Military HOMES Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7212 To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide for additional reforms regarding the management and condition of privatized military housing, to expand reforms to include Government-owned and Government-con- trolled military family housing, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 15, 2020 Ms. KENDRA S. HORN of Oklahoma (for herself, Mr. WALTZ, Mr. KIM, and Mr. TURNER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide for addi- tional reforms regarding the management and condition of privatized military housing, to expand reforms to in- clude Government-owned and Government-controlled military family 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 ‘‘Military Housing Over- 4 sight, Maintenance, and Enhancement for 5 Servicemembers Act’’ or ‘‘Military HOMES Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:41 Jul 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7212.IH H7212 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7212 IH SEC. 2. MOLD MITIGATION PROTECTIONS FOR MILITARY 1 FAMILIES RESIDING IN MILITARY HOUSING. 2 (a) INSTALLATION COMMANDER RESPONSIBIL- 3 ITIES.—Subsection (b) of section 2891a of title 10, United 4 States Code, as added by section 3014(a) of the Military 5 Construction Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (di- 6 vision B of Public Law 116–92; 133 Stat. 1924), is 7 amended by adding at the end the following new para- 8 graph: 9 ‘‘(3) The installation commander shall be responsible 10 for administering Department of Defense guidance re- 11 garding— 12 ‘‘(A) the reimbursement of a resident of a hous- 13 ing unit for the installation for losses to personal 14 property incurred by the resident as a result of mold 15 damage in the housing unit or the mitigation activi- 16 ties undertaken in response to mold in the housing 17 unit; and 18 ‘‘(B) how to manage the return of the resident 19 to the housing unit when the resident is displaced 20 from the housing unit during mold mitigation.’’. 21 (b) ADOPTION OF STANDARDS.—The Secretary of 22 Defense, in consultation with the Secretaries of the mili- 23 tary departments, landlords (as defined in section 2871 24 of title 10, United States Code), and other interested per- 25 sons, shall promulgate the guidance described in para- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:41 Jul 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7212.IH H7212 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7212 IH graph (3) of section 2891a(b) of such title, as added by 1 subsection (a). 2 SEC. 3. PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION REGARD- 3 ING PERFORMANCE OF LANDLORDS PRO- 4 VIDING MILITARY HOUSING THAT RECEIVE 5 INCENTIVE FEES. 6 Subsection (b) of section 2891c of title 10, United 7 States Code, as added by section 3016(a) of the Military 8 Construction Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (di- 9 vision B of Public Law 116–92; 133 Stat. 1927), is 10 amended by adding at the end the following new para- 11 graph: 12 ‘‘(3) The Secretary of Defense shall use the publicly 13 accessible website required by paragraph (1) to disclose 14 the criteria and metrics to be used by the Department of 15 Defense to analyze the performance of landlords that re- 16 ceive incentive fees.’’. 17 SEC. 4. PROMULGATION OF GUIDANCE ON MOLD MITIGA- 18 TION IN PRIVATIZED MILITARY HOUSING. 19 (a) GUIDANCE REQUIRED.—The Secretary of De- 20 fense shall establish a working group to promulgate guid- 21 ance regarding best practices for mold mitigation in 22 privatized military housing and for making the determina- 23 tion regarding when the presence of mold in a unit of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:41 Jul 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7212.IH H7212 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7212 IH home privatized military housing is an emergency situa- 1 tion requiring the relocation of the residents of the unit. 2 (b) MEMBERS.—The working groups shall include 3 the Surgeon Generals of the Armed Forces and such other 4 subject-matter experts as the Secretary considers appro- 5 priate. 6 SEC. 5. EXPANSION OF UNIFORM CODE OF BASIC STAND- 7 ARDS FOR PRIVATIZED MILITARY HOUSING 8 AND HAZARD AND HABITABILITY INSPEC- 9 TION AND ASSESSMENT REQUIREMENTS TO 10 GOVERNMENT-OWNED AND GOVERNMENT- 11 CONTROLLED MILITARY FAMILY HOUSING. 12 (a) UNIFORM CODE OF BASIC STANDARDS FOR MILI- 13 TARY HOUSING.—The Secretary of Defense shall expand 14 the uniform code of basic housing standards for safety, 15 comfort, and habitability for privatized military housing 16 established pursuant to section 3051(a) of the Military 17 Construction Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (di- 18 vision B of Public Law 116–92; 133 Stat. 1941; 10 U.S.C. 19 2871 note) to include Government-owned and Govern- 20 ment-controlled military family housing located inside or 21 outside the United States and occupied by members of the 22 Armed Forces. 23 (b) INSPECTION AND ASSESSMENT PLAN.—The Sec- 24 retary of Defense shall expand the Department of Defense 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:41 Jul 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7212.IH H7212 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7212 IH housing inspection and assessment plan prepared pursu- 1 ant to section 3051(b) of the Military Construction Au- 2 thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (division B of Public 3 Law 116–92; 133 Stat. 1941; 10 U.S.C. 2871 note) to 4 include Government-owned and Government-controlled 5 military family housing located inside or outside the 6 United States and occupied by members of the Armed 7 Forces and commence inspections and assessments of such 8 military family housing pursuant to the plan. 9 SEC. 6. ESTABLISHMENT OF EXCEPTIONAL FAMILY MEM- 10 BER PROGRAM HOUSING LIAISON. 11 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than September 30, 12 2021, each Secretary of a military department shall ap- 13 point at least one Exceptional Family Member Program 14 housing liaison for that military department. 15 (b) DUTIES.—The duties of a Exceptional Family 16 Member Program housing liaison are to assist military 17 families enrolled in that Program, and who are 18 disproportionally housed in facilities under the Military 19 Housing Privatization Initiative, in obtaining cost-effective 20 services needed by such families. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:41 Jul 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7212.IH H7212 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7212 IH SEC. 7. REPORT ON DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE EFFORTS 1 REGARDING OVERSIGHT AND ROLE IN MAN- 2 AGEMENT OF PRIVATIZED MILITARY HOUS- 3 ING. 4 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact- 5 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit 6 to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and 7 the House of Representatives a report on the progress 8 made by the Department of Defense in implementing the 9 recommendations contained in the report of the Comp- 10 troller General regarding military housing entitled ‘‘DOD 11 Needs to Strengthen Oversight and Clarify Its Role in the 12 Management of Privatized Housing’’ and dated March 13 2020 (GAO–20–281). 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:41 Jul 02, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7212.IH H7212 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS