Affordability and Fairness for Mountain Communities Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3715 To establish a waiver program to allow for ZIP Code localization area median income calculations, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 25, 2023 Mr. NEGUSE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To establish a waiver program to allow for ZIP Code localiza- tion area median income calculations, 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 ‘‘Affordability and Fair- 4 ness for Mountain Communities Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. WAIVER PROGRAM FOR ZIP CODE LOCALIZATION 6 OF AREA MEDIAN INCOME CALCULATIONS. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 8 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Housing 9 and Urban Development shall establish a waiver program 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:19 Jul 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3715.IH H3715 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3715 IH to be known as the Area Median Income Localization 1 Waiver (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘waiver program’’). 2 (b) THE WAIVER PROGRAM.—The waiver program 3 established by the Secretary pursuant to subsection (a) 4 shall allow a county government, or corresponding func- 5 tional unit of government, to calculate area median income 6 for covered programs using— 7 (1) a ZIP Code as the area for calculation; and 8 (2) a group of counties that each share a bor- 9 der with such county as the area for calculation. 10 (c) APPLICATION.—A county government, or a cor- 11 responding functional unit of government, may apply to 12 participate in the waiver program by submitting an appli- 13 cation to the Secretary at such time and in such manner 14 as the Secretary may reasonably require. 15 (d) SELECTION.—The Secretary shall grant a waiver 16 to each county government, or corresponding functional 17 unit of government, that submits an application pursuant 18 to subsection (c). 19 (e) USE OF WAIVER.—A county government, or cor- 20 responding functional unit of government, that receives a 21 waiver under subsection (d) may, with respect to a covered 22 program, calculate area median income using— 23 (1) a ZIP Code as the area for calculation; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:19 Jul 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3715.IH H3715 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3715 IH (2) a group of counties that each share a bor- 1 der with such county as the area for calculation; or 2 (3) the original means for calculation provided 3 by law for the program. 4 (f) COVERED PROGRAM DEFINED.—In this section, 5 the term ‘‘covered program’’ means the following pro- 6 grams administered by the Secretary of Housing and 7 Urban Development or the Secretary of Agriculture: 8 (1) The public housing program under the 9 United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 10 et seq.). 11 (2) The program for rental assistance under 12 section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 13 (42 U.S.C. 1437f). 14 (3) The HOME Investment Partnerships pro- 15 gram under title II of the Cranton-Gonzalez Na- 16 tional Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12721 et 17 seq.). 18 (4) The programs under Title IV of the McKin- 19 ney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 20 11360 et seq.). 21 (5) The Housing Trust Fund program under 22 section 1338 of the Housing and Community Devel- 23 opment Act of 1992 (12 U.S.C 4568). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:19 Jul 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3715.IH H3715 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3715 IH (6) The program for supportive housing for the 1 elderly under section 202 of the Housing Act of 2 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q). 3 (7) The program for supportive housing for 4 persons with disabilities under section 811 of the 5 Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act 6 (42 U.S.C. 8013). 7 (8) The AIDS Housing Opportunities program 8 under subtitle D of title VIII of the Cranston-Gon- 9 zalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 10 12901 et seq.). 11 (9) The program for Native American housing 12 under the Native American Housing Assistance and 13 Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4101 et 14 seq.). 15 (10) The program for housing assistance for 16 Native Hawaiians under title VIII of the Native 17 American Housing Assistance and Self-Determina- 18 tion Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4221 et seq.). 19 (11) The programs for assistance for rural 20 rental housing under title V of the Housing Act of 21 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1471 et seq.). 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:19 Jul 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3715.IH H3715 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 3715 IH SEC. 3. ASSESSMENT REGARDING OPTIMIZING USE OF 1 AREA MEDIAN INCOME TO SUPPORT AFFORD- 2 ABLE HOUSING IN MOUNTAIN COMMUNITIES. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct a 4 study designed to— 5 (1) identify— 6 (A) alternative methods for calculating 7 area median income; and 8 (B) alternative metrics that would make 9 housing more affordable for low-income families 10 residing in mountain communities; and 11 (2) evaluate how factoring roommates into area 12 median income calculations for seasonal workers 13 would impact housing assistance. 14 (b) REPORT.— 15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Housing 16 and Urban Development shall, not later than 2 years 17 after the date of the enactment of this Act, submit 18 to the Committee on Financial Services of the House 19 of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, 20 Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate, and 21 make publicly available, a report that describes the 22 findings of the study conducted pursuant to sub- 23 section (a). 24 (2) REPORT CONTENTS.—The report submitted 25 pursuant to subparagraph (1) shall include— 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:19 Jul 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3715.IH H3715 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 3715 IH (A) a summary of all significant findings; 1 (B) recommendations found in any prior 2 reports about the use of area median income; 3 (C) an assessment of the extent and im- 4 pacts of the affordable housing crisis in moun- 5 tain communities nationwide, particularly with- 6 in jurisdictions for which the Secretary has ap- 7 plied a high housing cost adjustment, including 8 a comparison of rent burdens for very low-in- 9 come households and seasonal workers in juris- 10 dictions with and without high housing cost ad- 11 justments; 12 (D) an assessment of the effects that high 13 housing cost adjustments have had on income 14 limits and rent prices in mountain communities 15 for which the Secretary has applied such an ad- 16 justment, including any effects on maximum 17 rents allowed under sections 42 and 142 of the 18 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 for tax-sub- 19 sidized units; 20 (E) recommendations for reforming or 21 eliminating the use of area median income for 22 the purposes of making housing more afford- 23 able for low-income and seasonal workers in 24 mountain communities; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:19 Jul 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3715.IH H3715 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 3715 IH (F) recommendations for using existing 1 authorities of the Secretary to make housing 2 more affordable for low-income and seasonal 3 workers in mountain communities, particularly 4 in areas for which the Secretary has applied a 5 high housing cost adjustment. 6 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 7 In this Act: 8 (1) AREA MEDIAN INCOME.—The term ‘‘area 9 median income’’ means median income for an area, 10 as such term is used in section 3(b) of the United 11 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)), 12 median family income, and any other substantively 13 similar metric that the Secretary uses to refer to the 14 median income level for a given area or jurisdiction 15 for purposes of any program administered by the 16 Secretary. 17 (2) HIGH HOUSING COST ADJUSTMENT.—The 18 term ‘‘high housing cost adjustment’’ an adjustment 19 for high housing costs, high construction costs, or 20 high costs of living, or any substantively similar ad- 21 justment that the Secretary may use to increase in- 22 come limits for areas where the cost of housing is 23 abnormally high compared to the median income for 24 such area. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:19 Jul 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3715.IH H3715 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 3715 IH (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 1 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 2 (4) MOUNTAIN COMMUNITIES.—The term 3 ‘‘mountain communities’’ means any rural area, as 4 defined in section 1490 of title 42, United States 5 Code, located in the Mountain Division within the 6 Census Bureau’s Western Region. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:19 Jul 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3715.IH H3715 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB