II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5223 

To require Community Development Block Grant and Surface Transportation 

Block Grant recipients to develop a strategy to support inclusive zoning 

policies, to allow for a credit to support housing affordability, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 8, 2022 

Mr. BOOKER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To require Community Development Block Grant and Surface Transportation Block Grant recipients to develop 

a strategy to support inclusive zoning policies, to allow 

for a credit to support housing affordability, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Housing, Opportunity, 

5 Mobility, and Equity Act of 2022’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT FOR CDBG GRANTEES. 

2 Section 104 of the Housing and Community Develop3 ment Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5304) is amended by adding 

4 at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(n) STRATEGY TO INCREASE THE AFFORDABLE

6 HOUSING STOCK.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each grantee receiving as8 sistance under this title shall— 

9 ‘‘(A) include in the consolidated plan re10 quired under part 91 of title 24, Code of Fed11 eral Regulations (or any successor thereto), a 

12 strategy to support new inclusive zoning poli13 cies, programs, or regulatory initiatives that 

14 create a more affordable, elastic, and diverse 

15 housing supply and thereby increase economic 

16 growth and access to jobs and housing; and 

17 ‘‘(B) implement the strategy described in 

18 subparagraph (A) and demonstrate continuous 

19 progress in advancing the goals described in 

20 section (2)(A), and include that implementation 

21 and progress in the annual performance report 

22 submitted under section 91.520 of title 24, 

23 Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor 

24 thereto). 

25 ‘‘(2) INCLUSIONS.—The strategy under para26 graph (1) shall— 


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1 ‘‘(A) demonstrate— 

2 ‘‘(i) transformative activities in com3 munities that— 

4 ‘‘(I) reduce barriers to housing 

5 development, including affordable 

6 housing; and 

7 ‘‘(II) increase housing supply af8 fordability and elasticity; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) strong connections between hous10 ing, transportation, and workforce plan11 ning; 

12 ‘‘(B) include, as appropriate, policies relat13 ing to inclusive land use, such as— 

14 ‘‘(i) for the purpose of adding afford15 able units, increasing both the percentage 

16 and absolute number of affordable units— 

17 ‘‘(I) authorizing high-density and 

18 multifamily zoning; 

19 ‘‘(II) eliminating off-street park20 ing requirements; 

21 ‘‘(III) establishing density bo22 nuses, defined as increases in per23 mitted density of a housing develop24 ment conditioned upon the inclusion 


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1 of affordable housing in the develop2 ment; 

3 ‘‘(IV) streamlining or shortening 

4 permitting processes and timelines; 

5 ‘‘(V) removing height limitations; 

6 ‘‘(VI) establishing by-right devel7 opment, defined as the elimination of 

8 discretionary review processes when 

9 zoning standards are met; 

10 ‘‘(VII) using property tax abate11 ments; and 

12 ‘‘(VIII) relaxing lot size restric13 tions; 

14 ‘‘(ii) prohibiting source of income dis15 crimination; 

16 ‘‘(iii) taxing vacant land or donating 

17 vacant land to nonprofit developers; 

18 ‘‘(iv) allowing accessory dwelling 

19 units; 

20 ‘‘(v) establishing development tax or 

21 value capture incentives; and 

22 ‘‘(vi) prohibiting landlords from ask23 ing prospective tenants for their criminal 

24 history; 


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1 ‘‘(C) provide that affordable housing units 

2 should, to the maximum extent practicable, and 

3 unless alternate policies would result in more 

4 rapid progress toward and achievement of the 

5 goals described in subparagraph (A)— 

6 ‘‘(i) be designated as affordable for 

7 the useful life of the units; 

8 ‘‘(ii) require that a proportion of the 

9 new housing stock in the community is at 

10 least as great as the percentage of the pop11 ulation of the community requiring such 

12 units in order to not be an eligible indi13 vidual under section 36A of the Internal 

14 Revenue Code; and 

15 ‘‘(iii) be accessible to the population 

16 served by the program established under 

17 this title; and 

18 ‘‘(D) where applicable, specify how the 

19 strategy will increase affordable housing options 

20 for individuals living in— 

21 ‘‘(i) rural areas; 

22 ‘‘(ii) persistent poverty counties, de23 fined as any county with a poverty rate of 

24 not less than 20 percent, as determined in 

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1 suses, and in the Small Area Income and 

2 Poverty Estimates by the Bureau of the 

3 Census for the most recent year for which 

4 the estimates are available; and 

5 ‘‘(iii) high-poverty areas, defined as 

6 any census tract with a poverty rate of not 

7 less than 20 percent as measured by the 

8 2013–2017 5-year data series available 

9 from the American Community Survey of 

10 the Bureau of the Census.’’. 

11 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT FOR SURFACE TRANSPORTATION 

12 BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM. 

13 Section 133 of title 23, United States Code, is 

14 amended by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘(l) IMPLEMENTATION OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING

16 STRATEGY.—A project under this section may not be car17 ried out unless the community in which the project is lo18 cated has implemented a strategy to increase affordable 

19 housing stock as described in subsection (n) of section 104 

20 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 

21 (42 U.S.C. 5304).’’. 

22 SEC. 4. REFUNDABLE CREDIT FOR RENT COSTS OF ELIGI23 BLE INDIVIDUALS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart C of part IV of sub25 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 


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1 1986 is amended by inserting after section 36 the fol2 lowing new section: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 36A. RENT COSTS OF ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS. 

4 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an eligible indi5 vidual, there shall be allowed as a credit against the tax 

6 imposed by this subtitle for the taxable year an amount 

7 equal to the excess of— 

8 ‘‘(1) the lesser of— 

9 ‘‘(A) the small area fair market rent (or, 

10 if the small area fair market rent is not avail11 able, the fair market rent), including the utility 

12 allowance, published by the Department of 

13 Housing and Urban Development for purposes 

14 of the housing choice voucher program under 

15 section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act 

16 of 1938 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o))— 

17 ‘‘(i) in the case of a one-individual 

18 household, for an efficiency, and 

19 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a household com20 prised of more than one individual, for a 

21 residence the number of bedrooms in which 

22 would not require— 

23 ‘‘(I) more than two members of 

24 the household of the individual to 

25 share a bedroom, 


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1 ‘‘(II) children of different gen2 ders to share a bedroom, or 

3 ‘‘(III) a household member with 

4 a disability requiring medical equip5 ment to share a bedroom, or 

6 ‘‘(B) the rent paid during the taxable year 

7 by the individual (and, if married, the individ8 ual’s spouse) for the principal residence of the 

9 individual, over 

10 ‘‘(2) an amount equal to 30 percent of the ad11 justed gross income of the taxpayer for the taxable 

12 year. 

13 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL.—For purposes of this 

14 section— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible indi16 vidual’ means any individual if the rent paid during 

17 the taxable year by the individual (and, if married, 

18 the individual’s spouse) for the principal residence of 

19 the individual exceeds 30 percent of the adjusted 

20 gross income of the taxpayer for the taxable year. 

21 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTIONS.—Such term shall not in22 clude any individual if— 

23 ‘‘(A) the individual does not include on the 

24 return of tax for the taxable year such individ25 ual’s taxpayer identification number and, if 


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1 married, the taxpayer identification number of 

2 such individual’s spouse, or 

3 ‘‘(B) a deduction under section 151 with 

4 respect to such individual is allowable to an5 other taxpayer for the taxable year. 

6 ‘‘(3) MARRIED INDIVIDUALS.—Such term shall 

7 include an individual who is married only if a joint 

8 return is filed for the taxable year. 

9 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL RULES.— 

10 ‘‘(A) PRINCIPAL RESIDENCE.—The term 

11 ‘principal residence’ has the same meaning as 

12 when used in section 121. 

13 ‘‘(B) MARRIED.—Marital status shall be 

14 determined under section 7703. 

15 ‘‘(c) RENT.—For purposes of this section, rent paid 

16 includes any amount paid for utilities of a type taken into 

17 account for purposes of determining the utility allowance 

18 under section 42(g)(2)(B)(ii). 

19 ‘‘(d) COORDINATION WITH CERTAIN MEANS-TESTED

20 PROGRAMS.—Rules similar to the rules of section 32(l) 

21 shall apply to refunds made by reason of this section. 

22 ‘‘(e) RECONCILIATION OF CREDIT AND ADVANCE

23 PAYMENTS.—The amount of the credit allowed under this 

24 section for any taxable year shall be reduced (but not 

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1 ments of such credit under section 7527B for such taxable 

2 year.’’. 

3 (b) ADVANCE PAYMENT OF RENTAL COSTS TAX

4 CREDIT.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 77 of the Internal 

6 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after 

7 section 7527A the following new section: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 7527B. ADVANCE PAYMENT OF RENTAL COSTS TAX 

9 CREDIT. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 6 months after 

11 the date of the enactment of the Housing, Opportunity, 

12 Mobility, and Equity Act of 2022, the Secretary shall es13 tablish a program for making advance payments of the 

14 credit allowed under section 36A on a monthly basis (de15 termined without regard to subsection (e) of such section) 

16 to any taxpayer who— 

17 ‘‘(1) the Secretary has determined, in the man18 ner provided in subsection (c), will be allowed such 

19 credit for the taxable year, and 

20 ‘‘(2) has made an election under subsection (d). 

21 ‘‘(b) AMOUNT OF ADVANCE PAYMENT.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of subsection 

23 (a), the amount of the monthly advance payment of 

24 the credit provided to a taxpayer during the applica25 ble period shall be equal to the lesser of— 


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1 ‘‘(A) an amount equal to— 

2 ‘‘(i) the amount of the credit which 

3 the Secretary has estimated, in the manner 

4 provided in subsection (c), will be allowed 

5 to such taxpayer under section 36A for the 

6 taxable year ending in such applicable pe7 riod, divided by 

8 ‘‘(ii) 12, or 

9 ‘‘(B) such other amount as is elected by 

10 the taxpayer. 

11 ‘‘(2) APPLICABLE PERIOD.—For purposes of 

12 this section, the term ‘applicable period’ means the 

13 12-month period from the month of July of the tax14 able year through the month of June of the subse15 quent taxable year. 

16 ‘‘(c) MANNER OF DETERMINING ELIGIBILITY.—The 

17 Secretary shall determine eligibility for the credit under 

18 section 36A, and the estimated amount of such credit, 

19 based on the taxpayer’s adjusted gross income for the pre20 ceding taxable year, the mean fair market rental amount 

21 with respect to the individual for such preceding year, and 

22 the rent paid during such preceding year by the individual 

23 (and, if married, the individual’s spouse) for the principal 

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1 section which are also used in section 36A shall have the 

2 same meaning as when used in such section. 

3 ‘‘(d) ELECTION OF ADVANCE PAYMENT.—A taxpayer 

4 may elect to receive an advance payment of the credit al5 lowed under section 36A for any taxable year by including 

6 such election on a timely filed return for the preceding 

7 taxable year. 

8 ‘‘(e) INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE NOTIFICATION.— 

9 The Internal Revenue Service shall take such steps as may 

10 be appropriate to ensure that taxpayers who are eligible 

11 to receive the credit under section 36A are aware of the 

12 availability of the advance payment of such credit under 

13 this section. 

14 ‘‘(f) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary may prescribe such 

15 regulations or other guidance as may be appropriate or 

16 necessary for the purposes of carrying out this section.’’. 

17 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.— 

18 (1) The table of sections for subpart C of part 

19 IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Rev20 enue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting after the 

21 item relating to section 36 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 36A. Rent costs of eligible individuals.’’. 

22 (2) The table of sections for chapter 77 of such 

23 Code is amended by inserting after the item relating 

24 to section 7527A the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 7527B. Advance payment of rental costs tax credit.’’. 


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1 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 

2 6211(b)(4)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

3 amended by inserting ‘‘, 36A’’ after ‘‘36’’. 

4 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

5 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

6 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

7 (f) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

8 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury 

9 shall submit to Congress a report on the credit allowed 

10 under section 36A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

11 (as added by subsection (a)) and the advance payment of 

12 such credit under section 7527A of such Code (as added 

13 by subsection (b)), including on whether taxpayers are 

14 fraudulently claiming such credit or advance payments. 

15 SEC. 5. REFUND TO RAINY DAY SAVINGS PROGRAM. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than December 31, 

17 2022, the Secretary of the Treasury or the Secretary’s del18 egate (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall 

19 establish and implement a program (referred to in this 

20 section as the ‘‘Refund to Rainy Day Savings Program’’) 

21 to allow a participating taxpayer, pursuant to the require22 ments established under this section, to defer payment on 

23 20 percent of the amount which would otherwise be re24 funded to such taxpayer as an overpayment (as described 

25 in section 6401 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986). 


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1 (b) PERIOD OF DEFERRAL.—Except as provided 

2 under subsection (c)(5), a participating taxpayer may elect 

3 to defer payment of the amount described in subsection 

4 (a) and have such amount deposited in the Rainy Day 

5 Fund (as described in subsection (c)). 

6 (c) RAINY DAY FUND.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 

8 a fund, in such manner as the Secretary determines 

9 to be appropriate, to be known as the ‘‘Rainy Day 

10 Fund’’, consisting of any amounts described in sub11 section (a) on which payment has been deferred by 

12 participating taxpayers. 

13 (2) INVESTMENT.—Any amounts deposited in 

14 the Rainy Day Fund shall be invested by the Sec15 retary, in coordination with the Bureau of the Fiscal 

16 Service of the Department of the Treasury, in 

17 United States Treasury bills issued under chapter 

18 31 of title 31, United States Code, with maturities 

19 suitable for the needs of the Fund and selected so 

20 as to provide the highest return on investment for 

21 participating taxpayers. 

22 (3) DISBURSEMENTS FROM FUND.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—On the date that is 180 

24 days after receipt of the individual income tax 

25 return of a participating taxpayer, the amounts 


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1 in the Rainy Day Fund shall be made available 

2 to the Secretary to distribute to such taxpayer 

3 in an amount equal to the amount deferred by 

4 such taxpayer under subsection (a) and any in5 terest accrued on such amount (as determined 

6 under paragraph (4)). 

7 (B) DISTRIBUTED TO BANK ACCOUNT.— 

8 The amounts described in subparagraph (A) 

9 shall be distributed to the bank account identi10 fied by the participating taxpayer under sub11 section (d)(3). 

12 (4) INTEREST ACCRUED.—The amount of inter13 est accrued on the amount deferred by a partici14 pating taxpayer under subsection (a) shall be deter15 mined by the Secretary, in coordination with the Bu16 reau of the Fiscal Service of the Department of the 

17 Treasury, based upon the return on the investment 

18 of such amounts under paragraph (2). 

19 (5) EARLY WITHDRAWAL.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—On any date during the 

21 period between the date which is 30 days after 

22 receipt by the Secretary of the individual in23 come tax return of the participating taxpayer 

24 and October 15 of the applicable year, such tax25 payer may elect to terminate the deferral of the 


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1 amount described under subsection (a) and re2 ceive a distribution from the Rainy Day Fund 

3 equal to such amount and any interest which 

4 has accrued on such amount up to that date. 

5 (B) COMPLETE WITHDRAWAL.—A partici6 pating taxpayer making an election under sub7 paragraph (A) must terminate deferral of the 

8 full amount described under subsection (a), and 

9 such amount shall be distributed to the bank 

10 account identified by the participating taxpayer 

11 under subsection (d)(3). 

12 (d) PARTICIPATING TAXPAYER.—For purposes of 

13 this section, the term ‘‘participating taxpayer’’ means a 

14 taxpayer who— 

15 (1) has not requested or received an extension 

16 of the time for payment of taxes for such taxable 

17 year under section 6161 of the Internal Revenue 

18 Code of 1986; 

19 (2) prior to the due date for filing the return 

20 of tax for such taxable year, elects to participate in 

21 the Refund to Rainy Day Savings Program; and 

22 (3) provides the Secretary with a bank account 

23 number and any other financial information deemed 

24 necessary by the Secretary for purposes of para25 graphs (3)(B) and (5)(B) of subsection (c). 


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1 (e) FORMS.—The Secretary shall ensure that the 

2 election to defer payment of the amount described in sub3 section (a) may be claimed on Forms 1040, 1040A, and 

4 1040EZ. 

5 (f) IMPLEMENTATION.— 

6 (1) EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS AND OUT7 REACH.—The Secretary shall— 

8 (A) design educational materials for tax9 payers regarding financial savings and the Re10 fund to Rainy Day Savings Program; 

11 (B) publicly disseminate and distribute 

12 such materials during the first calendar quarter 

13 of each calendar year and following disburse14 ment of amounts described in subsection (c)(3); 

15 and 

16 (C) engage in outreach regarding the Re17 fund to Rainy Day Savings Program to the Vol18 unteer Income Tax Assistance program and 

19 paid tax preparers. 

20 (2) INFORMATION FOR PARTICIPATING TAX21 PAYERS.—The Secretary shall ensure that a partici22 pating taxpayer is able to electronically verify the 

23 status of the amount deferred by such taxpayer 

24 under subsection (a), including any interest accrued 

25 on such amount and the status of any distribution. 


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1 (3) FEDERALLY FUNDED BENEFITS.—Any 

2 amounts described in subsection (a) which are dis3 tributed to a participating taxpayer, including any 

4 interest accrued on such amount, shall be treated in 

5 the same manner as any refund made to such tax6 payer under section 32 of the Internal Revenue Code 

7 of 1986 for purposes of determining the eligibility of 

8 such taxpayer for benefits or assistance, or the 

9 amount or extent of benefits or assistance, under 

10 any Federal program or under any State or local 

11 program financed in whole or in part with Federal 

12 funds. 

Æ 


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