I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9944 

To amend the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to ensure consideration 

of affordable housing in the reconnecting communities pilot program, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 8, 2024 

Ms. LEE of Pennsylvania (for herself, Mrs. SYKES, and Mr. EVANS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to 

ensure consideration of affordable housing in the reconnecting communities pilot program, 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 ‘‘Keeping Affordable 

5 Housing in Forgotten Communities Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. RECONNECTING COMMUNITIES PILOT PROGRAM. 

2 Section 11509 of the Infrastructure Investment and 

3 Jobs Act (23 U.S.C. 101 note; Public Law 117–58) is 

4 amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (a)— 

6 (A) in paragraph (2)— 

7 (i) by redesignating subparagraphs 

8 (A) through (C) as clauses (i) through 

9 (iii), respectively, and indenting appro10 priately; and 

11 (ii) by striking the paragraph designa12 tion and heading and all that follows 

13 through ‘‘the term’’ and inserting the fol14 lowing: 

15 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term’’; and 

16 (B) by striking the subsection designation 

17 and heading and all that follows through ‘‘the 

18 term’’ in paragraph (1) and inserting the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

21 ‘‘(1) COMMUNITY LAND TRUST.—The term 

22 ‘community land trust’ means a nonprofit entity or 

23 a State or local government or instrumentality of a 

24 State or local government that— 

25 ‘‘(A) is not sponsored by a for-profit orga26 nization; 


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1 ‘‘(B) has as a primary purpose the provi2 sion and maintenance of housing that provides 

3 long-term affordability for low- and moderate4 income persons; 

5 ‘‘(C) provides housing described in sub6 paragraph (B) using a ground lease, deed cov7 enant, or other similar legally enforceable meas8 ure, as determined by the Secretary, that— 

9 ‘‘(i) keeps the housing affordable to 

10 low- and moderate-income persons for a 

11 period of not less than 30 years; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) enables low- and moderate-in13 come persons to purchase the housing for 

14 homeownership; and 

15 ‘‘(D) maintains preemptive purchase op16 tions to purchase the property so the housing 

17 remains affordable to low- and moderate-income 

18 persons. 

19 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE FACILITY.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term’’; 

21 (2) in subsection (b)— 

22 (A) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘, or to 

23 preserve or create long-term affordable housing 

24 units around the existing eligible facility’’ after 

25 ‘‘facility’’; and 


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1 (B) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘and to 

2 enable the preservation or creation of long-term 

3 affordable housing units around the existing eli4 gible facility’’ after ‘‘facility’’; 

5 (3) in subsection (c)(2)— 

6 (A) in subparagraph (A)— 

7 (i) in clause (vii), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

8 the end; 

9 (ii) in clause (viii), by adding ‘‘and’’ 

10 after the semicolon at the end; and 

11 (iii) by adding after clause (viii) the 

12 following: 

13 ‘‘(ix) the impact of the mitigation, ret14 rofit, or removal of the eligible facility on 

15 the supply of affordable owner-occupied 

16 and rental housing in the surrounding 

17 area;’’; 

18 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

19 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

20 (C) redesignating subparagraph (C) as 

21 subparagraph (D); and 

22 (D) by inserting after subparagraph (B) 

23 the following: 

24 ‘‘(C) housing planning activities required 

25 in advance of a project to mitigate, retrofit, or 


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1 remove an existing eligible facility in order to 

2 preserve affordable housing around the existing 

3 eligible facility, including— 

4 ‘‘(i) the incorporation of long-term af5 fordability into such a project or the sur6 rounding area through existing or new— 

7 ‘‘(I) community land trusts; 

8 ‘‘(II) other shared equity home9 ownership programs that— 

10 ‘‘(aa) have income require11 ments; 

12 ‘‘(bb) require a resale for13 mula that limits the price for 

14 which the property may be re15 sold; and 

16 ‘‘(cc) are managed by a non17 profit affordable housing organi18 zation or developer; 

19 ‘‘(III) resident-owned commu20 nities, including manufactured hous21 ing communities; 

22 ‘‘(IV) housing cooperatives; 

23 ‘‘(V) Tribal entities; or 


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1 ‘‘(VI) rental housing that will re2 main affordable for a period of not 

3 less than 30 years; 

4 ‘‘(ii) planning related to the purchase 

5 or use of property around the existing eli6 gible facility by a community land trust, 

7 land bank, nonprofit organization or devel8 oper, or municipality for the purpose of 

9 creating affordable housing; and 

10 ‘‘(iii) planning related to the imple11 mentation of a land value tax or a tax in12 crement financing district for the purpose 

13 of funding affordable housing; and’’; 

14 (4) in subsection (d)(4)(B)(viii)— 

15 (A) in subclause (I), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

16 the end; 

17 (B) in subclause (II), by striking the pe18 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

19 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(III) preserving existing afford21 able housing and preventing displace22 ment of residents.’’; and 

23 (5) in subsection (e), by adding at the end the 

24 following: 


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1 ‘‘(3) JOINT REPORT ON AFFORDABLE HOUS2 ING.—Not later than January 1, 2027, the Sec3 retary and the Secretary of Housing and Urban De4 velopment shall submit to the Committee on Envi5 ronment and Public Works of the Senate and the 

6 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of 

7 the House of Representatives a report that evaluates 

8 the program under this section, including— 

9 ‘‘(A) for the recipients of capital construc10 tion grants, data on— 

11 ‘‘(i) rent and homeownership costs 

12 during and after the award of a grant 

13 under this section; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) demographic changes in the sur15 rounding area after the award of a grant 

16 under this section; and 

17 ‘‘(B) information about partnerships that 

18 recipients of grants under this section have en19 tered into with affordable housing organiza20 tions, including community land trusts or other 

21 shared equity models, to preserve or develop af22 fordable housing.’’. 

Æ 


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