Build Housing with Care Act of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1738 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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 18, 2023 Mr. WYDEN (for himself, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. WELCH, Ms. KLO- BUCHAR, Ms. WARREN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mr. HEINRICH) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 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 01:43 Jun 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1738.IS S1738 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1738 IS SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 1 The purpose of this Act is to expand access to afford- 2 able housing and child care through the establishment of 3 a grant program to promote the co-location of housing and 4 child care providers. 5 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 8 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 9 mittees’’ means— 10 (A) the Committee on Banking, Housing, 11 and Urban Affairs of the Senate; 12 (B) the Committee on Health, Education, 13 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate; 14 (C) the Committee on Financial Services of 15 the House of Representatives; and 16 (D) the Committee on Education and the 17 Workforce of the House of Representatives. 18 (2) CAREGIVER; ELIGIBLE CHILD CARE PRO- 19 VIDER.—The terms ‘‘caregiver’’ and ‘‘eligible child 20 care provider’’ have the meanings given those terms 21 in section 658P of the Child Care and Development 22 Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858n). 23 (3) CHILD CARE DESERT.—The term ‘‘child 24 care desert’’ means— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Jun 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1738.IS S1738 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1738 IS (A) a census tract that contains not less 1 than 3 times more children than the licensed 2 child care providers in the census tract have the 3 capacity to care for; or 4 (B) a census tract where there are no li- 5 censed child care providers. 6 (4) CO-LOCATION FACILITY.—The term ‘‘co-lo- 7 cation facility’’ means a housing facility that con- 8 tains an eligible child care provider within the facil- 9 ity, on the premises of the facility, or nearby the fa- 10 cility, where such provider serves the residents of the 11 housing facility. 12 (5) COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FINANCIAL IN- 13 STITUTION.—The term ‘‘community development fi- 14 nancial institution’’ has the meaning given the term 15 in section 103 of the Community Development 16 Banking and Financial Institutions Act of 1994 (12 17 U.S.C. 4702). 18 (6) COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORA- 19 TION.—The term ‘‘community development corpora- 20 tion’’ has the same meaning as when used in the 21 Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act 22 (42 U.S.C. 12701 et seq.). 23 (7) COMMUNITY HOUSING DEVELOPMENT OR- 24 GANIZATION.—The term ‘‘community housing devel- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Jun 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1738.IS S1738 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1738 IS opment organization’’ has the meaning given the 1 term in section 104 of the Cranston-Gonzalez Na- 2 tional Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12704). 3 (8) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 4 ty’’ means— 5 (A) a community development financial in- 6 stitution; 7 (B) an eligible child care provider; 8 (C) a public housing authority; 9 (D) a government entity including a public 10 housing agency; 11 (E) an Indian Tribe or a Tribal organiza- 12 tion; 13 (F) a community development corporation; 14 (G) a housing developer using— 15 (i) low income housing tax credits 16 under section 42 of the Internal Revenue 17 Code of 1986; or 18 (ii) new markets tax credits under 19 section 45D of the Internal Revenue Code 20 of 1986; 21 (H) a nonprofit organization that develops 22 housing; 23 (I) a community housing development or- 24 ganization; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Jun 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1738.IS S1738 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 1738 IS (J) a consortia of 2 or more entities de- 1 scribed in this paragraph; or 2 (K) another entity identified as appro- 3 priate by the Secretary. 4 (9) INDIAN TRIBE; TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.— 5 The terms ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ and ‘‘Tribal organiza- 6 tion’’— 7 (A) have the meanings given those terms 8 in section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination 9 and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 10 5304); and 11 (B) include— 12 (i) tribally designated housing entities; 13 and 14 (ii) entities that serve Native Hawai- 15 ians, as defined in section 338K(c) of the 16 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 17 254s(c))). 18 (10) LOW-INCOME FAMILY; PUBLIC HOUSING 19 AGENCY; VERY LOW-INCOME FAMILY.—The terms 20 ‘‘low-income family’’, ‘‘public housing agency’’, and 21 ‘‘very low-income family’’ have the meanings given 22 those terms in section 3(b) of the United States 23 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Jun 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1738.IS S1738 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 1738 IS (11) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means 1 the program established under section 4(b). 2 (12) PUBLIC HOUSING DWELLING UNIT.—The 3 term ‘‘public housing dwelling unit’’ means a dwell- 4 ing unit in public housing, as defined in section 3(b) 5 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 6 U.S.C. 1437a(b)). 7 (13) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ 8 means the Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop- 9 ment. 10 (14) TRIBALLY DESIGNATED HOUSING ENTI- 11 TY.—The term ‘‘tribally designated housing entity’’ 12 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 13 Native American Housing Assistance and Self-De- 14 termination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4103). 15 SEC. 4. HOUSING AND CHILD CARE PROVIDER CO-LOCA- 16 TION GRANT PROGRAM. 17 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Housing 18 and Urban Development shall establish a program to 19 award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible entities 20 to facilitate the design, planning, construction, conversion, 21 retrofitting, preservation, or renovation of a co-location fa- 22 cility. 23 (b) CONSULTATION.—In developing the Program, the 24 Secretary shall consult with— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Jun 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1738.IS S1738 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 1738 IS (1) the Secretary of Health and Human Serv- 1 ices, acting through the Assistant Secretary of the 2 Administration for Children and Families; 3 (2) the Secretary of the Treasury, acting 4 through the Director of the Community Develop- 5 ment Financial Institutions Fund; and 6 (3) the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through 7 the Under Secretary for Rural Development. 8 (c) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 9 under the Program, an eligible entity shall submit to the 10 Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, 11 and containing such information as the Secretary deter- 12 mines appropriate, including the following: 13 (1) A certification that the eligible child care 14 provider associated with the application is eligible to 15 receive vouchers or assistance under the Child Care 16 and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 17 U.S.C. 9857 et seq.), or in the case of an application 18 to construct a new facility, or an application when 19 the eligible entity intends to subgrant or capitalize 20 amounts provided, a commitment to— 21 (A) establish a partnership with an eligible 22 child care provider not later than 1 year after 23 the date on which funding is received; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Jun 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1738.IS S1738 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 1738 IS (B) submit to the Secretary a certification 1 of the eligibility of the provider to receive 2 vouchers or assistance under the Child Care 3 and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 4 U.S.C. 9857 et seq.); and 5 (C) in the case of an application to con- 6 struct a new facility, or an application when the 7 eligible entity intends to subgrant or capitalize 8 amounts provided— 9 (i) clearly establish a project pipeline; 10 and 11 (ii) certify that a child care provider 12 associated with a co-location facility 13 project receives vouchers or assistance 14 under the Child Care and Development 15 Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9857 16 et seq.) or the Head Start Act of 1965 (42 17 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.). 18 (2) A certification that activities funded by 19 grant amounts will not result in the eviction of resi- 20 dents of the housing facility associated with the ap- 21 plication. 22 (3) A description of a plan to inform and en- 23 gage with residents of the housing facility associated 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Jun 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1738.IS S1738 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •S 1738 IS with the application about the proposed use of grant 1 amounts. 2 (4) A certification of compliance with required 3 Federal, State, and local environmental laws and 4 State and local land use policies, unless the eligible 5 entity— 6 (A) intends to use grant amounts to facili- 7 tate the planning or design required for permit 8 approval; or 9 (B) demonstrates that the construction, 10 preservation, conversion, retrofitting, or renova- 11 tion of an existing facility does not require envi- 12 ronmental review. 13 (5) A business plan for the eligible child care 14 provider associated with the application, submitted 15 at the time of application or not later than 1 year 16 after the date on which the application is submitted, 17 including— 18 (A) a budget or, in the case of a new eligi- 19 ble child care provider, a proposed budget; 20 (B) appropriate State and local licensing 21 or, in the case of a new eligible child care pro- 22 vider, a copy of the application of the provider 23 for appropriate State and local licensing; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Jun 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1738.IS S1738 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •S 1738 IS (C) copies of contracts between the pro- 1 vider and a local, county, regional, State, or 2 Federal governmental entity, to facilitate— 3 (i) the business operations of the pro- 4 vider; or 5 (ii) the enrollment of children from 6 low-income families with the provider. 7 (d) AWARDING OF GRANTS.— 8 (1) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under the 9 Program, the Secretary shall give priority to each el- 10 igible entity that demonstrates that the eligible child 11 care provider associated with the application of the 12 entity will— 13 (A) operate in a child care desert, a low- 14 income community, or a rural area as deter- 15 mined by the Secretary; 16 (B) certify designation as a Head Start 17 provider, an Early Head Start Provider, a Mi- 18 grant and Seasonal Head Start Provider, or an 19 American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start 20 Provider, or enroll at least 10 percent of chil- 21 dren from very-low income families; or 22 (C) demonstrate a partnership with a com- 23 munity development financial institution, in- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Jun 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1738.IS S1738 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •S 1738 IS cluding through the provision of financial or 1 technical assistance. 2 (2) GRANT AMOUNTS.—An eligible entity may 3 be awarded not more than $10,000,000 under the 4 Program. 5 (e) USE OF AMOUNTS.— 6 (1) ELIGIBLE USES.—An eligible entity may 7 only use grant amounts provided under the Program 8 to facilitate the design, planning, construction, ac- 9 quisition, preservation, conversion, retrofitting, long- 10 term leasing, or renovation of a new or existing co- 11 location facility. 12 (2) DISTRIBUTION.—An eligible entity receiving 13 a grant under this section may distribute grant 14 amounts to a government entity, a nonprofit organi- 15 zation that develops housing, a public housing agen- 16 cy, a tribally designated housing entity, or other ap- 17 propriate entity as determined by the Secretary, to 18 carry out activities in accordance with this section. 19 (3) FINANCE PRODUCTS.—A community devel- 20 opment financial institution receiving a grant under 21 this section may capitalize amounts received to cre- 22 ate financial products, including loans, to carry out 23 activities in accordance with this section. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Jun 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1738.IS S1738 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •S 1738 IS (4) PRE-DEVELOPMENT AND TECHNICAL AS- 1 SISTANCE.—An eligible entity may use— 2 (A) not more than 10 percent of amounts 3 awarded to facilitate the pre-development phase 4 of a new facility, including planning and design; 5 and 6 (B) not more than 10 percent of amounts 7 awarded to partner with a community develop- 8 ment financial institution that provides tech- 9 nical assistance and capacity building to help 10 the eligible entity— 11 (i) submit applications to the Pro- 12 gram; 13 (ii) support an eligible child care pro- 14 vider that is home-based with meeting rel- 15 evant State and local licensing and quality 16 standards; and 17 (iii) conduct pre-development activi- 18 ties. 19 (f) ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary shall provide tech- 20 nical assistance and publish best practices online to facili- 21 tate the operation of co-location facilities. 22 (g) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 1 year 23 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually 24 thereafter for the duration of the Program, the Secretary 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:43 Jun 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1738.IS S1738 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 13 •S 1738 IS shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees 1 a report regarding the implementation of the Program, in- 2 cluding— 3 (1) the number of grants awarded; 4 (2) a description of the activities funded; 5 (3) the number of child care slots created, in- 6 cluding the number of child care slots serving chil- 7 dren from low-income families or children who are 8 dual language learners; 9 (4) the number [Text truncated for display. 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