I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7972 

To increase the supply of, and lower rents for, affordable housing and to 

assess calculations of area median income for purposes of Federal lowincome housing assistance, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 12, 2024 

Ms. CLARKE of New York (for herself, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. NORTON, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. LIEU, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. BOWMAN, Ms. PRESSLEY, 

Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Ms. MANNING, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. GOLDMAN of New York, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. 

ADAMS, Mr. CARSON, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK, Mrs. 

WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. 

VEASEY, and Mr. PHILLIPS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To increase the supply of, and lower rents for, affordable 

housing and to assess calculations of area median income 

for purposes of Federal low-income housing assistance, 

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 ‘‘Affordable Housing 

5 and Area Median Income Fairness Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. URGENT SUPPORT FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN2 FRASTRUCTURE. 

3 (a) HOME INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAM.— 

4 (1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

5 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

6 title II of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Afford7 able Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 1721 et seq.) 

8 $5,000,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 

9 through 2034. 

10 (2) LIMITATION.—Any amounts appropriated 

11 pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be used only for as12 sistance for any area within a jurisdiction for which 

13 the Secretary has applied a high housing cost ad14 justment. 

15 (b) COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANTS.— 

16 (1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

17 There is authorized to be appropriated for commu18 nity development block grant assistance under sec19 tion 106 of the Housing and Community Develop20 ment Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5306) $5,000,000,000 

21 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2034. 

22 (2) LIMITATION.—Any amounts appropriated 

23 pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be used only for as24 sistance for any area within a jurisdiction for which 

25 the Secretary has applied a high housing cost ad26 justment. 


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1 (c) HOUSING TRUST FUND.— 

2 (1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

3 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Hous4 ing Trust Fund established under section 1338(a) of 

5 the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety 

6 and Soundness Act of 1992 (12 U.S.C. 4568(a)) 

7 $5,000,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 

8 through 2034. 

9 (2) LIMITATION.—Any amounts appropriated 

10 pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be used only for as11 sistance for any area within a jurisdiction for which 

12 the Secretary has applied a high housing cost ad13 justment. 

14 SEC. 3. ASSESSMENT REGARDING OPTIMIZING USE OF 

15 AREA MEDIAN INCOME TO SUPPORT AFFORD16 ABLE HOUSING IN URBAN AREAS. 

17 (a) ASSESSMENT OF ALTERNATIVE CALCULATION

18 METHODS.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the 

19 enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall commence an 

20 assessment of alternative methods for calculating area me21 dian income, and the use of alternative metrics, for pro22 grams administered by the Secretary that would make 

23 housing more affordable for low-income families residing 

24 in urban areas nationwide, which shall include analysis of 

25 the topics identified in subsection (b). 


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1 (b) REPORT.—Not later than two years after the date 

2 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit 

3 to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of 

4 Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, 

5 and Urban Affairs of the Senate, and make publicly avail6 able, a report setting forth the results of the assessment 

7 conducted pursuant to subsection (a), which shall in8 clude— 

9 (1) a review and summarization of significant 

10 findings and recommendations from any related pre11 vious reports regarding area median income; 

12 (2) an assessment of the extent and impacts of 

13 the affordable housing crisis in urban areas nation14 wide, particularly within jurisdictions for which the 

15 Secretary has applied a high housing cost adjust16 ment, including a comparison of rent burdens for 

17 very low-income households in jurisdictions with and 

18 without high housing cost adjustments; 

19 (3) an analysis and assessment of the effects 

20 that high housing cost adjustments have had on in21 come limits and rent prices in jurisdictions for which 

22 the Secretary has applied such an adjustment, in23 cluding any effects on maximum rents allowed under 

24 sections 42 and 142 of the Internal Revenue Code 

25 of 1986 for tax-subsidized units; 


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1 (4) an updated assessment of the potential im2 pacts to affordable housing, particularly on income 

3 limits and rent prices, of calculating area median in4 come on a ZIP Code level basis and using other lo5 calized methodologies; 

6 (5) a process through which State housing au7 thorities may designate area median income jurisdic8 tions within that State; 

9 (6) an assessment of alternative metrics to area 

10 median income for the purposes of setting income 

11 levels and related thresholds for affordable housing 

12 programs administered by the Secretary; 

13 (7) recommendations for how the Secretary 

14 could reform or eliminate use of area median income 

15 for the purposes of making housing more affordable 

16 for low-income and middle class families in urban 

17 areas; 

18 (8) any further recommendations for how the 

19 Secretary could use existing authorities to make 

20 housing more affordable for low-income and middle 

21 class families in urban areas, particularly for such 

22 families for which the Secretary has applied a high 

23 housing cost adjustment; and 

24 (9) an assessment of the impacts that West25 chester and Rockland Counties in New York State 


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1 have on the City of New York’s area median income, 

2 related metrics, and affordable housing supply, in3 cluding on income limits and maximum rent prices 

4 for affordable housing units within the jurisdiction 

5 of the City of New York. 

6 (c) METHODOLOGY.—Not later than 45 days after 

7 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

8 submit a report to the Committee on Financial Services 

9 of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 

10 Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate de11 scribing the methodology that will be used to conduct the 

12 assessment under this section. 

13 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

14 For purposes of this Act, the following definitions 

15 shall apply: 

16 (1) AREA MEDIAN INCOME.—The term ‘‘area 

17 median income’’ means median income for an area, 

18 as such term is used in section 3(b) of the United 

19 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)), 

20 median family income, and any other substantively 

21 similar metric that the Secretary uses to refer to the 

22 median income level for a given area or jurisdiction 

23 for purposes of any program administered by the 

24 Secretary. 


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1 (2) HIGH HOUSING COST ADJUSTMENT.—The 

2 term ‘‘high housing cost adjustment’’ means an ad3 justment for high housing costs or high construction 

4 costs, or any substantively similar adjustment that 

5 the Secretary may use to increase income limits for 

6 areas where the cost of housing is abnormally high 

7 compared to the median income for such area, for 

8 purposes of any program administered by the Sec9 retary. 

10 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

11 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 

Æ 


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