Community Development Block Grant Equity Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8416 To amend the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to revise the formula for allocation of community development block grant funds, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 29, 2020 Mr. COHEN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To amend the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to revise the formula for allocation of community development block grant funds, 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 ‘‘Community Develop- 4 ment Block Grant Equity Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. CDBG FORMULA. 6 (a) REVISION OF FORMULA.—Section 106 of the 7 Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 8 U.S.C. 5306) is amended— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:04 Oct 27, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8416.IH H8416 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8416 IH (1) in subsection (b)— 1 (A) by striking the subsection designation 2 and all that follows through the end of para- 3 graph (3) and inserting the following: 4 ‘‘(b)(1) The Secretary shall determine the amount to 5 be allocated to each metropolitan city, which shall be the 6 amount that bears the same ratio to the allocation for all 7 metropolitan areas as the average of the ratios between— 8 ‘‘(A) the poverty rate per person in families and 9 elderly households in that city and such poverty rate 10 in all metropolitan areas; 11 ‘‘(B) the extent of female-headed households 12 with children under age 18 in that city and the ex- 13 tent of such households in all metropolitan areas; 14 ‘‘(C) the extent of housing that was constructed 15 before 1950 and is occupied by a household in pov- 16 erty in that city and the extent of such housing in 17 all metropolitan areas; and 18 ‘‘(D) the extent of housing overcrowding in that 19 city and the extent of housing overcrowding in all 20 metropolitan areas. 21 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall determine the amount to be 22 allocated to each urban county, which shall be the amount 23 that bears the same ratio to the allocation for all metro- 24 politan areas as the average of the ratios between— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:04 Oct 27, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8416.IH H8416 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8416 IH ‘‘(A) the poverty rate per person in families and 1 elderly households in that urban county and such 2 poverty rate in all metropolitan areas; 3 ‘‘(B) the extent of female-headed households 4 with children under age 18 in that urban county and 5 the extent of such households in all metropolitan 6 areas; 7 ‘‘(C) the extent of housing that was constructed 8 before 1950 and is occupied by a household in pov- 9 erty in that urban county and the extent of such 10 housing in all metropolitan areas; and 11 ‘‘(D) the extent of housing overcrowding in that 12 urban county and the extent of housing over- 13 crowding in all metropolitan areas. 14 ‘‘(3) In determining the average of ratios under para- 15 graphs (1) and (2)— 16 ‘‘(A) the ratio under subparagraph (A) of such 17 paragraphs shall be counted five times; 18 ‘‘(B) the ratio under subparagraph (C) of such 19 paragraphs shall be counted three times; and 20 ‘‘(C) each of the other ratios shall be counted 21 once.’’; and 22 (B) in paragraph (6)— 23 (i) by striking subparagraph (B); 24 (ii) by striking ‘‘(A)’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:04 Oct 27, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8416.IH H8416 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8416 IH (iii) by redesignating clauses (i) 1 through (iii) as subparagraphs (A) through 2 (C), respectively; and 3 (2) in subsection (d)(1), by striking the second 4 and third sentences and inserting the following: 5 ‘‘The allocation for each State shall be the amount 6 that bears the same ratio to the allocation for such 7 areas of all States available under this paragraph as 8 the average of the ratios between— 9 ‘‘(A) the poverty rate per person in fami- 10 lies and elderly households in the nonentitle- 11 ment areas in that State and such poverty rate 12 in the nonentitlement areas of all States; 13 ‘‘(B) the extent of female-headed house- 14 holds with children under age 18 in the non- 15 entitlement areas in that State and the extent 16 of such households in the nonentitlement areas 17 of all States; 18 ‘‘(C) the extent of housing that was con- 19 structed before 1950 and is occupied by a 20 household in poverty in the nonentitlement 21 areas in that State and the extent of such hous- 22 ing in the nonentitlement areas of all States; 23 and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:04 Oct 27, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8416.IH H8416 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8416 IH ‘‘(D) the extent of housing overcrowding in 1 the nonentitlement areas in that State and the 2 extent of housing overcrowding in the non- 3 entitlement areas of all States. 4 In determining the average of the ratios under the 5 preceding sentence, the ratio under clause (A) shall 6 be counted five times, the ratio under clause (C) 7 shall be counted three times, and each of the other 8 ratios shall be counted once.’’. 9 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Subsection (a) of section 102 of 10 the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 11 (42 U.S.C. 5302(a)) is amended— 12 (1) in paragraph (9), by striking the first sen- 13 tence and inserting the following: ‘‘The term ‘pov- 14 erty’ means having an income that does not exceed 15 the poverty level.’’; 16 (2) by striking paragraphs (11) through (16); 17 and 18 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (17) through 19 (24) as paragraphs (11) through (18), respectively. 20 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 21 Section 103 of the Housing and Community Develop- 22 ment Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5303) is amended by strik- 23 ing the last sentence and inserting the following: ‘‘For 24 purposes of assistance under section 106, there is author- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:04 Oct 27, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8416.IH H8416 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8416 IH ized to be appropriated for fiscal year 2021 an amount 1 equal to $3,425,000,000, as adjusted by adding to such 2 amount a percentage thereof equal to any percentage in- 3 crease, over the immediately preceding 4 calendar quarters 4 ending before the commencement of such fiscal year, in 5 the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers 6 (CPI–U) and, for each of fiscal years 2022 through 2025, 7 the amount that is equal to the amount authorized under 8 this sentence for the immediately preceding fiscal year, as 9 adjusted by adding to such amount a percentage thereof 10 equal to any percentage increase, over the immediately 11 preceding 4 calendar quarters ending before the com- 12 mencement of such fiscal year to which such authorization 13 applies, in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Con- 14 sumers (CPI–U).’’. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:04 Oct 27, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8416.IH H8416 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS