Housing Supply Expansion Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1682 To amend subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code, regarding prevalent wage determinations in order to expand access to affordable housing, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 18, 2023 Mr. THUNE (for himself and Mr. MORAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To amend subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code, regarding prevalent wage determinations in order to expand access to affordable housing, 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 ‘‘Housing Supply Ex- 4 pansion Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. UPDATES TO WAGE RATE CALCULATIONS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3142(b) of title 40, 7 United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘or from geo- 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1682.IS S1682 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1682 IS graphic groupings other than civil subdivisions of the 1 State (which may include metropolitan statistical areas or 2 other groupings determined appropriate by the Sec- 3 retary)’’ after ‘‘in which the work is to be performed’’. 4 (b) CHANGES TO SURVEY METHODOLOGY.—Section 5 3142 of title 40, United States Code, is amended by add- 6 ing at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(f) SURVEY INFORMATION COLLECTION.—By not 8 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Hous- 9 ing Supply Expansion Act, the Secretary shall— 10 ‘‘(1) review the Secretary’s method of collecting 11 survey information for determining prevailing wages 12 for purposes of subsection (a); and 13 ‘‘(2) revise how such survey information is col- 14 lected, following a public notice and opportunity for 15 public comment, by— 16 ‘‘(A) including surveys that allow for reli- 17 able and objective sources of data and a defend- 18 able methodology, which may include informa- 19 tion collected through Bureau of Labor Statis- 20 tics surveys; and 21 ‘‘(B) improving the percentage of busi- 22 nesses choosing to participate in prevailing 23 wage determination surveys and ensuring pro- 24 portional representation of businesses rep- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1682.IS S1682 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1682 IS resented by labor organizations and businesses 1 not represented by labor organizations in the 2 prevailing wage determination surveys that are 3 completed.’’. 4 SEC. 3. MULTIPLE WAGE RATE DETERMINATIONS. 5 Section 3142 of title 40, United States Code, as 6 amended by section 2, is further amended by adding at 7 the end the following: 8 ‘‘(g) FEDERAL HOUSING ACTS.—A determination of 9 prevailing wages by the Secretary of Labor applicable 10 under section 212(a) of the National Housing Act (12 11 U.S.C. 1715c(a)), section 104(b)(1) of the Native Amer- 12 ican Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 13 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4114(b)(1)), section 12(a) of the United 14 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437j(a)), or sec- 15 tion 811(j)(5) of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Afford- 16 able Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013(j)(5)) shall be limited 17 to 1 wage rate determination under subsection (b) of this 18 section that corresponds to the overall residential char- 19 acter of the project.’’. 20 SEC. 4. DAVIS-BACON MODERNIZATION WORKING GROUP. 21 (a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘Davis- 22 Bacon Modernization Working Group’’ means the working 23 group established under subsection (b)(1). 24 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1682.IS S1682 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1682 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 1 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 2 Labor, in consultation with the Secretary of Housing 3 and Urban Development, shall establish within the 4 Department of Labor, a Davis-Bacon Modernization 5 Working Group to recommend the update and mod- 6 ernization of certain requirements under subchapter 7 IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code, as 8 described in subsection (c). 9 (2) DATE OF ESTABLISHMENT.—The Davis- 10 Bacon Modernization Working Group shall be con- 11 sidered established on the date on which a majority 12 of the members of the Davis-Bacon Modernization 13 Working Group have been appointed, consistent with 14 subsection (d). 15 (c) DUTIES.—The Davis-Bacon Modernization Work- 16 ing Group shall— 17 (1) recommend whether, and if so by how 18 much, the residential classification can be applied to 19 affordable housing units with 5 stories or more for 20 purposes of prevailing wage determinations under 21 subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United 22 States Code; 23 (2) develop administrative and legislative rec- 24 ommendations of ways, and for what specific cir- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1682.IS S1682 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1682 IS cumstances in which, the prevailing wage rate re- 1 quirements under subchapter IV of chapter 31 of 2 title 40, United States Code, could be waived or 3 streamlined for certain affordable rental Federal 4 Housing Administration new construction projects; 5 and 6 (3) review the potential positive and negative 7 outcomes of directing the Bureau of Labor Statistics 8 to determine prevailing wages (rather that the Sec- 9 retary of Labor under section 3142(b) of title 40, 10 United States Code), in a way that would not rely 11 on the collection of voluntary surveys from busi- 12 nesses but rather on data that is already collected 13 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 14 (d) MEMBERS.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Davis-Bacon Mod- 16 ernization Working Group shall be composed of the 17 following representatives of Federal agencies and 18 relevant non-Federal industry stakeholder organiza- 19 tions: 20 (A) A representative from the Department 21 of Labor, appointed by the Secretary of Labor. 22 (B) A representative from the Department 23 of Housing and Urban Development, appointed 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1682.IS S1682 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1682 IS by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Devel- 1 opment. 2 (C) A representative of a housing construc- 3 tion industry association, appointed by the Sec- 4 retary of Labor in consultation with the Sec- 5 retary of Housing and Urban Development. 6 (D) A representative of a financial services 7 industry association, appointed by the Secretary 8 of Labor in consultation with the Secretary of 9 Housing and Urban Development. 10 (E) A representative of an affordable hous- 11 ing industry association, appointed by the Sec- 12 retary of Labor in consultation with the Sec- 13 retary of Housing and Urban Development. 14 (F) A representative of a State public 15 housing agency, as defined in section 3 of the 16 United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 17 1437a), appointed by the Secretary of Labor in 18 consultation with the Secretary of Housing and 19 Urban Development. 20 (G) A representative of a tribally des- 21 ignated housing entity, as defined in section 4 22 of the Native American Housing Assistance and 23 Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 24 4103), appointed by the Secretary of Labor in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1682.IS S1682 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1682 IS consultation with the Secretary of Housing and 1 Urban Development. 2 (H) A representative of a labor organiza- 3 tion representing the housing construction 4 workforce, appointed by the Secretary of Labor 5 in consultation with the Secretary of Housing 6 and Urban Development. 7 (2) CHAIR.—The representative from the De- 8 partment of Labor appointed under paragraph 9 (1)(A) shall serve as the chair of the Davis-Bacon 10 Modernization Working Group, and that representa- 11 tive shall be responsible for organizing the business 12 of the Davis-Bacon Modernization Working Group. 13 (e) OTHER MATTERS.— 14 (1) NO COMPENSATION.—A member of the 15 Davis-Bacon Modernization Working Group shall 16 serve without compensation. 17 (2) SUPPORT.—The Secretary of Labor may 18 detail an employee of the Department of Labor to 19 assist and support the work of the Davis-Bacon 20 Modernization Working Group, though such a 21 detailee shall not be considered to be a member of 22 the Davis-Bacon Modernization Working Group. 23 (f) REPORT.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1682.IS S1682 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1682 IS (1) REPORTS.—Not later than 1 year after the 1 date on which the Davis-Bacon Modernization Work- 2 ing Group is established, the Davis-Bacon Mod- 3 ernization Working Group shall submit a report con- 4 taining its findings and recommendations under sub- 5 section (c), including recommendations resulting 6 from the review under subsection (c)(3), to the Sec- 7 retary of Labor, the Committee on Health, Edu- 8 cation, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, and the 9 Committee on Education and the Workforce of the 10 House of Representatives. 11 (2) MAJORITY SUPPORT.—Each recommenda- 12 tion made under paragraph (1) shall be agreed to by 13 a majority of the members of the Davis-Bacon Mod- 14 ernization Working Group. 15 (g) NONAPPLICABILITY OF FACA.—Chapter 10 of 16 title 5, United States Code, shall not apply to the Davis- 17 Bacon Modernization Working Group. 18 (h) SUNSET.—The Davis-Bacon Modernization 19 Working Group shall terminate on the date the report is 20 completed under subsection (f)(1). 21 SEC. 5. NATIONAL HOUSING ACT. 22 Section 212(a) of the National Housing Act (12 23 U.S.C. 1715c(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘similar char- 24 acter, as determined by the Secretary of Labor in accord- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1682.IS S1682 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1682 IS ance with the Davis-Bacon Act, as amended (40 U.S.C. 1 276a—276a–5)’’ and inserting ‘‘residential character, as 2 determined by the Secretary of Labor in accordance with 3 subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States 4 Code, that is applicable at the time the application is 5 filed’’. 6 SEC. 6. HOUSING ACT OF 1959. 7 Section 202(j)(5)(A) of the Housing Act of 1959 (12 8 U.S.C. 1701q(j)(5)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘similar 9 character, as determined by the Secretary of Labor in ac- 10 cordance with the Act of March 3, 1931 (commonly known 11 as the Davis-Bacon Act)’’ and inserting ‘‘residential char- 12 acter, as determined by the Secretary of Labor in accord- 13 ance with subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United 14 States Code, that is applicable at the time the application 15 is filed’’. 16 SEC. 7. NATIVE AMERICAN HOUSING ASSISTANCE AND 17 SELF-DETERMINATION ACT OF 1996. 18 Section 104(b)(1) of the Native American Housing 19 Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 20 4114(b)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘, as predetermined 21 by the Secretary of Labor pursuant to the Act of March 22 3, 1931 (commonly known as the Davis-Bacon Act; chap- 23 ter 411; 46 Stat. 1494; 40 U.S.C. 276a et seq.),’’ and 24 inserting ‘‘for corresponding classes of laborers and me- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1682.IS S1682 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1682 IS chanics employed on construction of a residential char- 1 acter, as predetermined by the Secretary of Labor pursu- 2 ant to subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United 3 States Code, that is applicable at the time the application 4 is filed’’. 5 SEC. 8. CRANSTON-GONZALEZ NATIONAL AFFORDABLE 6 HOUSING ACT. 7 Section 811(j)(5)(A) of the Cranston-Gonzalez Na- 8 tional Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013(j)(5)(A)) 9 is amended by striking ‘‘similar character, as determined 10 by the Secretary of Labor in accordance with the Act of 11 March 3, 1931 (commonly known as the Davis-Bacon 12 Act)’’ and inserting ‘‘residential character, as determined 13 by the Secretary of Labor in accordance with subchapter 14 IV of chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code, that is 15 applicable at the time the application is filed’’. 16 SEC. 9. UNITED STATES HOUSING ACT OF 1937. 17 Section 12(a) of the United States Housing Act of 18 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437j(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘, as 19 predetermined by the Secretary of Labor pursuant to the 20 Davis-Bacon Act (49 Stat. 1011)’’ and inserting ‘‘for cor- 21 responding classes of laborers and mechanics employed on 22 construction of a residential character, as predetermined 23 by the Secretary of Labor pursuant to subchapter IV of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1682.IS S1682 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1682 IS chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code, that is applica- 1 ble at the time the application is filed’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:04 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1682.IS S1682 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS