Fair Housing Improvement Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2846 To amend the Fair Housing Act to prohibit discrimination based on source of income, veteran status, or military status. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 25, 2023 Mr. PETERS (for himself, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. EVANS, Ms. BONAMICI, and Ms. NORTON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend the Fair Housing Act to prohibit discrimination based on source of income, veteran status, or military status. 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 ‘‘Fair Housing Improve- 4 ment Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. PROHIBITING HOUSING DISCRIMINATION BASED 6 ON SOURCE OF INCOME, VETERAN STATUS, 7 OR MILITARY STATUS. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 9 3601 et seq.) is amended— 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:29 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2846.IH H2846 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2846 IH (1) in section 802 (42 U.S.C. 3602), by adding 1 at the end the following: 2 ‘‘(p) ‘Military status’ means the status of a person 3 as a member of the uniformed services, as defined in sec- 4 tion 101 of title 10, United States Code. 5 ‘‘(q) ‘Source of income’ includes— 6 ‘‘(1) a housing voucher under section 8 of the 7 United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 8 1437f) and any form of Federal, State, or local 9 housing assistance provided to a person or family or 10 provided to a housing owner on behalf of a person 11 or family, including— 12 ‘‘(A) rental vouchers; 13 ‘‘(B) rental assistance; 14 ‘‘(C) rental subsidies from nongovern- 15 mental organizations; and 16 ‘‘(D) homeownership subsidies; 17 ‘‘(2) income received as a monthly benefit 18 under title II of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 19 401 et seq.), as a supplemental security income ben- 20 efit under title XVI of the Social Security Act (42 21 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.), or as a benefit under the Rail- 22 road Retirement Act of 1974 (45 U.S.C. 231 et 23 seq.), including any such benefit to which the indi- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:29 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2846.IH H2846 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2846 IH vidual is entitled for which payment is made to a 1 representative payee; 2 ‘‘(3) income received by court order, including 3 spousal support and child support; 4 ‘‘(4) any payment from a trust, guardian, con- 5 servator, cosigner, or relative; and 6 ‘‘(5) any other lawful source of income or 7 funds, including savings accounts and investments. 8 ‘‘(r) ‘Veteran status’ means the status of a person 9 as a former member of the Armed Forces.’’; 10 (2) in section 804 (42 U.S.C. 3604)— 11 (A) by inserting ‘‘source of income, veteran 12 status, military status,’’ after ‘‘familial status,’’ 13 each place that term appears; and 14 (B) in subsection (f), by adding at the end 15 the following: 16 ‘‘(10) Nothing in this title shall be construed to pro- 17 hibit any entity from providing or otherwise making avail- 18 able any services or other assistance to individuals receiv- 19 ing Federal, State or local housing assistance.’’; 20 (3) in section 805 (42 U.S.C. 3605)— 21 (A) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘source 22 of income, veteran status, military status,’’ 23 after ‘‘familial status,’’; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:29 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2846.IH H2846 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2846 IH (B) in subsection (c), by inserting ‘‘source 1 of income, veteran status, military status,’’ 2 after ‘‘handicap,’’; 3 (4) in section 806 (42 U.S.C. 3606), by insert- 4 ing ‘‘source of income, veteran status, military sta- 5 tus,’’ after ‘‘familial status,’’; 6 (5) in section 808(e)(6) (42 U.S.C. 3608(e)(6)), 7 by inserting ‘‘source of income, veteran status, mili- 8 tary status,’’ after ‘‘handicap,’’; and 9 (6) in section 810(f) (42 U.S.C. 3610(f)), by 10 striking paragraph (4) and inserting the following: 11 ‘‘(4) During the period beginning on the date of en- 12 actment of the Fair Housing Improvement Act of 2023 13 and ending on the date that is 40 months after such date 14 of enactment, each agency certified for purposes of this 15 title on the day before such date of enactment shall, for 16 purposes of this subsection, be considered certified under 17 this subsection with respect to those matters for which the 18 agency was certified on that date. If the Secretary deter- 19 mines in an individual case that an agency has not been 20 able to meet the certification requirements within this 40- 21 month period due to exceptional circumstances, such as 22 the infrequency of legislative sessions in that jurisdiction, 23 the Secretary may extend such period by not more than 24 6 months.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:29 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2846.IH H2846 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2846 IH (b) PREVENTION OF INTIMIDATION IN FAIR HOUS- 1 ING CASES.—Section 901 of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 2 (42 U.S.C. 3631) is amended by inserting ‘‘source of in- 3 come (as defined in section 802), veteran status (as de- 4 fined in section 802), military status (as defined in section 5 802),’’ before ‘‘or national origin’’ each place that term 6 appears. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:29 May 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2846.IH H2846 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS