I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3117 To establish a program for the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to make grants to States and continua of care to carry out conversions of structures for use as emergency shelters and housing for homeless persons and families, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 5, 2023 Mr. SCHIFF (for himself, Mr. VARGAS, and Mr. MULLIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To establish a program for the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to make grants to States and continua of care to carry out conversions of structures for use as emergency shelters and housing for homeless persons and families, 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 ‘‘Hotel to Housing Con- 4 version Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:27 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3117.IH H3117 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3117 IH SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR CONVERTING STRUCTURES FOR USE 1 AS EMERGENCY SHELTERS AND HOUSING 2 FOR HOMELESS PERSONS AND FAMILIES. 3 (a) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of Housing and 4 Urban Development shall carry out a program under this 5 section to make grants to States and continua of care for 6 distribution to units of local government and private non- 7 profit organizations to assist in carrying out conversions 8 of structures for use as emergency, temporary, and transi- 9 tional housing and emergency shelters for homeless per- 10 sons and families. 11 (b) USE OF GRANT AMOUNTS.—Amounts from a 12 grant under this section shall be used only in connection 13 with the conversion of hotels, motels, or vacant, blighted, 14 or unused residential properties for use as housing or shel- 15 ter as provided in subsection (a), including for— 16 (1) the acquisition (by purchase or lease), reha- 17 bilitation, renovation, or other conversion of such 18 structures; 19 (2) operating costs in connection with use of 20 such structures as housing or shelters; and 21 (3) providing supportive services, as such term 22 is defined in section 401 of the McKinney-Vento 23 Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11360), home- 24 lessness prevention services, and housing counseling 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:27 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3117.IH H3117 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3117 IH services in connection with the converted housing or 1 shelter. 2 (c) APPLICATION; SELECTION.—The Secretary shall 3 provide for States and continua of care to apply for grants 4 under this section and shall select States and continua of 5 care to receive such grants based on a competition that 6 takes into account— 7 (1) the level of housing instability in the juris- 8 diction of the applicant and the need— 9 (A) for emergency, transitional, or perma- 10 nent housing or emergency shelters for home- 11 less persons and families; 12 (B) to address safety and public health 13 needs of such persons and families; and 14 (C) for supportive services for such persons 15 and families; and 16 (2) the effectiveness of the proposed method of 17 distribution of grant amounts to units of local gov- 18 ernment and private nonprofit organizations in ad- 19 dressing such needs. 20 (d) REPORTS.—The Secretary shall require each re- 21 cipient of a grant under this section to submit a report 22 to the Secretary, upon the expiration of the 12-month pe- 23 riod beginning upon the award of such grant, detailing 24 how grant amounts were used and describing the effect 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:27 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3117.IH H3117 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3117 IH of such use on the level of homelessness in the jurisdiction 1 of the recipient. 2 (e) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 3 following definitions shall apply: 4 (1) CONTINUUM OF CARE.—The term ‘‘con- 5 tinuum of care’’ means a collaborative applicant es- 6 tablished and operating for a geographic area for 7 purposes of the Continuum of Care Program under 8 subtitle C of title IV of the McKinney-Vento Home- 9 less Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11381 et seq.). 10 (2) EMERGENCY HOUSING.—The term ‘‘emer- 11 gency housing’’ means housing that is provided on 12 a short-term and temporary basis to address emer- 13 gency situations. Such term does not include transi- 14 tional or permanent housing, as such terms are de- 15 fined in section 401 of the McKinney-Vento Home- 16 less Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11360). 17 (3) EMERGENCY SHELTER; PRIVATE NON- 18 PROFIT ORGANIZATION; STATE.—The terms ‘‘emer- 19 gency shelter’’, ‘‘private nonprofit organization’’, and 20 ‘‘State’’ have the meanings given such terms in sec- 21 tion 321 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assist- 22 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 11351). 23 (4) HOMELESS.—The term ‘‘homeless’’ has the 24 meaning given such term in section 103 of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:27 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3117.IH H3117 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3117 IH McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 1 U.S.C. 11302). 2 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 3 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 4 (6) PERMANENT HOUSING; TRANSITIONAL 5 HOUSING.—The terms ‘‘permanent housing’’ and 6 ‘‘transitional housing’’ have the meanings given such 7 term in section 401 of the McKinney-Vento Home- 8 less Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11360). 9 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 10 authorized to be appropriated for grants under this section 11 $750,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:27 May 19, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3117.IH H3117 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS