 agencies’ most recent Physical Needs Assessment. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:28 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3212.IS S3212 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS