Build Housing with Care Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3207 To establish a grant program to address the crises in accessing affordable housing and child care through the co-location of housing and child care, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 11, 2023 Ms. BONAMICI (for herself, Mr. EVANS, Mr. KILMER, Ms. JACOBS, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. TITUS, Ms. NORTON, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. DEAN of Pennsylvania, Mr. NICKEL, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. CARTER of Louisiana, Mr. NADLER, Ms. BARRAGA´N, and Ms. KUSTER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To establish a grant program to address the crises in access- ing affordable housing and child care through the co- location of housing and child care, and for other pur- poses. 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 ‘‘Build Housing with 4 Care Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 May 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3207.IH H3207 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3207 IH SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 1 The purpose of this Act is to expand access to afford- 2 able housing and child care through the establishment of 3 a grant program to promote the co-location of housing and 4 child care providers. 5 SEC. 3. HOUSING AND CHILD CARE PROVIDER CO-LOCA- 6 TION GRANT PROGRAM. 7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Housing 8 and Urban Development shall establish a program (here- 9 after in this section referred to as ‘‘the Program’’) to 10 award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible entities 11 to facilitate the design, planning, construction, conversion, 12 retrofitting, preservation, or renovation of a co-location fa- 13 cility. 14 (b) CONSULTATION.—In developing the Program, the 15 Secretary shall consult with— 16 (1) the Secretary of Health and Human Serv- 17 ices, acting through the Assistant Secretary of the 18 Administration for Children and Families; 19 (2) the Secretary of the Treasury, acting 20 through the Director of the Community Develop- 21 ment Financial Institutions Fund; and 22 (3) the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through 23 the Under Secretary for Rural Development. 24 (c) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 25 under the Program, an eligible entity shall submit to the 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 May 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3207.IH H3207 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3207 IH Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, 1 and containing such information as the Secretary deter- 2 mines appropriate, including the following: 3 (1) A certification that the eligible child care 4 provider associated with such application is eligible 5 to receive vouchers or assistance under the Child 6 Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 7 U.S.C. 9857 et seq.), or in the case of an application 8 to construct a new facility, or an application when 9 the eligible entity intends to subgrant or capitalize 10 amounts provided, a commitment to— 11 (A) establish a partnership with an eligible 12 child care provider not later than 1 year after 13 the date on which funding is received; 14 (B) submit to the Secretary a certification 15 of such eligibility of said provider to receive 16 vouchers or assistance under the Child Care 17 and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 18 U.S.C. 9857 et seq.); and 19 (C) clearly establish a project pipeline, and 20 submission of a certification to the Secretary 21 that a child care provider associated with a co- 22 location facility project receives vouchers or as- 23 sistance under the Child Care and Development 24 Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9857 et 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 May 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3207.IH H3207 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3207 IH seq.) or the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et 1 seq.). 2 (2) A certification that activities funded by 3 grant amounts will not result in the eviction of resi- 4 dents of the housing facility associated with such ap- 5 plication. 6 (3) A description of a plan to inform and en- 7 gage residents of the housing facility associated with 8 such application about the proposed use of grant 9 amounts. 10 (4) A certification of compliance with required 11 Federal, State, and local environmental laws and 12 State and local land use policies, unless the eligible 13 entity— 14 (A) intends to use grant amounts to facili- 15 tate the planning or design required for permit 16 approval; or 17 (B) demonstrates that the construction, 18 preservation, conversion, retrofitting, or renova- 19 tion of an existing facility does not require envi- 20 ronmental review. 21 (5) A business plan for the eligible child care 22 provider associated with such application, submitted 23 at the time of application or not later than 1 year 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 May 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3207.IH H3207 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3207 IH after the date on which the application is submitted, 1 including— 2 (A) a budget or, in the case of a new eligi- 3 ble child care provider, a proposed budget; 4 (B) appropriate State and local licensing 5 or, in the case of a new eligible child care pro- 6 vider, a copy of the application of such provider 7 for appropriate State and local licensing; and 8 (C) copies of contracts between such pro- 9 vider and a local, county, regional, State, or 10 Federal governmental entity, to facilitate— 11 (i) the business operations of such 12 provider; or 13 (ii) the enrollment of children from 14 low-income families with such provider. 15 (d) AWARDING OF GRANTS.— 16 (1) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under the 17 Program, the Secretary shall give priority to each el- 18 igible entity that demonstrates that the eligible child 19 care provider associated with the application of such 20 entity will— 21 (A) operate in a child care desert, in a low- 22 income community, or a rural area as deter- 23 mined by the Secretary; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 May 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3207.IH H3207 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3207 IH (B) certify designation as a Head Start 1 provider, Early Head Start Provider, Migrant 2 and Seasonal Head Start Provider, American 3 Indian and Alaska Native Head Start Provider, 4 or enroll at least 10 percent of children from 5 very-low income families; or 6 (C) demonstrate a partnership with a com- 7 munity development financial institution, in- 8 cluding through the provision of financial or 9 technical assistance. 10 (2) GRANT AMOUNTS.—An eligible entity may 11 be awarded not more than $10,000,000 under this 12 Act. 13 (e) USE OF AMOUNTS.— 14 (1) An eligible entity may only use grant 15 amounts provided under the Program to facilitate 16 the design, planning, construction, acquisition, pres- 17 ervation, conversion, retrofitting, long-term leasing, 18 or renovation of a new or existing co-location facil- 19 ity. 20 (2) An eligible entity receiving a grant under 21 this section may distribute grant amounts to a gov- 22 ernment entity, a nonprofit organization that devel- 23 ops housing, a public housing agency, a Tribally des- 24 ignated housing entity, or other appropriate entity 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 May 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3207.IH H3207 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3207 IH as determined by the Secretary, to carry out activi- 1 ties in accordance with this section. 2 (3) A community development financial institu- 3 tion receiving a grant under this section may cap- 4 italize amount received to create financial products, 5 including loans, to carry out activities in accordance 6 with this section. 7 (4) An eligible entity may use— 8 (A) not more than 10 percent of amounts 9 awarded to facilitate the pre-development phase 10 of a new facility, including planning and design; 11 and 12 (B) not more than 10 percent of amounts 13 awarded to partner with a community develop- 14 ment financial institution that provides tech- 15 nical assistance and capacity building to help 16 the eligible entity to submit applications to the 17 Program, support an eligible child care provider 18 that is home-based with meeting relevant State 19 and local licensing and quality standards, and 20 conduct pre-development activities. 21 (f) ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall provide tech- 22 nical assistance and publish best practices online to facili- 23 tate the operation of co-location facilities. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 May 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3207.IH H3207 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3207 IH (g) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 1 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually 2 thereafter for the duration of the Program, the Secretary 3 shall submit a report to the Committees on Financial 4 Services and Education and the Workforce of the House 5 of Representatives and the Committees on Banking, Hous- 6 ing, and Urban Affairs and Health, Education, Labor, and 7 Pensions of the Senate regarding the implementation of 8 the Program, including— 9 (1) the number of grants awarded; 10 (2) a description of the activities funded; 11 (3) the number of child care slots created, in- 12 cluding the number of child care slots serving chil- 13 dren from low-income families or children who are 14 dual language learners; 15 (4) the number of child care slots preserved 16 that were at risk of elimination due to a child care 17 center closing or proposed price increases; 18 (5) the number and percentage of residents in 19 a co-location facility that use or are employed by the 20 associated child care program; 21 (6) the number of staff employed by the child 22 care provider; 23 (7) demographic data of residents of housing 24 facilities associated with the Program; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 May 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3207.IH H3207 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 3207 IH (8) the number and type of projects facilitated 1 through eligible uses of amounts described in sub- 2 sections (e)(2) and (e)(3); 3 (9) the number of early childhood providers 4 supported with funds from the program; and 5 (10) the number of eligible entities of each type 6 that receive grant funding under the Program. 7 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 8 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 9 $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2023 through 2028. 10 (i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 11 (1) CAREGIVER.—The term ‘‘caregiver’’ has the 12 meaning given such term in section 658P of the 13 Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 14 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858n). 15 (2) ELIGIBLE CHILD CARE PROVIDER.—The 16 term ‘‘eligible child care provider’’ has the meaning 17 given that term under section 658P of the Child 18 Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 19 U.S.C. 9858n). 20 (3) CHILD CARE DESERT.—The term ‘‘child 21 care desert’’ means a census tract that contains not 22 less than 3 times more children than the licensed 23 child care providers in such census tract have the ca- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 May 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3207.IH H3207 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 3207 IH pacity to care for, or a census tract where there are 1 no licensed child care providers. 2 (4) CO-LOCATION FACILITY.—The term ‘‘co-lo- 3 cation facility’’ means a housing facility that con- 4 tains an eligible child care provider within, on the 5 premises of such facility or nearby such facility, 6 where such provider serves the residents of such 7 housing facility. 8 (5) COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FINANCIAL IN- 9 STITUTION.—The term ‘‘community development fi- 10 nancial institution’’ has the meaning given such 11 term in section 103 of the Community Development 12 Banking and Financial Institutions Act of 1994 (12 13 U.S.C. 4702). 14 (6) COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORA- 15 TION.—The term ‘‘community development corpora- 16 tion’’ has the same meaning as when used in the 17 Cranston-Gonzalex National Affordable Housing 18 Act. 19 (7) COMMUNITY HOUSING DEVELOPMENT OR- 20 GANIZATION.—The term ‘‘community housing devel- 21 opment organization’’ has the meaning given in the 22 Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act 23 of 1990. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 May 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3207.IH H3207 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 3207 IH (8) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 1 ty’’ means— 2 (A) a community development financial in- 3 stitution; 4 (B) an eligible child care provider; 5 (C) a public housing authority; 6 (D) a government entity including a public 7 housing agency; 8 (E) an Indian Tribe or a Tribal organiza- 9 tion; 10 (F) a community development corporation; 11 (G) a housing developer using— 12 (i) low income housing tax credits; or 13 (ii) new market tax credits; 14 (H) a nonprofit organization that develops 15 housing; 16 (I) community housing development orga- 17 nization; 18 (J) a consortia of 2 or more entities under 19 this paragraph; or 20 (K) another entity identified as appro- 21 priate by the Secretary. 22 (9) INDIAN TRIBE; TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.— 23 The terms ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ and ‘‘Tribal organiza- 24 tion’’ have the meanings given such terms in section 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 May 26, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3207.IH H3207 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 3207 IH 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Education 1 Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304) and shall include 2 tribally designated housing entities (as such term is 3 defined in section 4 of the Native American Housing 4 Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 5 U.S.C. 4103)) and entities that serve Native Hawai- 6 ians (as such term is defined in section 338K(c) of 7 the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254s(c))). 8 (10) LOW-INCOME FAMILY.—The term ‘‘low-in- 9 come family’’ has the meaning given such term in 10 section 3(b) of the United States Housing Act of 11 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)). 12 (11) PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCY.—The term 13 ‘‘public housing agency’’ has the meaning given such [Text truncated for display. 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