Tribal HUD–VASH Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4155 To provide for rental assistance for homeless or at-risk Indian veterans, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 15, 2023 Mr. COLE (for himself, Ms. DAVIDS of Kansas, Mr. CISCOMANI, Ms. MCCOL- LUM, Mr. ZINKE, and Mr. MCGOVERN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To provide for rental assistance for homeless or at-risk Indian veterans, 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 ‘‘Tribal HUD–VASH 4 Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. RENTAL ASSISTANCE FOR HOMELESS OR AT-RISK 6 INDIAN VETERANS. 7 Section 8(o)(19) of the United States Housing Act 8 of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(19)) is amended— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:47 Jul 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4155.IH H4155 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 4155 IH (1) by redesignating subparagraph (D) as sub- 1 paragraph (E); and 2 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the fol- 3 lowing new subparagraph (D): 4 ‘‘(D) INDIAN VETERANS HOUSING RENTAL 5 ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.— 6 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—In this subpara- 7 graph: 8 ‘‘(I) ELIGIBLE INDIAN VET- 9 ERAN.—The term ‘eligible Indian vet- 10 eran’ means an Indian veteran who 11 is— 12 ‘‘(aa) homeless or at risk of 13 homelessness; and 14 ‘‘(bb) living— 15 ‘‘(AA) on or near a res- 16 ervation; or 17 ‘‘(BB) in or near any 18 other Indian area. 19 ‘‘(II) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT.— 20 The term ‘eligible recipient’ means a 21 recipient eligible to receive a grant 22 under section 101 of the Native 23 American Housing Assistance and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:47 Jul 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4155.IH H4155 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 4155 IH Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 1 U.S.C. 4111). 2 ‘‘(III) INDIAN; INDIAN AREA.— 3 The terms ‘Indian’ and ‘Indian area’ 4 have the meanings given those terms 5 in section 4 of the Native American 6 Housing Assistance and Self-Deter- 7 mination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 8 4103). 9 ‘‘(IV) INDIAN VETERAN.—The 10 term ‘Indian veteran’ means an In- 11 dian who is a veteran. 12 ‘‘(V) PROGRAM.—The term ‘Pro- 13 gram’ means the Tribal HUD–VASH 14 program carried out under clause (ii). 15 ‘‘(VI) TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.— 16 The term ‘tribal organization’ has the 17 meaning given the term in section 4 18 of the Indian Self-Determination and 19 Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 20 5304). 21 ‘‘(ii) PROGRAM SPECIFICATIONS.— 22 The Secretary may use up to 5 percent of 23 the amounts made available for rental as- 24 sistance under this paragraph to carry out 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:47 Jul 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4155.IH H4155 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 4155 IH a rental assistance and supported housing 1 program, to be known as the ‘Tribal 2 HUD–VASH program’, in conjunction 3 with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, by 4 awarding grants for the benefit of eligible 5 Indian veterans. 6 ‘‘(iii) MODEL.— 7 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Except as 8 provided in subclause (II), the Sec- 9 retary shall model the Program on the 10 rental assistance and supported hous- 11 ing program authorized under sub- 12 paragraph (A) and applicable appro- 13 priations Acts, including administra- 14 tion in conjunction with the Secretary 15 of Veterans Affairs. 16 ‘‘(II) EXCEPTIONS.— 17 ‘‘(aa) SECRETARY OF HOUS- 18 ING AND URBAN DEVELOP- 19 MENT.—After consultation with 20 Indian tribes, eligible recipients, 21 and any other appropriate tribal 22 organizations, the Secretary may 23 make necessary and appropriate 24 modifications to facilitate the use 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:47 Jul 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4155.IH H4155 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 4155 IH of the Program by eligible recipi- 1 ents to serve eligible Indian vet- 2 erans. 3 ‘‘(bb) SECRETARY OF VET- 4 ERANS AFFAIRS.—After consulta- 5 tion with Indian tribes, eligible 6 recipients, and any other appro- 7 priate tribal organizations, the 8 Secretary of Veterans Affairs 9 may make necessary and appro- 10 priate modifications to facilitate 11 the use of the Program by eligi- 12 ble recipients to serve eligible In- 13 dian veterans. 14 ‘‘(iv) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.—The 15 Secretary shall make amounts for rental 16 assistance and associated administrative 17 costs under the Program available in the 18 form of grants to eligible recipients. 19 ‘‘(v) FUNDING CRITERIA.—The Sec- 20 retary shall award grants under the Pro- 21 gram based on— 22 ‘‘(I) need; 23 ‘‘(II) administrative capacity; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:47 Jul 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4155.IH H4155 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 4155 IH ‘‘(III) any other funding criteria 1 established by the Secretary in a no- 2 tice published in the Federal Register 3 after consulting with the Secretary of 4 Veterans Affairs. 5 ‘‘(vi) ADMINISTRATION.—Grants 6 awarded under the Program shall be ad- 7 ministered in accordance with the Native 8 American Housing Assistance and Self-De- 9 termination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4101 10 et seq.), except that recipients shall— 11 ‘‘(I) submit to the Secretary, in a 12 manner prescribed by the Secretary, 13 reports on the utilization of rental as- 14 sistance provided under the Program; 15 and 16 ‘‘(II) provide to the Secretary in- 17 formation specified by the Secretary 18 to assess the effectiveness of the Pro- 19 gram in serving eligible Indian vet- 20 erans. 21 ‘‘(vii) CONSULTATION.— 22 ‘‘(I) GRANT RECIPIENTS; TRIBAL 23 ORGANIZATIONS.—The Secretary, in 24 coordination with the Secretary of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:47 Jul 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4155.IH H4155 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 4155 IH Veterans Affairs, shall consult with el- 1 igible recipients and any other appro- 2 priate tribal organization on the de- 3 sign of the Program to ensure the ef- 4 fective delivery of rental assistance 5 and supportive services to eligible In- 6 dian veterans under the Program. 7 ‘‘(II) INDIAN HEALTH SERV- 8 ICE.—The Director of the Indian 9 Health Service shall provide any as- 10 sistance requested by the Secretary or 11 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in 12 carrying out the Program. 13 ‘‘(viii) WAIVER.— 14 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Except as 15 provided in subclause (II), the Sec- 16 retary may waive or specify alter- 17 native requirements for any provision 18 of law (including regulations) that the 19 Secretary administers in connection 20 with the use of rental assistance made 21 available under the Program if the 22 Secretary finds that the waiver or al- 23 ternative requirement is necessary for 24 the effective delivery and administra- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:47 Jul 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4155.IH H4155 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 4155 IH tion of rental assistance under the 1 Program to eligible Indian veterans. 2 ‘‘(II) EXCEPTION.—The Sec- 3 retary may not waive or specify alter- 4 native requirements under subclause 5 (I) for any provision of law (including 6 regulations) relating to labor stand- 7 ards or the environment. 8 ‘‘(ix) RENEWAL GRANTS.—The Sec- 9 retary may— 10 ‘‘(I) set aside, from amounts 11 made available for tenant-based rental 12 assistance under this subsection and 13 without regard to the amounts used 14 for new grants under clause (ii), such 15 amounts as may be necessary to 16 award renewal grants to eligible re- 17 cipients that received a grant under 18 the Program in a previous year; and 19 ‘‘(II) specify criteria that an eli- 20 gible recipient must satisfy to receive 21 a renewal grant under subclause (I), 22 including providing data on how the 23 eligible recipient used the amounts of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:47 Jul 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4155.IH H4155 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 4155 IH any grant previously received under 1 the Program. 2 ‘‘(x) REPORTING.—Not later than 1 3 year after the date of the enactment of this 4 subparagraph, and every 5 years there- 5 after, the Secretary, in coordination with 6 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the 7 Director of the Indian Health Service, 8 shall— 9 ‘‘(I) conduct a review of the im- 10 plementation of the Program, includ- 11 ing any factors that may have limited 12 its success; and 13 ‘‘(II) submit a report describing 14 the results of the review under sub- 15 clause (II) to— 16 ‘‘(aa) the Committee on In- 17 dian Affairs, the Committee on 18 Banking, Housing, and Urban 19 Affairs, the Committee on Vet- 20 erans’ Affairs, and the Com- 21 mittee on Appropriations of the 22 Senate; and 23 ‘‘(bb) the Subcommittee for 24 Indian and Insular Affairs of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:47 Jul 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4155.IH H4155 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 4155 IH Committee on Natural Resources, 1 the Committee on Financial 2 Services, the Committee on Vet- 3 erans’ Affairs, and the Com- 4 mittee on Appropriations of the 5 House of Representatives. 6 ‘‘(xi) IMPACT ON FORMULA CURRENT 7 ASSISTED STOCK.—For a given fiscal 8 year’s allocation formula of the Native 9 American Housing Block Grants program, 10 as authorized under title I of NAHASDA 11 (25 U.S.C. 4111 et seq.), the number of 12 qualifying low-income housing dwelling 13 units under section 302(b)(1) of 14 NAHASDA (25 U.S.C. 4152(b)(1)) shall 15 not be reduced due to the placement of an 16 eligible Indian veteran assisted with 17 amounts provided under the Tribal HUD– 18 VASH Program within such qualifying 19 units.’’. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:47 Jul 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4155.IH H4155 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB