Military Housing Readiness Council Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2047 To amend title 10, United States Code, to create a Department of Defense Military Housing Readiness Council to enhance oversight and account- ability for deficiencies in military housing, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 20, 2023 Ms. WARREN (for herself, Mrs. SHAHEEN, and Ms. HIRONO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To amend title 10, United States Code, to create a Depart- ment of Defense Military Housing Readiness Council to enhance oversight and accountability for deficiencies in military 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 ‘‘Military Housing 4 Readiness Council Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:33 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2047.IS S2047 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 2047 IS SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE MILITARY HOUSING 1 READINESS COUNCIL. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 88 of title 3 10, United States Code, is amended by inserting after sec- 4 tion 1781c the following new section: 5 ‘‘§ 1781d. Department of Defense Military Housing 6 Readiness Council 7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is in the Department of 8 Defense the Department of Defense Military Housing 9 Readiness Council (in this section referred to as the 10 ‘Council’). 11 ‘‘(b) MEMBERS.— 12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Council shall be com- 13 posed of the following members: 14 ‘‘(A) The Assistant Secretary of Defense 15 for Energy, Installations, and Environment, 16 who shall serve as chair of the Council and who 17 may designate a representative to chair the 18 Council in the absence of the Assistant Sec- 19 retary. 20 ‘‘(B) One representative of each of the 21 Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and 22 Space Force, each of whom shall be a member 23 of the armed force to be represented and not 24 fewer than two of which shall be from an en- 25 listed component. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:33 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2047.IS S2047 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 2047 IS ‘‘(C) One spouse of a member of each of 1 the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and 2 Space Force on active duty, not fewer than two 3 of which shall be the spouse of an enlisted 4 member. 5 ‘‘(D) One professional from each of the fol- 6 lowing fields, each of whom shall possess exper- 7 tise in State and Federal housing standards in 8 their respective field: 9 ‘‘(i) Plumbing. 10 ‘‘(ii) Electrical. 11 ‘‘(iii) Heating, ventilation, and air 12 conditioning (HVAC). 13 ‘‘(iv) Certified home inspection. 14 ‘‘(v) Roofing. 15 ‘‘(vi) Structural engineering. 16 ‘‘(vii) Window fall prevention and 17 safety. 18 ‘‘(E) Two representatives of organizations 19 that advocate on behalf of military families with 20 respect to military housing. 21 ‘‘(F) One individual appointed by the Sec- 22 retary of Defense among representatives of the 23 International Code Council. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:33 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2047.IS S2047 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 2047 IS ‘‘(G) One individual appointed by the Sec- 1 retary of Defense among representatives of the 2 Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restora- 3 tion Certification. 4 ‘‘(H) One individual appointed by the Sec- 5 retary of Defense among representatives of a 6 voluntary consensus standards body that devel- 7 ops construction standards (such as building, 8 plumbing, mechanical, or electrical). 9 ‘‘(I) One individual appointed by the Sec- 10 retary of Defense among representatives of a 11 voluntary consensus standards body that devel- 12 ops personnel certification standards for build- 13 ing maintenance or restoration. 14 ‘‘(J) One individual appointed by the Chair 15 of the Committee on Armed Services of the 16 Senate who is not described in subparagraph 17 (B), (C), or (D) and is not a representative of 18 an organization specified in subparagraph (E), 19 (F), (G), (H), or (I). 20 ‘‘(K) One individual appointed by the 21 Ranking Member of the Committee on Armed 22 Services of the Senate who is not described in 23 subparagraph (B), (C), or (D) and is not a rep- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:33 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2047.IS S2047 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 2047 IS resentative of an organization specified in sub- 1 paragraph (E), (F), (G), (H), or (I). 2 ‘‘(L) One individual appointed by the 3 Chair of the Committee on Armed Services of 4 the House of Representatives who is not de- 5 scribed in subparagraph (B), (C), or (D) and is 6 not a representative of an organization specified 7 in subparagraph (E), (F), (G), (H), or (I). 8 ‘‘(M) One individual appointed by the 9 Ranking Member of the Committee on Armed 10 Services of the House of Representatives who is 11 not described in subparagraph (B), (C), or (D) 12 and is not a representative of an organization 13 specified in subparagraph (E), (F), (G), (H), or 14 (I). 15 ‘‘(2) TERMS.—The term on the Council of the 16 members specified under subparagraphs (B) through 17 (M) of paragraph (1) shall be two years and may be 18 renewed by the Secretary of Defense. 19 ‘‘(3) ATTENDANCE BY LANDLORDS.—The chair 20 of the Council shall extend an invitation to each 21 landlord for one representative of each landlord to 22 attend such meetings of the Council as the chair 23 considers appropriate. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:33 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2047.IS S2047 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 2047 IS ‘‘(4) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN 1 MEMBERS.—Each member appointed under para- 2 graph (1)(D) may not be affiliated with— 3 ‘‘(A) any organization that provides 4 privatized military housing; or 5 ‘‘(B) the Department of Defense. 6 ‘‘(c) MEETINGS.—The Council shall meet two times 7 each year. 8 ‘‘(d) DUTIES.—The duties of the Council shall in- 9 clude the following: 10 ‘‘(1) To review and make recommendations to 11 the Secretary of Defense regarding policies for 12 privatized military housing, including inspections 13 practices, resident surveys, landlord payment of 14 medical bills for residents of housing units that have 15 not maintained minimum standards of habitability, 16 and access to maintenance work order systems. 17 ‘‘(2) To monitor compliance by the Department 18 of Defense with and effective implementation by the 19 Department of statutory and regulatory improve- 20 ments to policies for privatized military housing, in- 21 cluding the Military Housing Privatization Initiative 22 Tenant Bill of Rights developed under section 2890 23 of this title and the complaint database established 24 under section 2894a of this title. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:33 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2047.IS S2047 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 2047 IS ‘‘(3) To make recommendations to the Sec- 1 retary of Defense to improve collaboration, aware- 2 ness, and promotion of accurate and timely informa- 3 tion about privatized military housing, accommoda- 4 tions available through the Exceptional Family 5 Member Program of the Department, and other sup- 6 port services among policymakers, providers of such 7 accommodations and other support services, and tar- 8 geted beneficiaries of such accommodations and 9 other support services. 10 ‘‘(e) PUBLIC REPORTING.— 11 ‘‘(1) AVAILABILITY OF DOCUMENTS.—Subject 12 to section 552 of title 5 (commonly known as the 13 ‘Freedom of Information Act’), the records, reports, 14 transcripts, minutes, appendices, working papers, 15 drafts, studies, agenda, and other documents made 16 available to or prepared for or by the Council shall 17 be available for public inspection and copying at a 18 single location in a publicly accessible format on a 19 website of the Department of Defense until the 20 Council ceases to exist. 21 ‘‘(2) MINUTES.— 22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Detailed minutes of 23 each meeting of the Council shall be kept and 24 shall contain— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:33 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2047.IS S2047 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 2047 IS ‘‘(i) a record of the individuals 1 present; 2 ‘‘(ii) a complete and accurate descrip- 3 tion of matters discussed and conclusions 4 reached; and 5 ‘‘(iii) copies of all reports received, 6 issued, or approved by the Council. 7 ‘‘(B) CERTIFICATION.—The chair of the 8 Council shall certify the accuracy of the min- 9 utes of each meeting of the Council. 10 ‘‘(f) ANNUAL REPORTS.— 11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than March 1 12 each year, the Council shall submit to the Secretary 13 of Defense and the congressional defense committees 14 a report on privatized military housing readiness. 15 ‘‘(2) ELEMENTS.—Each report under this sub- 16 section shall include the following: 17 ‘‘(A) An assessment of the adequacy and 18 effectiveness of the provision of privatized mili- 19 tary housing and the activities of the Depart- 20 ment of Defense in meeting the needs of mili- 21 tary families relating to housing during the pre- 22 ceding fiscal year. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:33 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2047.IS S2047 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •S 2047 IS ‘‘(B) A description of activities of the 1 Council during the preceding fiscal year, includ- 2 ing— 3 ‘‘(i) analyses of complaints of tenants 4 of housing units; 5 ‘‘(ii) data received by the Council on 6 maintenance response time and completion 7 of maintenance requests relating to hous- 8 ing units; 9 ‘‘(iii) assessments of dispute resolu- 10 tion processes; 11 ‘‘(iv) assessments of overall customer 12 service for tenants; 13 ‘‘(v) assessments of results of housing 14 inspections conducted with and without no- 15 tice; and 16 ‘‘(vi) any survey results conducted on 17 behalf of or received by the Council. 18 ‘‘(C) Recommendations on actions to be 19 taken to improve the capability of the provision 20 of privatized military housing and the activities 21 of the Department of Defense to meet the needs 22 and requirements of military families relating to 23 housing, including actions relating to the alloca- 24 tion of funding and other resources. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:33 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2047.IS S2047 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •S 2047 IS ‘‘(3) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Each report 1 under this subsection shall be made available in a 2 publicly accessible format on a website of the De- 3 partment of Defense. 4 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 5 ‘‘(1) LANDLORD.—The term ‘landlord’ has the 6 meaning given that term in section 2871 of this 7 title. 8 ‘‘(2) PRIVATIZED MILITARY HOUSING.—The 9 term ‘privatized military housing’ means housing 10 provided under subchapter IV of chapter 169 of this 11 title.’’. 12 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 13 at the beginning of such subchapter is amended by insert- 14 ing after the item relating to section 1781c the following 15 new item: 16 ‘‘1781d. Department of Defense Military Housing Readiness Council.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:33 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2047.IS S2047 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB