II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 598 

To authorize additional monies to the Public Housing Capital Fund of the 

Department of Housing and Urban Development, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 4, 2021 

Ms. WARREN (for herself, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, 

Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. BOOKER, and Ms. SMITH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To authorize additional monies to the Public Housing Capital 

Fund of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, 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 ‘‘Public Housing Emer5 gency Response Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Housing is a foundational determinant of 

2 health and has been recognized as such since the 

3 early days of public health. 

4 (2) Poor housing conditions contribute to a 

5 broad range of infectious diseases, chronic diseases, 

6 injuries, childhood development complications, nutri7 tion issues, and mental health challenges. 

8 (3) The United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 

9 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.) charges the Department of 

10 Housing and Urban Development (referred to in this 

11 section as ‘‘HUD’’) with providing individuals with 

12 a decent, safe, and affordable place to live, including 

13 individuals who live in public housing. 

14 (4) While public housing is a federally created 

15 program overseen by HUD, the properties are owned 

16 and managed at the local level by quasi-govern17 mental public housing authorities under contract 

18 with the Federal Government. 

19 (5) Thus, the public housing program is gov20 erned in part by Federal rules and regulations and 

21 in part by policies enacted at the local level. 

22 (6) In enacting the United States Housing Act 

23 of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.), Congress sought 

24 to address the needs of low-income individuals 

25 through public housing. At the time of enactment of 


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1 that Act, the housing stock of the United States was 

2 of very poor quality. Public housing was a signifi3 cant improvement for individuals who had access to 

4 it. 

5 (7) However, over the years the living condi6 tions in public housing began to deteriorate as the 

7 operational needs of the units and costs necessary to 

8 remedy major capital deficiencies began to outpace 

9 the level of funding provided by the Federal Govern10 ment and the rent contributions of residents. 

11 (8) By 1990, no significant investment in hous12 ing affordable to the lowest-income individuals had 

13 been made by the Federal Government in more than 

14 30 years. 

15 (9) In 1998, the enactment of the Quality 

16 Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 (title 

17 V of Public Law 105–276; 112 Stat. 2518) prohib18 ited public housing authorities from using any Fed19 eral capital funding or operating funding to develop 

20 net new housing. 

21 (10) More than a decade after the enactment of 

22 the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 

23 1998 (title V of Public Law 105–276; 112 Stat. 

24 2518), the number of public housing units in the 


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1 United States began to steadily decline, as more 

2 units were torn down than rebuilt. 

3 (11) With the exception of an infusion of fund4 ing from the economic stimulus legislation in 2009— 

5 the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Pub6 lic Law 111–5; 123 Stat. 115)—Federal capital 

7 funding has remained relatively level for more than 

8 a decade, despite an increasing backlog in unmet 

9 capital needs. 

10 (12) Today, there are approximately 1,200,000 

11 units of public housing across the United States re12 ceiving Federal funding. The largest public housing 

13 authority in the United States, the New York City 

14 Housing Authority, houses approximately 362,000 

15 residents in 302 developments across New York 

16 City. 

17 (13) The Public Housing Capital Fund of the 

18 Department of Housing and Urban Development re19 mains the primary source of funding public housing 

20 authorities rely on to address necessary infrastruc21 ture upgrades and repairs. 

22 (14) As of October 2019, the national public 

23 housing capital repairs backlog was estimated to 

24 stand at more than $70,000,000,000. 


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1 (15) Federal disinvestment in public housing 

2 has forced many residents to live in accelerating sub3 standard living conditions. For example, the New 

4 York City Housing Authority has a capital repair 

5 backlog currently estimated at more than 

6 $40,000,000,000. New York City Housing Authority 

7 residents suffer from a consistent lack of hot water, 

8 insufficient heat during the winter months, rodent 

9 and insect infestations, broken elevators, and wide10 spread and recurring lead and mold problems. 

11 (16) Substandard housing conditions, such as 

12 poor ventilation, pest infestations, and water leaks, 

13 are directly associated with the development and ex14 acerbation of respiratory diseases like asthma. 

15 (17) The Centers for Disease Control and Pre16 vention has made clear that no level of lead poi17 soning is safe. Lead poisoning can result in irrevers18 ible brain damage and affects every major bodily 

19 system. At high levels, lead poisoning can cause ane20 mia, multi-organ damage, seizures, coma, and death 

21 in children. Even with the lowest levels of lead expo22 sure, children experience physical, cognitive, and 

23 neurobehavioral impairment, as well as lower IQ lev24 els, lower class standing in high school, greater ab25 senteeism, lower vocabulary and grammatical-reaVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 Apr 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S598.IS S598

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1 soning scores, and poorer hand-eye coordination rel2 ative to other children. 

3 (18) Exposure to cold indoor temperatures is 

4 associated with increased risk of cardiovascular dis5 ease. 

6 (19) Due to its aging infrastructure, the living 

7 conditions in public housing are causing severe 

8 health consequences for public housing residents 

9 throughout the United States, including asthma, res10 piratory illness, and elevated blood lead levels. 

11 (20) For example, one leading study found that 

12 children living in public housing have higher odds of 

13 asthma than children living in all types of private 

14 housing, even after adjusting for individual risk fac15 tors, including ethnicity and race, living in a low-in16 come household, and living in a low-income commu17 nity. 

18 (21) The rise of the COVID–19 pandemic has 

19 introduced a new level of risk into society in the 

20 United States. 

21 (22) Poor housing conditions have been linked 

22 with worse health outcomes and infectious disease 

23 spread. One leading study found that counties with 

24 a higher percentage of households with poor housing 

25 had a higher incidence of, and mortality associated 


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1 with, COVID–19 and recommended targeted health 

2 policies to support individuals living in poor housing 

3 conditions in order to mitigate adverse outcomes as4 sociated with COVID–19. 

5 (23) This is a fixable public health crisis. Fed6 eral disinvestment in public housing has con7 sequences, and aging infrastructure is, in many 

8 cases, the root cause of many of the health issues 

9 described in this section for residents. 

10 (24) Therefore, it is necessary to reinvest in 

11 public housing, provide the money needed to fulfill 

12 outstanding capital needs, and to again ensure that 

13 all people of the United States have a decent home 

14 and suitable living environment, as is the charge of 

15 HUD. 

16 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

17 There are authorized to be appropriated for assist18 ance from the Public Housing Capital Fund under section 

19 9(d) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 

20 1437g(d)) $70,000,000,000, which— 

21 (1) shall remain available until expended; and 

22 (2) notwithstanding subsections (c)(1) and 

23 (d)(2) of such section 9, shall be allocated to public 

24 housing agencies based on the extent of the capital 

25 needs of those public housing agencies, as deterVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:13 Apr 02, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S598.IS S598

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1 mined according to the most recent physical needs 

2 assessment required under section 905.300(a) of 

3 title 24, Code of Federal Regulations, of each public 

4 housing agency. 

Æ 


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