IB 

Union Calendar No. 132 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1851 

[Report No. 110–216] 

To reform the housing choice voucher program under section 8 of the United 

States Housing Act of 1937. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 29, 2007 

Ms. WATERS (for herself, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Mrs. BIGGERT, and 

Mr. SHAYS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

JUNE 28, 2007 

Additional sponsors: Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. PAYNE, and Mr. DAVIS of Illinois 

JUNE 28, 2007 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 29, 2007] 

A BILL 

To reform the housing choice voucher program under section 

8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Section 8 Voucher Re3 form Act of 2007’’. 

4 SEC. 2. INSPECTION OF DWELLING UNITS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8(o)(8) of the United States 

6 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(8)) is amended— 

7 (1) by striking subparagraph (A) and inserting 

8 the following new subparagraph: 

9 ‘‘(A) INITIAL INSPECTION.— 

10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For each dwelling 

11 unit for which a housing assistance pay12 ment contract is established under this sub13 section, the public housing agency (or other 

14 entity pursuant to paragraph (11)) shall 

15 inspect the unit before any assistance pay16 ment is made to determine whether the 

17 dwelling unit meets the housing quality 

18 standards under subparagraph (B), except 

19 as provided in clause (ii) or (iii) of this 

20 subparagraph. 

21 ‘‘(ii) CORRECTION OF NON-LIFE

22 THREATENING CONDITIONS.—In the case of 

23 any dwelling unit that is determined, pur24 suant to an inspection under clause (i), not 

25 to meet the housing quality standards under 

26 subparagraph (B), assistance payments 


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1 may be made for the unit notwithstanding 

2 subparagraph (C) if failure to meet such 

3 standards is a result only of non-life threat4 ening conditions. A public housing agency 

5 making assistance payments pursuant to 

6 this clause for a dwelling unit shall, 30 

7 days after the beginning of the period for 

8 which such payments are made, suspend 

9 any assistance payments for the unit if any 

10 deficiency resulting in noncompliance with 

11 the housing quality standards has not been 

12 corrected by such time, and may not resume 

13 such payments until each such deficiency 

14 has been corrected. 

15 ‘‘(iii) PROJECTS RECEIVING CERTAIN

16 FEDERAL HOUSING SUBSIDIES.—In the case 

17 of any property that within the previous 12 

18 months has been determined to meet housing 

19 quality and safety standards under any 

20 Federal housing program inspection stand21 ard, including the program under section 

22 42 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or 

23 under subtitle A of title II of the Cranston 

24 Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act 

25 of 1990, a public housing agency may auVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:39 Jun 29, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1851.RH H1851

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1 thorize occupancy before the inspection 

2 under clause (i) has been completed, and 

3 may make assistance payments retroactive 

4 to the beginning of the lease term after the 

5 unit has been determined pursuant to an 

6 inspection under clause (i) to meet the hous7 ing quality standards under subparagraph 

8 (B).’’; 

9 (2) by striking subparagraph (D) and inserting 

10 the following new subparagraph: 

11 ‘‘(D) BIENNIAL INSPECTIONS.— 

12 ‘‘(i) REQUIREMENT.—Each public 

13 housing agency providing assistance under 

14 this subsection (or other entity, as provided 

15 in paragraph (11)) shall, for each assisted 

16 dwelling unit, make biennial inspections 

17 during the term of the housing assistance 

18 payments contract for the unit to determine 

19 whether the unit is maintained in accord20 ance with the requirements under subpara21 graph (A). The agency (or other entity) 

22 shall retain the records of the inspection for 

23 a reasonable time and shall make the 

24 records available upon request to the Sec25 retary, the Inspector General for the DeVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:39 Jun 29, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1851.RH H1851

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1 partment of Housing and Urban Develop2 ment, and any auditor conducting an audit 

3 under section 5(h). 

4 ‘‘(ii) SUFFICIENT INSPECTION.—An in5 spection of a property shall be sufficient to 

6 comply with the inspection requirement 

7 under clause (i) if— 

8 ‘‘(I) the inspection was conducted 

9 pursuant to requirements under a Fed10 eral, State, or local housing assistance 

11 program (including the HOME invest12 ment partnerships program under title 

13 II of the Cranston-Gonzalez National 

14 Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 

15 12721 et seq.)); and 

16 ‘‘(II) pursuant to such inspection, 

17 the property was determined to meet 

18 the standards or requirements regard19 ing housing quality or safety applica20 ble to units assisted under such pro21 gram, and, if a non-Federal standard 

22 was used, the public housing agency 

23 has certified to the Secretary that such 

24 standards or requirements provide the 

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1 ing units meeting such standards or 

2 requirements as, or greater protection 

3 than, the housing quality standards 

4 under subparagraph (B).’’; and 

5 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub6 paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(F) ENFORCEMENT OF HOUSING QUALITY

8 STANDARDS.— 

9 ‘‘(i) DETERMINATION OF NONCOMPLI10 ANCE.—A dwelling unit that is covered by 

11 a housing assistance payments contract 

12 under this subsection shall be considered, for 

13 purposes of this subparagraph, to be in non14 compliance with the housing quality stand15 ards under subparagraph (B) if— 

16 ‘‘(I) the public housing agency or 

17 an inspector authorized by the State or 

18 unit of local government determines 

19 upon inspection of the unit that the 

20 unit fails to comply with such stand21 ards; 

22 ‘‘(II) the agency or inspector noti23 fies the owner of the unit in writing of 

24 such failure to comply; and 


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1 ‘‘(III) the failure to comply is not 

2 corrected within 90 days after receipt 

3 of such notice. 

4 ‘‘(ii) WITHHOLDING AND RELEASE OF

5 ASSISTANCE AMOUNTS.—The public housing 

6 agency shall withhold all of the assistance 

7 amounts under this subsection with respect 

8 to a dwelling unit that is in noncompliance 

9 with housing quality standards under sub10 paragraph (B). Subject to clause (iii), the 

11 agency shall promptly release any withheld 

12 amounts to the owner of the dwelling unit 

13 upon completion of repairs that remedy 

14 such noncompliance. 

15 ‘‘(iii) USE OF WITHHELD ASSISTANCE

16 TO PAY FOR REPAIRS.—The public housing 

17 agency may use such amounts withheld to 

18 make repairs to the dwelling unit or to con19 tract to have repairs made (or to contract 

20 with an inspector referred to in clause (i)(I) 

21 to make or contract for such repairs), and 

22 shall subtract the cost of such repairs from 

23 any amounts released to the owner of the 

24 unit upon remedying such noncompliance. 


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1 ‘‘(iv) PROTECTION OF TENANTS.—An 

2 owner of a dwelling unit may not terminate 

3 the tenancy of any tenant or refuse to renew 

4 a lease for such unit because of the with5 holding of assistance pursuant to this sub6 paragraph. 

7 ‘‘(v) TERMINATION OF LEASE OR AS8 SISTANCE PAYMENTS CONTRACT.—If assist9 ance amounts under this section for a dwell10 ing unit are withheld pursuant to clause 

11 (ii) and the owner does not correct the non12 compliance before the expiration of the lease 

13 for the dwelling unit and such lease is not 

14 renewed, the Secretary shall recapture any 

15 such amounts from the public housing agen16 cy. 

17 ‘‘(vi) APPLICABILITY.—This subpara18 graph shall apply to any dwelling unit for 

19 which a housing assistance payments con20 tract is entered into or renewed after the 

21 date of the effectiveness of the regulations 

22 implementing this subparagraph.’’. 

23 (b) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Housing and 

24 Urban Development shall issue any regulations necessary 

25 to carry out the amendment made by subsection (a)(3) not 


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1 later than the expiration of the 12-month period beginning 

2 upon the date of the enactment of this Act. Such regulations 

3 shall take effect not later than the expiration of the 90-day 

4 period beginning upon such issuance. This subsection shall 

5 take effect upon enactment of this Act. 

6 SEC. 3. RENT REFORM AND INCOME REVIEWS. 

7 (a) RENT FOR PUBLIC HOUSING AND SECTION 8 PRO8 GRAMS.—Section 3 of the United States Housing Act of 

9 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(a)) is amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (a)— 

11 (A) in paragraph (1) by inserting ‘‘LOW-IN12 COME OCCUPANCY REQUIREMENT AND RENTAL

13 PAYMENTS.—’’ after ‘‘(1)’’; and 

14 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

15 paragraphs: 

16 ‘‘(6) REVIEWS OF FAMILY INCOME.— 

17 ‘‘(A) FREQUENCY.—Reviews of family in18 come for purposes of this section shall be made— 

19 ‘‘(i) in the case of all families, upon 

20 the initial provision of housing assistance 

21 for the family; 

22 ‘‘(ii) annually thereafter, except as 

23 provided in subparagraph (B)(i); 

24 ‘‘(iii) upon the request of the family, at 

25 any time the income or deductions (under 


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1 subsection (b)(5)) of the family change by 

2 an amount that is estimated to result in a 

3 decrease of $1,500 (or such lower amount as 

4 the public housing agency may, at the op5 tion of the agency or owner, establish) or 

6 more in annual adjusted income; and 

7 ‘‘(iv) at any time the income or deduc8 tions (under subsection (b)(5)) of the family 

9 change by an amount that is estimated to 

10 result in an increase of $1,500 or more in 

11 annual adjusted income, except that any in12 crease in the earned income of a family 

13 shall not be considered for purposes of this 

14 clause (except that earned income may be 

15 considered if the increase corresponds to 

16 previous decreases under clause (iii)), except 

17 that a public housing agency or owner may 

18 elect not to conduct such review in the last 

19 three months of a certification period. 

20 ‘‘(B) FIXED-INCOME FAMILIES.— 

21 ‘‘(i) SELF CERTIFICATION AND 3-YEAR

22 REVIEW.—In the case of any family de23 scribed in clause (ii), after the initial re24 view of the family’s income pursuant to 

25 subparagraph (A)(i), the public housing 


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1 agency or owner shall not be required to 

2 conduct a review of the family’s income 

3 pursuant to subparagraph (A)(ii) for any 

4 year for which such family certifies, in ac5 cordance with such requirements as the Sec6 retary shall establish, that the income of the 

7 family meets the requirements of clause (ii) 

8 of this subparagraph, except that the public 

9 housing agency or owner shall conduct a re10 view of each such family’s income not less 

11 than once every 3 years. 

12 ‘‘(ii) ELIGIBLE FAMILIES.—A family 

13 described in this clause is a family who has 

14 an income, as of the most recent review pur15 suant to subparagraph (A) or clause (i) of 

16 this subparagraph, of which 90 percent or 

17 more consists of fixed income, as such term 

18 is defined in clause (iii). 

19 ‘‘(iii) FIXED INCOME.—For purposes of 

20 this subparagraph, the term ‘fixed income’ 

21 includes income from— 

22 ‘‘(I) the supplemental security in23 come program under title XVI of the 

24 Social Security Act, including supple25 mentary payments pursuant to an 


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1 agreement for Federal administration 

2 under section 1616(a) of the Social Se3 curity Act and payments pursuant to 

4 an agreement entered into under sec5 tion 212(b) of Public Law 93–66; 

6 ‘‘(II) Social Security payments; 

7 ‘‘(III) Federal, State, local and 

8 private pension plans; and 

9 ‘‘(IV) other periodic payments re10 ceived from annuities, insurance poli11 cies, retirement funds, disability or 

12 death benefits, and other similar types 

13 of periodic receipts. 

14 ‘‘(C) IN GENERAL.—Reviews of family in15 come for purposes of this section shall be subject 

16 to the provisions of section 904 of the Stewart B. 

17 McKinney Homeless Assistance Amendments Act 

18 of 1988. 

19 ‘‘(7) CALCULATION OF INCOME.— 

20 ‘‘(A) USE OF PRIOR YEAR’S INCOME.—Ex21 cept as otherwise provided in this paragraph, in 

22 determining the income of a family for a year, 

23 a public housing agency or owner may use the 

24 income of the family as determined by the agen25 cy or owner for the preceding year, taking into 


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1 consideration any redetermination of income 

2 during such prior year pursuant to clause (iii) 

3 or (iv) of paragraph (6)(A). 

4 ‘‘(B) EARNED INCOME.—For purposes of 

5 this section, the earned income of a family for a 

6 year shall be the amount of earned income by the 

7 family in the prior year minus an amount equal 

8 to 10 percent of the lesser of such prior year’s 

9 earned income or $10,000, except that the income 

10 of a family for purposes of section 16 (relating 

11 to eligibility for assisted housing and income 

12 mix) shall be determined without regard to any 

13 reduction under this subparagraph. 

14 ‘‘(C) INFLATIONARY ADJUSTMENT FOR

15 FIXED INCOME FAMILIES.—If, for any year, a 

16 public housing agency or owner determines the 

17 income for any family described in paragraph 

18 (6)(B)(ii), or the amount of fixed income of any 

19 other family, based on the prior year’s income or 

20 fixed income, respectively, pursuant to subpara21 graph (A), such prior year’s income or fixed in22 come, respectively, shall be adjusted by applying 

23 an inflationary factor as the Secretary shall, by 

24 regulation, establish. 


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1 ‘‘(D) OTHER INCOME.—If, for any year, a 

2 public housing agency or owner determines the 

3 income for any family based on the prior year’s 

4 income, with respect to prior year calculations of 

5 types of income not subject to subparagraph (B), 

6 a public housing agency or owner may make 

7 other adjustments as it considers appropriate to 

8 reflect current income. 

9 ‘‘(E) SAFE HARBOR.—A public housing 

10 agency or owner may, to the extent such infor11 mation is available to the public housing agency 

12 or owner, determine the family’s income for pur13 poses of this section based on timely income de14 terminations made for purposes of other means15 tested Federal public assistance programs (in16 cluding the program for block grants to States 

17 for temporary assistance for needy families 

18 under part A of title IV of the Social Security 

19 Act, a program for medicaid assistance under a 

20 State plan approved under title XIX of the So21 cial Security Act, and the food stamp program 

22 as defined in section 3(h) of the Food Stamp Act 

23 of 1977). The Secretary shall, in consultation 

24 with other appropriate Federal agencies, develop 

25 procedures to enable public housing agencies and 


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1 owners to have access to such income determina2 tions made by other Federal programs. 

3 ‘‘(F) PHA AND OWNER COMPLIANCE.—A 

4 public housing agency or owner may not be con5 sidered to fail to comply with this paragraph or 

6 paragraph (6) due solely to any de minimus er7 rors made by the agency or owner in calculating 

8 family incomes.’’; 

9 (2) by striking subsections (d) and (e); and 

10 (3) by redesignating subsection (f) as subsection 

11 (d). 

12 (b) INCOME.—Section 3(b) of the United States Hous13 ing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)) is amended— 

14 (1) by striking paragraph (4) and inserting the 

15 following new paragraph: 

16 ‘‘(4) INCOME.—The term ‘income’ means, with 

17 respect to a family, income received from all sources 

18 by each member of the household who is 18 years of 

19 age or older or is the head of household or spouse of 

20 the head of the household, plus unearned income by 

21 or on behalf of each dependent who is less than 18 

22 years of age, as determined in accordance with cri23 teria prescribed by the Secretary, in consultation with 

24 the Secretary of Agriculture, subject to the following 

25 requirements: 


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1 ‘‘(A) INCLUDED AMOUNTS.—Such term in2 cludes recurring gifts and receipts, actual income 

3 from assets, and profit or loss from a business. 

4 ‘‘(B) EXCLUDED AMOUNTS.—Such term 

5 does not include— 

6 ‘‘(i) any imputed return on assets; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) any amounts that would be eligi8 ble for exclusion under section 1613(a)(7) of 

9 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

10 1382b(a)(7)). 

11 ‘‘(C) EARNED INCOME OF STUDENTS.—Such 

12 term does not include earned income of any de13 pendent earned during any period that such de14 pendent is attending school on a full-time basis 

15 or any grant-in-aid or scholarship amounts re16 lated to such attendance used for the cost of tui17 tion or books. 

18 ‘‘(D) EDUCATIONAL SAVINGS ACCOUNTS.— 

19 Income shall be determined without regard to 

20 any amounts in or from, or any benefits from, 

21 any Coverdell education savings account under 

22 section 530 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

23 or any qualified tuition program under section 

24 529 of such Code. 


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1 ‘‘(E) OTHER EXCLUSIONS.—Such term shall 

2 not include other exclusions from income as are 

3 established by the Secretary or any amount re4 quired by Federal law to be excluded from con5 sideration as income. The Secretary may not re6 quire a public housing agency or owner to main7 tain records of any amounts excluded from in8 come pursuant to this subparagraph.’’; and 

9 (2) by striking paragraph (5) and inserting the 

10 following new paragraph: 

11 ‘‘(5) ADJUSTED INCOME.—The term ‘adjusted in12 come’ means, with respect to a family, the amount (as 

13 determined by the public housing agency or owner) of 

14 the income of the members of the family residing in 

15 a dwelling unit or the persons on a lease, after any 

16 deductions from income as follows: 

17 ‘‘(A) ELDERLY AND DISABLED FAMILIES.— 

18 $725 in the case of any family that is an elderly 

19 family or a disabled family. 

20 ‘‘(B) DEPENDENTS.—In the case of any 

21 family that includes a member or members 

22 who— 

23 ‘‘(i) are less than 18 years of age or at24 tending school or vocational training on a 

25 full-time basis; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) is a person with disabilities who 

2 is 18 years of age or older and resides in 

3 the household, 

4 $500 for each such member. 

5 ‘‘(C) HEALTH AND MEDICAL EXPENSES.— 

6 The amount, if any, by which 10 percent of an7 nual family income is exceeded by the sum of— 

8 ‘‘(i) in the case of any elderly or dis9 abled family, any unreimbursed health and 

10 medical care expenses; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) any unreimbursed reasonable at12 tendant care and auxiliary apparatus ex13 penses for each handicapped member of the 

14 family, to the extent necessary to enable any 

15 member of such family to be employed. 

16 ‘‘(D) PERMISSIVE DEDUCTIONS.—Such ad17 ditional deductions as a public housing agency 

18 may, at its discretion, establish, except that the 

19 Secretary shall establish procedures to ensure 

20 that such deductions do not increase Federal ex21 penditures. 

22 The Secretary shall annually adjust the amounts of 

23 the exclusions under subparagraphs (A) and (B), as 

24 such amounts may have been previously adjusted, by 

25 applying an inflationary factor as the Secretary 


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1 shall, by regulation, establish. If the dollar amount of 

2 any such exclusion determined for any year by apply3 ing such inflationary factor is not a multiple of $25, 

4 the Secretary shall round such amount to the next 

5 lowest multiple of $25.’’. 

6 (c) HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHER PROGRAM.—Para7 graph (5) of section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act 

8 of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(5)) is amended— 

9 (1) in the paragraph heading, by striking ‘‘AN10 NUAL REVIEW’’ and inserting ‘‘REVIEWS’’; 

11 (2) in subparagraph (A)— 

12 (A) by striking ‘‘the provisions of’’ and in13 serting ‘‘paragraphs (6) and (7) of section 3(a) 

14 and to’’; and 

15 (B) by striking ‘‘and shall be conducted 

16 upon the initial provision of housing assistance 

17 for the family and thereafter not less than annu18 ally’’; and 

19 (3) in subparagraph (B), by striking the second 

20 sentence. 

21 (d) ENHANCED VOUCHER PROGRAM.—Section 

22 8(t)(1)(D) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 

23 U.S.C. 1437f(t)(1)(D)) is amended by striking ‘‘income’’ 

24 each place such term appears and inserting ‘‘annual ad25 justed income’’. 


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1 (e) PROJECT-BASED HOUSING.—Paragraph (3) of sec2 tion 8(c) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 

3 U.S.C. 1437f(c)(3)) is amended by striking the last sentence. 

4 (f) IMPACT ON PUBLIC HOUSING REVENUES.— 

5 (1) INTERACTION WITH ASSET MANAGEMENT

6 RULE.—If the Secretary of Housing and Urban De7 velopment determines that the application of the 

8 amendments made by this section results in a reduc9 tion in the rental income of a public housing agency 

10 that is not de minimus during the period that the op11 erating formula income is frozen at a level that does 

12 not fully reflect the changes made by such amend13 ments, the Secretary shall make appropriate adjust14 ments in the formula income of the agency. 

15 (2) HUD REPORTS ON PUBLIC HOUSING REV16 ENUE IMPACT.—For each of fiscal years 2008 and 

17 2009, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop18 ment shall submit a report to Congress identifying 

19 and calculating the impact of changes made by the 

20 amendments made by this section on the revenues and 

21 costs of operating public housing units. 

22 (g) EFFECTIVE DATE AND TRANSITION.—The amend23 ments made by this section shall apply with respect to fiscal 

24 year 2008 and fiscal years thereafter. 


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1 SEC. 4. ELIGIBILITY FOR ASSISTANCE BASED ON ASSETS 

2 AND INCOME. 

3 (a) ASSETS.—Section 16 of the United States Housing 

4 Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437n) is amended by inserting 

5 after subsection (d) the following new subsection: 

6 ‘‘(e) ELIGIBILITY FOR ASSISTANCE BASED ON AS7 SETS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) LIMITATION ON ASSETS.—Subject to para9 graph (3) and notwithstanding any other provision of 

10 this Act, a dwelling unit assisted under this Act may 

11 not be rented and assistance under this Act may not 

12 be provided, either initially or at each recertification 

13 of family income, to any family— 

14 ‘‘(A) whose net family assets exceed 

15 $100,000, as such amount is adjusted annually 

16 by applying an inflationary factor as the Sec17 retary considers appropriate; or 

18 ‘‘(B) who has a present ownership interest 

19 in, and a legal right to reside in, real property 

20 that is suitable for occupancy as a residence, ex21 cept that the prohibition under this subpara22 graph shall not apply to— 

23 ‘‘(i) any property for which the family 

24 is receiving assistance under this Act; 

25 ‘‘(ii) any person that is a victim of do26 mestic violence; or 


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1 ‘‘(iii) any family that is making a 

2 good faith effort to sell such property. 

3 ‘‘(2) NET FAMILY ASSETS.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this 

5 subsection, the term ‘net family assets’ means, 

6 for all members of the household, the net cash 

7 value of all assets after deducting reasonable 

8 costs that would be incurred in disposing of real 

9 property, savings, stocks, bonds, and other forms 

10 of capital investment. Such term does not in11 clude interests in Indian trust land, equity ac12 counts in homeownership programs of the De13 partment of Housing and Urban Development, 

14 or Family Self Sufficiency accounts. 

15 ‘‘(B) EXCLUSIONS.—Such term does not in16 clude— 

17 ‘‘(i) the value of personal property, ex18 cept for items of personal property of sig19 nificant value, as the public housing agency 

20 may determine; 

21 ‘‘(ii) the value of any retirement ac22 count; 

23 ‘‘(iii) any amounts recovered in any 

24 civil action or settlement based on a claim 

25 of malpractice, negligence, or other breach of 


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1 duty owed to a member of the family and 

2 arising out of law, that resulted in a mem3 ber of the family being disabled (under the 

4 meaning given such term in section 1614 of 

5 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1382c)); 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(iv) the value of any Coverdell edu8 cation savings account under section 530 of 

9 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or any 

10 qualified tuition program under section 529 

11 of such Code. 

12 ‘‘(C) TRUST FUNDS.—In cases where a trust 

13 fund has been established and the trust is not 

14 revocable by, or under the control of, any mem15 ber of the family or household, the value of the 

16 trust fund shall not be considered an asset of a 

17 family if the fund continues to be held in trust. 

18 Any income distributed from the trust fund shall 

19 be considered income for purposes of section 3(b) 

20 and any calculations of annual family income, 

21 except in the case of medical expenses for a 

22 minor. 

23 ‘‘(D) SELF-CERTIFICATION.—A public hous24 ing agency or owner may determine the net as25 sets of a family, for purposes of this section, 


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1 based on the amounts reported by the family at 

2 the time the agency or owner reviews the family’s 

3 income. 

4 ‘‘(3) COMPLIANCE FOR PUBLIC HOUSING DWELL5 ING UNITS.—When recertifying family income with 

6 respect to families residing in public housing dwelling 

7 units, a public housing agency may, in the discretion 

8 of the agency and only pursuant to a policy that is 

9 set forth in the public housing agency plan under sec10 tion 5A for the agency, choose not to enforce the limi11 tation under paragraph (1). 

12 ‘‘(4) AUTHORITY TO DELAY EVICTIONS.—In the 

13 case of a family residing in a dwelling unit assisted 

14 under this Act who does not comply with the limita15 tion under paragraph (1), the public housing agency 

16 or project owner may delay eviction or termination of 

17 the family based on such noncompliance for a period 

18 of not more than 6 months.’’. 

19 (b) INCOME.—The United States Housing Act of 1937 

20 is amended— 

21 (1) in section 3(a)(1) (42 U.S.C. 1437a(a)(1)), 

22 by striking the first sentence and inserting the fol23 lowing: ‘‘Dwelling units assisted under this Act may 

24 be rented, and assistance under this Act may be pro25 vided, whether initially or at time of recertification, 


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1 only to families who are low-income families at the 

2 time such initial or continued assistance, respectively, 

3 is provided, except that families residing in dwelling 

4 units as of the date of the enactment of the Section 

5 8 Voucher Reform Act of 2007 that, under agreements 

6 in effect on such date of enactment, may have incomes 

7 up to 95 percent of local area median income shall 

8 continue to be eligible for assistance at recertification 

9 as long as they continue to comply with such income 

10 restrictions. When recertifying family income with re11 spect to families residing in public housing dwelling 

12 units, a public housing agency may, in the discretion 

13 of the agency and only pursuant to a policy that is 

14 set forth in the public housing agency plan under sec15 tion 5A for the agency, choose not to enforce the pro16 hibition under the preceding sentence. When recerti17 fying family income with respect to families residing 

18 in dwelling units for which project-based assistance is 

19 provided, a project owner may, in the owner’s discre20 tion and only pursuant to a policy adopted by such 

21 owner, choose not to enforce such prohibition. In the 

22 case of a family residing in a dwelling unit assisted 

23 under this Act who does not comply with the prohibi24 tion under the first sentence of this paragraph, the 

25 public housing agency or project owner may delay 


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1 eviction or termination of the family based on such 

2 noncompliance for a period of not more than 6 

3 months.’’; 

4 (2) in section 8(o)(4) (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(4)), by 

5 striking the matter preceding subparagraph (A) and 

6 inserting the following: 

7 ‘‘(4) ELIGIBLE FAMILIES.—Assistance under this 

8 subsection may be provided, whether initially or at 

9 each recertification, only pursuant to subsection (t) to 

10 a family eligible for assistance under such subsection 

11 or to a family who at the time of such initial or con12 tinued assistance, respectively, is a low-income family 

13 that is—’’; and 

14 (3) in section 8(c)(4) (42 U.S.C. 1437f(c)(4)), by 

15 striking ‘‘at the time it initially occupied such dwell16 ing unit’’ and inserting ‘‘according to the restrictions 

17 under section 3(a)(1)’’. 

18 SEC. 5. TARGETING ASSISTANCE TO LOW-INCOME WORKING 

19 FAMILIES. 

20 (a) VOUCHERS.—Section 16(b)(1) of the United States 

21 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437n(b)(1)) is amended— 

22 (1) by inserting after ‘‘do not exceed’’ the fol23 lowing: ‘‘the higher of (A) the poverty line (as such 

24 term is defined in section 673 of the Omnibus Budget 

25 Reconciliation Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 9902), includVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:39 Jun 29, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1851.RH H1851

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1 ing any revision required by such section) applicable 

2 to a family of the size involved, or (B)’’; and 

3 (2) by inserting before the period at the end the 

4 following: ‘‘; and except that clause (A) of this sen5 tence shall not apply in the case of families residing 

6 in Puerto Rico or any other territory or possession of 

7 the United States’’. 

8 (b) PUBLIC HOUSING.—Section 16(a)(2)(A) of the 

9 United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 

10 1437n(a)(2)(A)) is amended— 

11 (1) by inserting after ‘‘do not exceed’’ the fol12 lowing: ‘‘the higher of (i) the poverty line (as such 

13 term is defined in section 673 of the Omnibus Budget 

14 Reconciliation Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 9902), includ15 ing any revision required by such section) applicable 

16 to a family of the size involved, or (ii)’’; and 

17 (2) by inserting before the period at the end the 

18 following: ‘‘; and except that clause (i) of this sentence 

19 shall not apply in the case of families residing in 

20 Puerto Rico or any other territory or possession of the 

21 United States’’. 

22 (c) PROJECT-BASED SECTION 8 ASSISTANCE.—Section 

23 16(c)(3) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 

24 U.S.C. 1437n(c)(3)) is amended— 


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1 (1) by inserting after ‘‘do not exceed’’ the fol2 lowing: ‘‘the higher of (A) the poverty line (as such 

3 term is defined in section 673 of the Omnibus Budget 

4 Reconciliation Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 9902), includ5 ing any revision required by such section) applicable 

6 to a family of the size involved, or (B)’’; and 

7 (2) by inserting before the period at the end the 

8 following: ‘‘; and except that clause (A) of this sen9 tence shall not apply in the case of families residing 

10 in Puerto Rico or any other territory or possession of 

11 the United States’’. 

12 SEC. 6. VOUCHER RENEWAL FUNDING. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8 of the United States 

14 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f) is amended by strik15 ing subsection (dd) and inserting the following new sub16 section: 

17 ‘‘(dd) TENANT-BASED VOUCHERS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

19 There are authorized to be appropriated, for each of 

20 fiscal years 2008 through 2012, such sums as may be 

21 necessary for tenant-based assistance under subsection 

22 (o) for the following purposes: 

23 ‘‘(A) To renew all expiring annual con24 tributions contracts for tenant-based rental as25 sistance. 


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1 ‘‘(B) To provide tenant-based rental assist2 ance for— 

3 ‘‘(i) relocation and replacement of 

4 housing units that are demolished or dis5 posed of pursuant to the Omnibus Consoli6 dated Rescissions and Appropriations Act 

7 of 1996 (Public Law 104–134); 

8 ‘‘(ii) conversion of section 23 projects 

9 to assistance under this section; 

10 ‘‘(iii) the family unification program 

11 under subsection (x) of this section; 

12 ‘‘(iv) relocation of witnesses in connec13 tion with efforts to combat crime in public 

14 and assisted housing pursuant to a request 

15 from a law enforcement or prosecution 

16 agency; 

17 ‘‘(v) enhanced vouchers authorized 

18 under subsection (t) of this section; 

19 ‘‘(vi) vouchers in connection with the 

20 HOPE VI program under section 24; 

21 ‘‘(vii) demolition or disposition of pub22 lic housing units pursuant to section 18 of 

23 the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 

24 U.S.C. 1437p); 


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1 ‘‘(viii) mandatory and voluntary con2 versions of public housing to vouchers, pur3 suant to sections 33 and 22 of the United 

4 States Housing Act of 1937, respectively (42 

5 U.S.C. 1437z–5, 1437t); 

6 ‘‘(ix) vouchers necessary to comply 

7 with a consent decree or court order; 

8 ‘‘(x) vouchers to replace dwelling units 

9 that cease to receive project-based assistance 

10 under subsection (b), (c), (d), (e), or (v) of 

11 this section; 

12 ‘‘(xi) tenant protection assistance, in13 cluding replacement and relocation assist14 ance; and 

15 ‘‘(xii) emergency voucher assistance for 

16 the protection of victims of domestic vio17 lence, dating violence, sexual assault, or 

18 stalking. 

19 Subject only to the availability of sufficient 

20 amounts provided in appropriation Acts, the 

21 Secretary shall provide tenant-based rental as22 sistance to replace all dwelling units that cease 

23 to be available as assisted housing as a result of 

24 clause (i), (ii), (v), (vi), (vii), (viii), or (x). 


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1 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION OF RENEWAL FUNDING AMONG

2 PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCIES.— 

3 ‘‘(A) From amounts appropriated for each 

4 year pursuant to paragraph (1)(A), the Sec5 retary shall provide renewal funding for each 

6 public housing agency— 

7 ‘‘(i) based on leasing and cost data 

8 from the preceding calendar year, as ad9 justed by an annual adjustment factor to be 

10 established by the Secretary, which shall be 

11 established using the smallest geographical 

12 areas for which data on changes in rental 

13 costs are annually available; 

14 ‘‘(ii) by making any adjustments nec15 essary to provide for the first-time renewal 

16 of vouchers funded under paragraph (1)(B); 

17 ‘‘(iii) by making any adjustments nec18 essary for full year funding of vouchers 

19 ported in the prior calendar year under 

20 subsection (r)(2); and 

21 ‘‘(iv) by making such other adjust22 ments as the Secretary considers appro23 priate, including adjustments necessary to 

24 address changes in voucher utilization rates 


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1 and voucher costs related to natural and 

2 other major disasters. 

3 ‘‘(B) LEASING AND COST DATA.—For pur4 poses of subparagraph (A)(i), leasing and cost 

5 data shall be calculated annually by using the 

6 average for the preceding calendar year. Such 

7 leasing and cost data shall be adjusted to include 

8 vouchers that were set aside under a commitment 

9 to provide project-based assistance under sub10 section (o)(13) and to exclude amounts funded 

11 through advances under paragraph (3). Such 

12 leasing and cost data shall not include funds not 

13 appropriated for tenant-based assistance under 

14 section 8(o), unless the agency’s funding was 

15 prorated in the prior year and the agency used 

16 other funds to maintain vouchers in use. 

17 ‘‘(C) OVERLEASING.—For the purpose of de18 termining allocations under subsection (A)(i), 

19 the leasing rate calculated for the prior calendar 

20 year may exceed an agency’s authorized voucher 

21 level, except that such calculation in 2009 shall 

22 not include amounts resulting from a leasing 

23 rate in excess of 103 percent of an agency’s au24 thorized vouchers in 2008 which results from the 


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1 use of accumulated amounts, as referred to in 

2 paragraph (4)(A). 

3 ‘‘(D) MOVING TO WORK; HOUSING INNOVA4 TION PROGRAM.—Notwithstanding subpara5 graphs (A) and (B), each public housing agency 

6 participating at any time in the moving to work 

7 demonstration under section 204 of the Depart8 ments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and 

9 Urban Development, and Independent Agencies 

10 Appropriations Act, 1996 (42 U.S.C. 1437f note) 

11 or in the housing innovation program under sec12 tion 36 of this Act shall be funded pursuant to 

13 its agreement under such program and shall be 

14 subject to any pro rata adjustment made under 

15 subparagraph (E)(i). 

16 ‘‘(E) PRO RATA ALLOCATION.— 

17 ‘‘(i) INSUFFICIENT FUNDS.—To the ex18 tent that amounts made available for a fis19 cal year are not sufficient to provide each 

20 public housing agency with the full alloca21 tion for the agency determined pursuant to 

22 subparagraphs (A) and (D), the Secretary 

23 shall reduce such allocation for each agency 

24 on a pro rata basis, except that renewal 


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1 funding of enhanced vouchers under section 

2 8(t) shall not be subject to such proration. 

3 ‘‘(ii) EXCESS FUNDS.—To the extent 

4 that amounts made available for a fiscal 

5 year exceed the amount necessary to provide 

6 each housing agency with the full allocation 

7 for the agency determined pursuant to sub8 paragraphs (A) and (D), such excess 

9 amounts shall be used for the purposes spec10 ified in subparagraphs (B) and (C) of para11 graph (4). 

12 ‘‘(F) PROMPT FUNDING ALLOCATION.—The 

13 Secretary shall allocate all funds under this sub14 section for each year before the latter of (i) Feb15 ruary 15, or (ii) the expiration of the 45-day pe16 riod beginning upon the enactment of the appro17 priations Act funding such renewals. 

18 ‘‘(3) ADVANCES.— 

19 ‘‘(A) AUTHORITY.—During the last 3 

20 months of each calendar year, the Secretary shall 

21 provide amounts to any public housing agency, 

22 at the request of the agency, in an amount up 

23 to two percent of the allocation for the agency for 

24 such calendar year, subject to subparagraph (C). 


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1 ‘‘(B) USE.—Amounts advanced under sub2 paragraph (A) may be used to pay for addi3 tional voucher costs, including costs related to 

4 temporary overleasing. 

5 ‘‘(C) USE OF PRIOR YEAR AMOUNTS.—Dur6 ing the last 3 months of a calendar year, if 

7 amounts previously provided to a public housing 

8 agency for tenant-based assistance for such year 

9 or for previous years remain unobligated and 

10 available to the agency— 

11 ‘‘(i) the agency shall exhaust such 

12 amounts to cover any additional voucher 

13 costs under subparagraph (B) before 

14 amounts advanced under subparagraph (A) 

15 may be so used; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) the amount that may be advanced 

17 under subparagraph (A) to the agency shall 

18 be reduced by an amount equal to the total 

19 of such previously provided and unobligated 

20 amounts. 

21 ‘‘(D) REPAYMENT.—Amounts advanced 

22 under subparagraph (A) in a calendar year shall 

23 be repaid to the Secretary in the subsequent cal24 endar year by reducing the amounts made avail25 able for such agency for such subsequent calendar 


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1 year pursuant to allocation under paragraph (2) 

2 by an amount equal to the amount so advanced 

3 to the agency. 

4 ‘‘(4) RECAPTURE.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall re6 capture, from amounts provided under the an7 nual contributions contract for a public housing 

8 agency for a calendar year, all accumulated 

9 amounts allocated under paragraph (2) and 

10 from previous years that are unused by the agen11 cy at the end of each calendar year except— 

12 ‘‘(i) with respect to the recapture under 

13 this subparagraph at the end of 2007, an 

14 amount equal to one twelfth the amount al15 located to the public housing agency for 

16 such year pursuant to paragraph (2)(A); 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(ii) with respect to the recapture 

19 under this subparagraph at the end of each 

20 of 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011, an amount 

21 equal to 5 percent of such amount allocated 

22 to the agency for such year. Notwith23 standing any other provision of law, each 

24 public housing agency may retain all 

25 amounts not authorized to be recaptured 


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1 under this subparagraph, and may use such 

2 amounts for all authorized purposes. 

3 ‘‘(B) REALLOCATION.—Not later than May 

4 1 of each calendar year, the Secretary shall— 

5 ‘‘(i) calculate the aggregate unused 

6 amounts for the preceding year recaptured 

7 pursuant to subparagraph (A); 

8 ‘‘(ii) set aside and make available such 

9 amounts as the Secretary considers appro10 priate to reimburse public housing agencies 

11 for increased costs related to portability and 

12 family self-sufficiency activities during such 

13 year; and 

14 ‘‘(iii) reallocate all remaining amounts 

15 among public housing agencies, with pri16 ority given based on the extent to which an 

17 agency has utilized the amount allocated 

18 under paragraph (2) for the agency to serve 

19 eligible families. 

20 ‘‘(C) USE.—Amounts reallocated to a public 

21 housing agency pursuant to subparagraph 

22 (B)(iii) may be used only to increase voucher 

23 leasing rates as provided under paragraph 

24 (2)(C).’’. 


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1 (b) ABSORPTION OF VOUCHERS FROM OTHER AGEN2 CIES.—Section 8(r)(2) of the United States Housing Act 

3 of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(r)(2)) is amended by adding after 

4 the period at the end the following: ‘‘The agency shall absorb 

5 the family into its program for voucher assistance under 

6 this section and shall have priority to receive additional 

7 funding from the Secretary for the housing assistance pro8 vided for such family from amounts made available pursu9 ant to subsection (dd)(4)(B).’’ 

10 (c) VOUCHERS FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES.— 

11 The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall de12 velop and issue, to public housing agencies that received 

13 voucher assistance under section 8(o) for non-elderly dis14 abled families pursuant to appropriations Acts for fiscal 

15 years 1997 through 2002, guidance to ensure that, to the 

16 maximum extent practicable, such vouchers continue to be 

17 provided upon turnover to qualified non-elderly disabled 

18 families. 

19 SEC. 7. ADMINISTRATIVE FEES. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8(q) of the United States 

21 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(q)) is amended— 

22 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking subparagraphs 

23 (B) and (C) and inserting the following new subpara24 graphs: 


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1 ‘‘(B) CALCULATION.—The fee under this 

2 subsection shall— 

3 ‘‘(i) be payable to each public housing 

4 agency for each month for which a dwelling 

5 unit is covered by an assistance contract; 

6 ‘‘(ii) until superseded through subse7 quent rulemaking, be based on the per-unit 

8 fee payable to the agency in fiscal year 

9 2003, updated for each subsequent year as 

10 specified in subsection (iv); 

11 ‘‘(iii) include an amount for the cost of 

12 issuing voucher to new participants; 

13 ‘‘(iv) be updated each year using an 

14 index of changes in wage data or other ob15 jectively measurable data that reflect the 

16 costs of administering the program for such 

17 assistance, as determined by the Secretary; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(v) include an amount for the cost of 

20 family self-sufficiency coordinators, as pro21 vided in section 23(h)(1). 

22 ‘‘(C) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall 

23 cause to be published in the Federal Register the 

24 fee rate for each geographic area.’’; and 


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1 (2) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘1999’’ and in2 serting ‘‘2007’’. 

3 (b) ADMINISTRATIVE FEES FOR FAMILY SELF-SUFFI4 CIENCY PROGRAM COSTS.—Subsection (h) of section 23 of 

5 the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 

6 1437u(h)) is amended by striking paragraph (1) and insert7 ing the following new paragraph: 

8 ‘‘(1) SECTION 8 FEES.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall es10 tablish a fee under section 8(q) for the costs in11 curred in administering the self-sufficiency pro12 gram under this section to assist families receiv13 ing voucher assistance through section 8(o). 

14 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBILITY FOR FEE.—The fee shall 

15 provide funding for family self-sufficiency coor16 dinators as follows: 

17 ‘‘(i) BASE FEE.—A public housing 

18 agency serving 25 or more participants in 

19 the family self-sufficiency program under 

20 this section shall receive a fee equal to the 

21 costs of employing one full-time family self22 sufficiency coordinator. An agency serving 

23 fewer than 25 such participants shall re24 ceive a prorated fee. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) ADDITIONAL FEE.—An agency 

2 that meets minimum performance standards 

3 shall receive an additional fee sufficient to 

4 cover the costs of employing a second family 

5 self-sufficiency coordinator if the agency has 

6 75 or more participating families, and a 

7 third such coordinator if it has 125 or more 

8 participating families. 

9 ‘‘(iii) PREVIOUSLY FUNDED AGEN10 CIES.—An agency that received funding 

11 from the Department of Housing and 

12 Urban Development for more than three 

13 such coordinators in any of fiscal years 

14 1998 through 2007 shall receive funding for 

15 the highest number of coordinators funded 

16 in a single fiscal year during that period, 

17 provided they meet applicable size and per18 formance standards. 

19 ‘‘(iv) INITIAL YEAR.—For the first year 

20 in which a public housing agency exercises 

21 its right to develop an family self-suffi22 ciency program for its residents, it shall be 

23 entitled to funding to cover the costs of up 

24 to one family self-sufficiency coordinator, 


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1 based on the size specified in its action plan 

2 for such program. 

3 ‘‘(v) STATE AND REGIONAL AGEN4 CIES.—For purposes of calculating the fam5 ily self-sufficiency portion of the adminis6 trative fee under this subparagraph, each 

7 administratively distinct part of a State or 

8 regional public housing agency shall be 

9 treated as a separate agency. 

10 ‘‘(vi) DETERMINATION OF NUMBER OF

11 COORDINATORS.—In determining whether a 

12 public housing agency meets a specific 

13 threshold for funding pursuant to this para14 graph, the number of participants being 

15 served by the agency in its family self-suffi16 ciency program shall be considered to be the 

17 average number of families enrolled in such 

18 agency’s program during the course of the 

19 most recent fiscal year for which the De20 partment of Housing and Urban Develop21 ment has data. 

22 ‘‘(C) PRORATION.—If insufficient funds are 

23 available in any fiscal year to fund all of the co24 ordinators authorized under this section, the first 

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1 nator at each agency with an existing family 

2 self-sufficiency program. The remaining funds 

3 shall be prorated based on the number of remain4 ing coordinators to which each agency is entitled 

5 under this subparagraph. 

6 ‘‘(D) RECAPTURE.—Any fees allocated 

7 under this subparagraph by the Secretary in a 

8 fiscal year that have not been spent by the end 

9 of the subsequent fiscal year shall be recaptured 

10 by the Secretary and shall be available for pro11 viding additional fees pursuant to subparagraph 

12 (B)(ii). 

13 ‘‘(E) PERFORMANCE STANDARDS.—Within 

14 six months after the date of the enactment of this 

15 paragraph, the Secretary shall publish a pro16 posed rule specifying the performance standards 

17 applicable to funding under clauses (ii) and (iii) 

18 of subparagraph (B). Such standards shall in19 clude requirements applicable to the leveraging of 

20 in-kind services and other resources to support 

21 the goals of the family self-sufficiency program. 

22 ‘‘(F) DATA COLLECTION.—Public housing 

23 agencies receiving funding under this paragraph 

24 shall collect and report to the Secretary, in such 

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1 tion on the performance of their family self-suffi2 ciency programs. 

3 ‘‘(G) EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall 

4 conduct a formal and scientific evaluation of the 

5 effectiveness of well-run family self-sufficiency 

6 programs, using random assignment of partici7 pants to the extent practicable. Not later than 

8 the expiration of the 4-year period beginning 

9 upon the enactment of this paragraph, the Sec10 retary shall submit an interim evaluation report 

11 to the Congress. Not later than the expiration of 

12 the 8-year period beginning upon such enact13 ment, the Secretary shall submit a final evalua14 tion report to the Congress. There is authorized 

15 to be appropriated $10,000,000 to carry out the 

16 evaluation under this subparagraph. 

17 ‘‘(H) INCENTIVES FOR INNOVATION AND

18 HIGH PERFORMANCE.—The Secretary may re19 serve up to 10 percent of the amounts made 

20 available for administrative fees under this 

21 paragraph to provide support to or reward fam22 ily self-sufficiency programs that are particu23 larly innovative or highly successful in achieving 

24 the goals of the program.’’. 


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1 (c) REPEAL.—Section 202 of the Departments of Vet2 erans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and 

3 Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1997 (42 U.S.C. 

4 1437f note; Public Law 104–204; 110 Stat. 2893) is hereby 

5 repealed. 

6 SEC. 8. HOMEOWNERSHIP. 

7 (a) SECTION 8 HOMEOWNERSHIP DOWNPAYMENT PRO8 GRAM.—Section 8(y)(7) of the United States Housing Act 

9 of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(y)(7)) is amended by striking sub10 paragraphs (A) and (B) and inserting the following new 

11 subparagraphs: 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the provi13 sions of this paragraph, in the case of a family 

14 on whose behalf rental assistance under section 

15 8(o) has been provided for a period of not less 

16 than 12 months prior to the date of receipt of 

17 downpayment assistance under this paragraph, 

18 a public housing agency may, in lieu of pro19 viding monthly assistance payments under this 

20 subsection on behalf of a family eligible for such 

21 assistance and at the discretion of the agency, 

22 provide a downpayment assistance grant in ac23 cordance with subparagraph (B). 

24 ‘‘(B) GRANT REQUIREMENTS.—A downpay25 ment assistance grant under this paragraph— 


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•HR 1851 RH

1 ‘‘(i) shall be used by the family only as 

2 a contribution toward the downpayment 

3 and reasonable and customary closing costs 

4 required in connection with the purchase of 

5 a home; 

6 ‘‘(ii) shall be in the form of a single 

7 one-time grant; and 

8 ‘‘(iii) may not exceed $10,000. 

9 ‘‘(C) NO EFFECT ON OBTAINING OUTSIDE

10 SOURCES FOR DOWNPAYMENT ASSISTANCE.—This 

11 Act may not be construed to prohibit a public 

12 housing agency from providing downpayment 

13 assistance to families from sources other than a 

14 grant provided under this Act, or as determined 

15 by the public housing agency.’’. 

16 (b) USE OF VOUCHERS FOR MANUFACTURED HOUS17 ING.—Section 8(o)(12) of the United States Housing Act 

18 of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(12) is amended— 

19 (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking the period 

20 at the end of the first sentence and all that follows 

21 through ‘‘of’’ in the second sentence and inserting 

22 ‘‘and rents’’; and 

23 (2) in subparagraph (B)— 

24 (A) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘the rent’’ and 

25 all that follows and inserting the following: ‘‘rent 


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1 shall mean the sum of the monthly payments 

2 made by a family assisted under this paragraph 

3 to amortize the cost of purchasing the manufac4 tured home, including any required insurance 

5 and property taxes, the monthly amount allowed 

6 for tenant-paid utilities, and the monthly rent 

7 charged for the real property on which the man8 ufactured home is located, including monthly 

9 management and maintenance charges.’’; 

10 (B) by striking clause (ii); and 

11 (C) in clause (iii)— 

12 (i) by inserting after the period at the 

13 end the following: ‘‘If the amount of the 

14 monthly assistance payment for a family 

15 exceeds the monthly rent charged for the 

16 real property on which the manufactured 

17 home is located, including monthly manage18 ment and maintenance charges, a public 

19 housing agency may pay the remainder to 

20 the family, lender or utility company, or 

21 may choose to make a single payment to the 

22 family for the entire monthly assistance 

23 amount.’’; and 

24 (ii) by redesignating such clause as 

25 clause (ii). 


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1 SEC. 9. PHA REPORTING OF RENT PAYMENTS TO CREDIT 

2 REPORTING AGENCIES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3 of the United States 

4 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a), as amended by 

5 the preceding provisions of this Act, is further amended by 

6 adding at the end the following new subsection: 

7 ‘‘(e) PHA REPORTING OF RENT PAYMENTS TO CREDIT

8 REPORTING AGENCIES.— 

9 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITY.—To the extent that a family 

10 receiving tenant-based housing choice vouchers under 

11 section 8 by a public housing agency agrees in writ12 ing to reporting under this subsection, the public 

13 housing agency may submit to consumer reporting 

14 agencies described in section 603(p) of the Fair Credit 

15 Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681a) information regard16 ing the past rent payment history of the family with 

17 respect to the dwelling unit for which such assistance 

18 is provided. 

19 ‘‘(2) FORMAT.—The Secretary, after consultation 

20 with consumer reporting agencies referred in para21 graph (1), shall establish a system and format to be 

22 used by public housing agencies for reporting of infor23 mation under such paragraph that provides such in24 formation in a format and manner that is similar to 

25 other credit information submitted to such consumer 

26 reporting agencies and is usable by such agencies.’’. 


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1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by sub2 section (a) shall take effect on the date of the enactment 

3 of this Act. 

4 SEC. 10. PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENTS. 

5 Section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 

6 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)) is amended by adding at the end the 

7 following new paragraph: 

8 ‘‘(21) PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENTS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary 

10 shall, by regulation, establish standards and pro11 cedures for assessing the performance of public 

12 housing agencies in carrying out the programs 

13 for tenant-based rental assistance under this sub14 section and for homeownership assistance under 

15 subsection (y). 

16 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—The standards and proce17 dures under this paragraph shall provide for as18 sessment of the performance of public housing 

19 agencies in the following areas: 

20 ‘‘(i) Quality of dwelling units obtained 

21 using such assistance. 

22 ‘‘(ii) Extent of utilization of assistance 

23 amounts provided to the agency and of au24 thorized vouchers. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) Timeliness and accuracy of re2 porting by the agency to the Secretary. 

3 ‘‘(iv) Effectiveness in carrying out 

4 policies to achieve deconcentration of pov5 erty. 

6 ‘‘(v) Reasonableness of rent burdens, 

7 consistent with public housing agency re8 sponsibilities under section 8(o)(1)(E)(iii). 

9 ‘‘(vi) Accurate rent calculations and 

10 subsidy payments. 

11 ‘‘(vii) Effectiveness in carrying out 

12 family self-sufficiency activities. 

13 ‘‘(viii) Timeliness of actions related to 

14 landlord participation. 

15 ‘‘(ix) Such other areas as the Secretary 

16 considers appropriate. 

17 ‘‘(C) PERIODIC ASSESSMENT.—Using the 

18 standards and procedures established under this 

19 paragraph, the Secretary shall conduct an assess20 ment of the performance of each public housing 

21 agency carrying out a program referred to in 

22 subparagraph (A) and shall submit a report to 

23 the Congress regarding the results of each such 

24 assessment.’’. 


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1 SEC. 11. PHA PROJECT-BASED ASSISTANCE. 

2 Section 8(o)(13) of the United States Housing Act of 

3 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(13)) is amended— 

4 (1) by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting 

5 the following new subparagraph: 

6 ‘‘(B) PERCENTAGE LIMITATION.— 

7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 

8 (ii), not more than 25 percent of the fund9 ing available for tenant-based assistance 

10 under this section that is administered by 

11 the agency may be attached to structures 

12 pursuant to this paragraph. 

13 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTION.—An agency may at14 tach up to an additional 5 percent of the 

15 funding available for tenant-based assist16 ance under this section to structures pursu17 ant to this paragraph for dwelling units 

18 that house individuals and families that 

19 meet the definition of homeless under section 

20 103 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assist21 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 11302).’’; 

22 (2) by striking subparagraph (D) and inserting 

23 the following new subparagraph: 

24 ‘‘(D) INCOME MIXING REQUIREMENT.— 

25 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 

26 in clause (ii), not more than the greater of 


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1 25 dwelling units or 25 percent of the dwell2 ing units in any project may be assisted 

3 under a housing assistance payment con4 tract for project-based assistance pursuant 

5 to this paragraph. For purposes of this sub6 paragraph, the term ‘project’ means a single 

7 building, multiple contiguous buildings, or 

8 multiple buildings on contiguous parcels of 

9 land. 

10 ‘‘(ii) EXCEPTIONS.— 

11 ‘‘(I) CERTAIN HOUSING.—The 

12 limitation under clause (i) shall not 

13 apply in the case of assistance under a 

14 contract for housing consisting of sin15 gle family properties, or for dwelling 

16 units that are specifically made avail17 able for households comprised of elderly 

18 families, disabled families, and fami19 lies receiving supportive services. For 

20 purposes of the preceding sentence, the 

21 term ‘single family properties’ means 

22 buildings with no more than four 

23 dwelling units. 

24 ‘‘(II) CERTAIN AREAS.—With re25 spect to areas in which fewer than 75 


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1 percent of families issued vouchers be2 come participants in the program, the 

3 public housing agency has established 

4 the payment standard at 110 percent 

5 of the fair market rent for all census 

6 tracts in the area for the previous six 

7 months, and the public housing agency 

8 grants an automatic extension of 90 

9 days (or longer) to families with 

10 vouchers who are attempting to find 

11 housing, clause (i) shall be applied by 

12 substituting ‘50 percent’ for ‘25 per13 cent’.’’; 

14 (3) in the first sentence of subparagraph (F), by 

15 striking ‘‘10 years’’ and inserting ‘‘15 years’’; 

16 (4) in subparagraph (G)— 

17 (A) by inserting after the period at the end 

18 of the first sentence the following: ‘‘Such contract 

19 may, at the election of the public housing agency 

20 and the owner of the structure, specify that such 

21 contract shall be extended for renewal terms of 

22 up to 15 years each, if the agency makes the de23 termination required by this subparagraph and 

24 the owner is in compliance with the terms of the 

25 contract.’’; and 


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1 (B) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘A 

2 public housing agency may agree to enter into 

3 such a contract at the time it enters into the ini4 tial agreement for a housing assistance payment 

5 contract or at any time thereafter that is before 

6 the expiration of the housing assistance payment 

7 contract.’’; 

8 (5) in subparagraph (H), by inserting before the 

9 period at the end of the first sentence the following: 

10 ‘‘, except that in the case of a contract unit that has 

11 been allocated low-income housing tax credits and for 

12 which the rent limitation pursuant to such section 42 

13 is less than the amount that would otherwise be per14 mitted under this subparagraph, the rent for such 

15 unit may, in the sole discretion of a public housing 

16 agency, be established at the higher section 8 rent, 

17 subject only to paragraph (10)(A)’’; 

18 (6) in subparagraph (I)(i), by inserting before 

19 the semicolon the following: ‘‘, except that the contract 

20 may provide that the maximum rent permitted for a 

21 dwelling unit shall not be less than the initial rent 

22 for the dwelling unit under the initial housing assist23 ance payments contract covering the unit’’; 

24 (7) in subparagraph (J)— 


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1 (A) by striking the fifth and sixth sentences 

2 and inserting the following: ‘‘A public housing 

3 agency may establish and utilize procedures for 

4 maintaining site-based waiting lists under which 

5 applicants may apply directly at, or otherwise 

6 designate to the public housing agency, the 

7 project or projects in which they seek to reside, 

8 except that all applicants on the waiting list of 

9 an agency for assistance under this subsection 

10 shall be permitted to place their names on such 

11 separate list. All such procedures shall comply 

12 with title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the 

13 Fair Housing Act, and other applicable civil 

14 rights laws. The owner or manager of a structure 

15 assisted under this paragraph shall not admit 

16 any family to a dwelling unit assisted under a 

17 contract pursuant to this paragraph other than 

18 a family referred by the public housing agency 

19 from its waiting list, or a family on a site-based 

20 waiting list that complies with the requirements 

21 of this subparagraph. A public housing agency 

22 shall fully disclose to each applicant each option 

23 in the selection of a project in which to reside 

24 that is available to the applicant.’’; and 


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1 (B) by inserting after the third sentence the 

2 following new sentence: ‘‘Any family who resides 

3 in a dwelling unit proposed to be assisted under 

4 this paragraph, or in a unit to be replaced by 

5 a proposed unit to be assisted under this para6 graph shall be given an absolute preference for 

7 selection for placement in the proposed unit, if 

8 the family is otherwise eligible for assistance 

9 under this subsection.’’; and 

10 (8) by adding at the end the following new sub11 paragraphs: 

12 ‘‘(L) USE IN COOPERATIVE HOUSING AND

13 ELEVATOR BUILDINGS.—A public housing agency 

14 may enter into a housing assistance payments 

15 contract under this paragraph with respect to— 

16 ‘‘(i) dwelling units in cooperative hous17 ing; 

18 ‘‘(ii) notwithstanding subsection (c), 

19 dwelling units in a high-rise elevator 

20 project, including such a project that is oc21 cupied by families with children, without 

22 review and approval of the contract by the 

23 Secretary. 

24 ‘‘(M) REVIEWS.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) SUBSIDY LAYERING.—A subsidy 

2 layering review in accordance with section 

3 102(d) of the Department of Housing and 

4 Urban Development Reform Act of 1989 (42 

5 U.S.C. 3545(d)) shall not be required for as6 sistance under this subparagraph in the 

7 case of a housing assistance payments con8 tract for an existing structure, or if a sub9 sidy layering review has been conducted by 

10 the applicable State or local agency. 

11 ‘‘(ii) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW.—A 

12 public housing agency shall not be required 

13 to undertake any environmental review be14 fore entering into a housing assistance pay15 ments contract under this paragraph for an 

16 existing structure, except to the extent such 

17 a review is otherwise required by law or 

18 regulation. 

19 ‘‘(N) LEASES AND TENANCY.—Assistance 

20 provided under this paragraph shall be subject to 

21 the provisions of paragraph (7), except that sub22 paragraph (A) of such paragraph shall not 

23 apply.’’. 


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1 SEC. 12. RENT BURDENS. 

2 (a) REVIEWS.—Section 8(o)(1) of the United States 

3 Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(1)) is amended 

4 by striking subparagraph (E) and inserting the following 

5 new subparagraph: 

6 ‘‘(E) REVIEWS.— 

7 ‘‘(i) RENT BURDENS.—The Secretary 

8 shall monitor rent burdens and submit a re9 port to the Congress annually on the per10 centage of families assisted under this sub11 section, occupying dwelling units of any 

12 size, that pay more than 30 percent of their 

13 adjusted incomes for rent and such percent14 age that pay more than 40 percent of their 

15 adjusted incomes for rent. Using informa16 tion regularly reported by public housing 

17 agencies, the Secretary shall provide public 

18 housing agencies, on an annual basis, a re19 port with the information described in the 

20 first sentence of this clause, and may re21 quire a public housing agency to modify a 

22 payment standard that results in a signifi23 cant percentage of families assisted under 

24 this subsection, occupying dwelling units of 

25 any size, paying more than 30 percent of 

26 their adjusted incomes for rent. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) CONCENTRATION OF POVERTY.— 

2 The Secretary shall submit a report to the 

3 Congress annually on the degree to which 

4 families assisted under this subsection in 

5 each metropolitan area are clustered in 

6 lower rent, higher poverty areas and how, 

7 and the extent to which, greater geographic 

8 distribution of such assisted families could 

9 be achieved, including by increasing pay10 ment standards for particular communities 

11 within such metropolitan areas. 

12 ‘‘(iii) PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCY RE13 SPONSIBILITIES.—Each public housing 

14 agency shall make publicly available the in15 formation on rent burdens provided by the 

16 Secretary pursuant to clause (i), and, for 

17 agencies located in metropolitan areas, the 

18 information on concentration provided by 

19 the Secretary pursuant to clause (ii). If the 

20 percentage of families paying more than 30 

21 percent or 40 percent of income exceeds the 

22 national average for either of such cat23 egories, as reported pursuant to clause (i), 

24 the public housing agency shall adjust the 

25 payment standard to eliminate excessive 


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1 rent burdens within a reasonable time pe2 riod or explain its reasons for not making 

3 such adjustment. The Secretary may not 

4 deny the request of a public housing agency 

5 to set a payment standard up to 120 per6 cent of the fair market rent to remedy rent 

7 burdens in excess of the national average or 

8 undue concentration of families assisted 

9 under this subsection in lower rent, higher 

10 poverty sections of a metropolitan area ex11 cept on the basis that an agency has not 

12 demonstrated that its request meets these 

13 criteria. If a request of a public housing 

14 agency has not been denied or approved 

15 with 45 days after the request is made, the 

16 request shall be considered to have been ap17 proved.’’. 

18 (b) PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCY PLAN.—Section 

19 5A(d)(4) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 

20 U.S.C. 1437c–1(d)(4)) is amended by inserting before the 

21 period at the end the following: ‘‘, including the report with 

22 respect to the agency furnished by the Secretary pursuant 

23 to section 8(o)(1)(E) concerning rent burdens and, if appli24 cable, geographic concentration of voucher holders, any 

25 changes in rent or other policies the public housing agency 


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1 is making to address excessive rent burdens or concentra2 tion, and if the public housing agency is not adjusting its 

3 payment standard, its reasons for not doing so’’. 

4 (c) RENT BURDENS FOR PERSONS WITH DISABIL5 ITIES.—Subparagraph (D) of section 8(o)(1) is amended by 

6 inserting before the period at the end the following: ‘‘, except 

7 that a public housing agency may establish a payment 

8 standard of not more than 120 percent of the fair market 

9 rent where necessary as a reasonable accommodation for a 

10 person with a disability, without approval of the Secretary. 

11 A public housing agency may seek approval of the Secretary 

12 to use a payment standard greater than 120 percent of the 

13 fair market rent as a reasonable accommodation for a per14 son with a disability’’. 

15 SEC. 13. ESTABLISHMENT OF FAIR MARKET RENT. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) of section 8(c) of the 

17 United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(c)(1)) 

18 is amended— 

19 (1) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after the paragraph des20 ignation; 

21 (2) by striking the seventh, eighth, and ninth 

22 sentences; and 

23 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(B)(i) The Secretary shall endeavor to define market 

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1 sults in fair market rentals that are adequate to cover typ2 ical rental costs of units suitable for occupancy by persons 

3 assisted under this section in as wide a range of commu4 nities as is feasible, including communities with low pov5 erty rates. 

6 ‘‘(ii) The Secretary at a minimum shall define a sepa7 rate market area for each— 

8 ‘‘(I) metropolitan city, as such term is defined in 

9 section 102(a) of the Housing and Community Devel10 opment Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5302(a)), with more 

11 than 40,000 rental dwelling units; and 

12 ‘‘(II) urban county or portion of an urban coun13 ty, as such term is defined in such section 102(a), lo14 cated outside the boundaries of any metropolitan city 

15 specified in subclause (I). 

16 ‘‘(iii) The Secretary shall, at the request of one or more 

17 public housing agencies, establish a separate market area 

18 for part or all of the area under the jurisdiction of such 

19 agencies, if— 

20 ‘‘(I) the requested market area contains at least 

21 20,000 rental dwelling units; 

22 ‘‘(II) the areas contained in the requested market 

23 area are geographically contiguous and share similar 

24 housing market characteristics; 


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1 ‘‘(III) adequate data are available to establish a 

2 reliable fair market rental for the requested market 

3 area, and for the remainder of the market area in 

4 which it is currently located; and 

5 ‘‘(IV) establishing the requested market area 

6 would raise or lower the fair market rental by 10 per7 cent or more at the time the requested market area is 

8 established. 

9 For purposes of subclause (III), data for an area shall be 

10 considered adequate if they are sufficient to establish from 

11 time to time a reliable benchmark fair market rental based 

12 primarily on data from that area, whether or not those data 

13 need to be supplemented with data from a larger area for 

14 purposes of annual updates. 

15 ‘‘(iv) The Secretary shall not reduce the fair market 

16 rental in a market area as a result of a change in the per17 centile of the distribution of market rents used to establish 

18 the fair market rental.’’. 

19 (b) PAYMENT STANDARD.—Subparagraph (B) of sec20 tion 8(o)(1) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 

21 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(1)(B)) is amended by inserting before the 

22 period at the end the following: ‘‘, except that no public 

23 housing agency shall be required as a result of a reduction 

24 in the fair market rental to reduce the payment standard 

25 applied to a family continuing to reside in a unit for which 


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1 the family was receiving assistance under this section at 

2 the time the fair market rental was reduced’’. 

3 SEC. 14. SCREENING OF APPLICANTS. 

4 Subparagraph (B) of section 8(o)(6) of the United 

5 States Housing Act of 1937 (1437f(o)(6)(B)) is amended by 

6 inserting after the period at the end of the second sentence 

7 the following: ‘‘A public housing agency’s elective screening 

8 shall be limited to criteria that are directly related to an 

9 applicant’s ability to fulfill the obligations of an assisted 

10 lease and shall consider mitigating circumstances related 

11 to such applicant. Any applicant or participant determined 

12 to be ineligible for admission or continued participation to 

13 the program shall be notified of the basis for such deter14 mination and provided, within a reasonable time after the 

15 determination, an opportunity for an informal hearing on 

16 such determination at which mitigating circumstances, in17 cluding remedial conduct subsequent to the notice, shall be 

18 considered.’’. 

19 SEC. 15. ENHANCED VOUCHERS. 

20 Subparagraph (B) of section 8(t)(1) of the United 

21 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(t)(1)(B)) is 

22 amended by inserting after ‘‘eligibility event for the 

23 project,’’ the following: ‘‘regardless of unit and family size 

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1 cept that tenants may be required to move to units of appro2 priate size if available on the premises),’’. 

3 SEC. 16. HOUSING INNOVATION PROGRAM. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—Title I of the 

5 United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.) 

6 is amended by adding at the end the following new section: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 36. HOUSING INNOVATION PROGRAM. 

8 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the program under 

9 this section is to provide public housing agencies and the 

10 Secretary the flexibility to design and evaluate innovative 

11 approaches to providing housing assistance that— 

12 ‘‘(1) increase housing opportunities for low-in13 come families, including preventing homelessness, re14 habilitate or replace housing at risk of physical dete15 rioration or obsolescence, and develop additional af16 fordable housing; 

17 ‘‘(2) leverage other Federal, State, and local 

18 funding sources, including the low-income housing tax 

19 credit program, to expand and preserve affordable 

20 housing opportunities, including public housing; 

21 ‘‘(3) provide financial incentives and other sup22 port mechanisms to families to obtain employment 

23 and increase earned income; 

24 ‘‘(4) test alternative rent-setting policies to deter25 mine whether rent determinations can be simplified 


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1 and administrative cost savings can be realized while 

2 protecting extremely low- and very low-income fami3 lies from increased rent burdens; 

4 ‘‘(5) are subject to rigorous evaluation to test the 

5 effectiveness of such innovative approaches; and 

6 ‘‘(6) are developed with the support of the local 

7 community and with the substantial participation of 

8 affected residents. 

9 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM AUTHORITY.— 

10 ‘‘(1) SCOPE.—The Secretary shall carry out a 

11 housing innovation program under this section under 

12 which the Secretary may designate not more than 60 

13 public housing agencies to participate, at any one 

14 time, in the housing innovation program, in accord15 ance with subsections (c) and (d), except that, in ad16 dition to such 60 agencies, the Secretary may des17 ignate an additional 20 agencies to participate in the 

18 program under the terms of subsection (h). 

19 ‘‘(2) DURATION.—The Secretary may carry out 

20 the housing innovation program under this section 

21 only during the 10-year period beginning on the date 

22 of the enactment of the Section 8 Voucher Reform Act 

23 of 2007. 

24 ‘‘(c) PARTICIPATION OF EXISTING MTW AGENCIES.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) EXISTING MTW AGENCIES.—Subject to the 

2 requirements of paragraph (2), all existing MTW 

3 agencies shall be designated to participate in the pro4 gram. 

5 ‘‘(2) CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION.—The Sec6 retary shall approve and transfer into the housing in7 novation program under this section each existing 

8 MTW agency that the Secretary determines is not in 

9 default under such agreement and which the Sec10 retary also determines is meeting the goals and objec11 tives of its moving to work plan. Each such agency 

12 shall, within two years after the date of the enactment 

13 of the Section 8 Voucher Reform Act of 2007, make 

14 changes to its policies that were implemented before 

15 such date of enactment in order to comply with the 

16 requirements of this section. 

17 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL AGENCIES.— 

18 ‘‘(1) PROPOSALS; SELECTION PROCESS.—In ad19 dition to agencies participating in the program pur20 suant to subsection (c), the Secretary shall, within 18 

21 months after such date of enactment, select public 

22 housing agencies to participate in the program pursu23 ant to a competitive process that meets the following 

24 requirements: 


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1 ‘‘(A) Any public housing agency may be se2 lected to participate in the program, except that 

3 not more than 5 agencies that are near-troubled 

4 under the public housing assessment system and/ 

5 or section 8 management assessment program 

6 may be selected, and except that any agency for 

7 which the Secretary has hired an alternative 

8 management entity for such agency or has taken 

9 possession of all or any part of such agency’s 

10 public housing program shall not be eligible for 

11 participation. Any near-troubled public housing 

12 agency participating in the program shall re13 main subject to the requirements of this Act gov14 erning tenant rent contributions, eligibility, and 

15 continued participation, and may not adopt 

16 policies described in subsection (e)(4) (relating to 

17 rents and requirements for continued occupation 

18 and participation). 

19 ‘‘(B) The process provides, to the extent pos20 sible based on eligible agencies submitting appli21 cations and taking into account existing MTW 

22 agencies participating pursuant to subsection 

23 (c), for representation among agencies selected of 

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1 ing urban, suburban, and rural areas, and agen2 cies in various geographical regions throughout 

3 the United States, and which may include the se4 lection of agencies that only administer the 

5 voucher program under section 8(o). 

6 ‘‘(C) Any agency submitting a proposal 

7 under this paragraph shall have provided notice 

8 to residents and the local community, not later 

9 than 30 days before the first of the two public 

10 meetings required under subparagraph (D). 

11 ‘‘(D) The agency submitting a proposal 

12 shall hold two public meetings to receive com13 ments on the agency’s proposed application, on 

14 the implications of changes under the proposal, 

15 and the possible impact on residents. 

16 ‘‘(E) The process includes criteria for selec17 tion, as follows: 

18 ‘‘(i) The extent to which the proposal 

19 generally identifies existing rules and regu20 lations that impede achievement of the goals 

21 and objectives of the proposal and an expla22 nation of why participation in the program 

23 is necessary to achieve such goals and objec24 tives. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) The extent of commitment and 

2 funding for carrying out the proposal by 

3 local government agencies and nonprofit or4 ganizations, including the provision of ad5 ditional funding and other services, and the 

6 extent of support for the proposal by resi7 dents, resident advisory boards, and mem8 bers of the local community. 

9 ‘‘(iii) The extent to which the agency 

10 has a successful history of implementing 

11 strategies similar to those set forth in the 

12 agency’s proposal. 

13 ‘‘(iv) Whether the proposal pursues a 

14 priority strategy as specified in paragraph 

15 (2). In the case of any proposal utilizing a 

16 such a priority strategy, the proposal shall 

17 be evaluated based upon— 

18 ‘‘(I) the extent to which the pro19 posal is likely to achieve the objectives 

20 of developing additional housing dwell21 ing units affordable to extremely low-, 

22 very low-, and low-income families, 

23 and preserving, rehabilitating, or mod24 ernizing existing public housing dwell25 ing units; or 


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1 ‘‘(II) the extent to which the pro2 posal is likely to achieve the purposes 

3 of moving families toward economic 

4 self-sufficiency and increasing employ5 ment rates and wages of families with6 out imposing a significant rent burden 

7 on the lowest income families, as well 

8 as such of the additional purposes as 

9 may be identified in the proposal, 

10 which may include expanding housing 

11 choices utilizing coordinators for the 

12 family self-sufficiency program under 

13 section 23, making more effective use of 

14 program funds, and improving pro15 gram management. 

16 ‘‘(v) Such other factors as the Sec17 retary may provide, in consultation with 

18 participating agencies, program stake19 holders, and any entity conducting evalua20 tions pursuant to subsection (f). 

21 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY STRATEGIES.—For purposes of 

22 paragraph (1)(E)(iv), the following are priority strat23 egies: 

24 ‘‘(A) DEVELOPMENT, REHABILITATION, AND

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1 tional affordable housing dwelling units and/or a 

2 strategy for preservation and physical rehabilita3 tion and modernization of existing public hous4 ing dwelling units. Such strategies may include 

5 innovative financing proposals, leveraging of 

6 non-public housing funds (including the low-in7 come housing tax credit program), and com8 bining of funds for assistance under sections 8 

9 and 9. Each such proposal shall include detailed 

10 information about the strategies expected to be 

11 employed, an explanation of why participation 

12 in the program is necessary to employ such 

13 strategies, and numerical goals regarding the 

14 number of dwelling units to be developed, pre15 served, or rehabilitated. 

16 ‘‘(B) RENT REFORMS.—A strategy to imple17 ment rent reforms, which shall be designed to 

18 help families increase their earned income 

19 through rent and other work incentives, and may 

20 also test the effectiveness of achieving adminis21 trative cost savings without increased rent bur22 dens for extremely low- and very low-income 

23 families. 

24 ‘‘(3) CONTRACT AMENDMENT.—After selecting 

25 agencies under this subsection, the Secretary shall 


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1 promptly amend the applicable annual contributions 

2 contracts of such agencies to provide that— 

3 ‘‘(A) subject to subparagraph (B), such 

4 agencies may implement any policies and activi5 ties that are not inconsistent with this section 

6 without specifying such policies and activities in 

7 such amendment and without negotiating or en8 tering into any other agreements with the Sec9 retary specifying such policies and activities; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(B) the activities to be implemented by an 

12 agency under the program in a given year shall 

13 be described in and subject to the requirements of 

14 the annual plan under subsection (e)(8). Upon 

15 the enactment of this section, any agency which 

16 has participated in the Moving to Work dem17 onstration may, at its option, be subject to the 

18 provisions of this paragraph in lieu of any other 

19 agreement required by the Secretary for partici20 pation in the program. 

21 ‘‘(4) MAINTAINING PARTICIPATION RATE.—If, at 

22 any time after the initial selection period under para23 graph (1), the number of public housing agencies par24 ticipating in the program under this section is fewer 

25 than 40, the Secretary shall promptly solicit applicaVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:39 Jun 29, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00073 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1851.RH H1851

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1 tions from and select public housing agencies to par2 ticipate in the program under the terms and condi3 tions for application and selection provided in this 

4 section to increase the number of agencies partici5 pating in the program to 40. 

6 ‘‘(e) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.— 

7 ‘‘(1) PROGRAM FUNDS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To carry out a housing 

9 innovation program under this section, the par10 ticipating agency may use amounts provided to 

11 the agency from the Operating Fund under sec12 tion 9(e), amounts provided to the agency from 

13 the Capital Fund under section 9(d), and 

14 amounts provided to the agency for voucher as15 sistance under section 8(o). Such program funds 

16 may be used for any activities that are author17 ized by sections 8(o) or 9, or for other activities 

18 that are not inconsistent with this section, which 

19 shall include, without limitation— 

20 ‘‘(i) providing capital and operating 

21 assistance, and financing for housing pre22 viously developed or operated pursuant to a 

23 contract between the Secretary and such 

24 agency; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the acquisition, new construction, 

2 rehabilitation, financing, and provision of 

3 capital or operating assistance for low-in4 come housing (including housing other than 

5 public housing) and related facilities, which 

6 may be for terms exceeding the term of the 

7 program under this section in order to se8 cure other financing for such housing; 

9 ‘‘(iii) costs of site acquisition and im10 provement, providing utility services, demo11 lition, planning, and administration of ac12 tivities under this paragraph; 

13 ‘‘(iv) housing counseling for low-in14 come families in connection with rental or 

15 homeownership assistance provided under 

16 the program; 

17 ‘‘(v) safety, security, law enforcement, 

18 and anticrime activities appropriate to pro19 tect and support families assisted under the 

20 program; 

21 ‘‘(vi) tenant-based rental assistance, 

22 which may include the project-basing of 

23 such assistance; and 

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1 serve low-income housing otherwise assisted 

2 under programs administered by the Sec3 retary or under State or local low-income 

4 housing programs. 

5 ‘‘(B) COMBINING FUNDS.—Notwithstanding 

6 any other provision of law, a participating 

7 agency may combine and use program funds for 

8 any activities authorized under this section, ex9 cept that a participating agency may use funds 

10 provided for assistance under section 8(o) for ac11 tivities other than those authorized under section 

12 8(o) only if (i) in the calendar year prior to its 

13 participation in the program, the agency utilized 

14 not less than 95 percent of such funds allocated 

15 for that calendar year for such authorized activi16 ties or 95 percent of its authorized vouchers, in17 cluding vouchers ported in to the agency and 

18 vouchers ported out; or (ii) after approval to 

19 participate in the program, the agency achieves 

20 such utilization for a 12-month period. This sub21 paragraph shall not apply to participating agen22 cies approved by the Secretary to combine funds 

23 from sections 8 and 9 of the Act prior to enact24 ment of this section. 


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1 ‘‘(2) USE OF PROGRAM FUNDS.—In carrying out 

2 the housing innovation program under this section, 

3 each participating agency shall continue to assist— 

4 ‘‘(A) not less than substantially the same 

5 number of eligible low-income families under the 

6 program as it assisted in the base year for the 

7 agency; and 

8 ‘‘(B) a comparable mix of families by fam9 ily size, subject to adjustment to reflect changes 

10 in the agency’s waiting list, except that the Sec11 retary may approve exceptions to such require12 ments for up to 3 years based on modernization 

13 or redevelopment activities proposed in an an14 nual plan submitted and approved in accordance 

15 with paragraph (8). 

16 Determinations with respect to the number of families 

17 served shall be adjusted based on any allocation of ad18 ditional vouchers under section 8(o) and to reflect 

19 any change in the percentage of program funds that 

20 a participating agency receives compared to the base 

21 year. 

22 ‘‘(3) RETAINED PROVISIONS.—Notwithstanding 

23 any other provision of this section, families receiving 

24 assistance under this section shall retain the same 

25 rights of judicial review of agency action as they 


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1 would otherwise have had if the agency were not par2 ticipating in the program, and each participating 

3 agency shall comply with the following provisions of 

4 this Act: 

5 ‘‘(A) Subsections (a)(2)(A) and (b)(1) of 

6 section 16 (relating to targeting for new admis7 sions in the public housing and voucher pro8 grams). 

9 ‘‘(B) Section 2(b) (relating to tenant rep10 resentatives on the public housing agency board 

11 of directors). 

12 ‘‘(C) Section 3(b)(2) (relating to definitions 

13 for the terms ‘low-income families’ and ‘very 

14 low-income families’). 

15 ‘‘(D) Section 5(A)(e) (relating to the forma16 tion of and consultation with a resident advisory 

17 board). 

18 ‘‘(E) Sections 6(f)(1) and 8(o)(8)(B) (relat19 ing to compliance of units assisted with housing 

20 quality standards or other codes). 

21 ‘‘(F) Sections 6(c)(3), 6(c)(4)(i), and 

22 8(o)(6)(B) (relating to rights of public housing 

23 applicants and existing procedural rights for ap24 plicants under section 8(o)). 


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1 ‘‘(G) Section 6(k) (relating to grievance 

2 procedures for public housing tenants) and com3 parable procedural rights for families assisted 

4 under section 8(o). 

5 ‘‘(H) Section 6(l) (relating to public hous6 ing lease requirements), except that for units as7 sisted both with program funds and low-income 

8 housing tax credits, the initial lease term may be 

9 less than 12 months if required to conform lease 

10 terms with such tax credit requirements. 

11 ‘‘(I) Section 7 (relating to designation of 

12 housing for elderly and disabled households), ex13 cept that a participating agency may make such 

14 designations(at initial designation or upon re15 newal) for a term of up to 5 years if the agency 

16 includes in its annual plan under paragraph (8) 

17 an analysis of the impact of such designations 

18 on affected households and such designation is 

19 subject to the program evaluation. Any partici20 pating agency with a designated housing plan 

21 that was approved under the moving to work 

22 demonstration may continue to operate under 

23 the terms of such plan for a term of 5 years 

24 (with an option to renew on the same terms for 

25 an additional 5 years) if it includes in its anVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:39 Jun 29, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00079 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1851.RH H1851

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1 nual plan an analysis of the impact of such des2 ignations on affected households and is subject to 

3 evaluation under subsection (f). 

4 ‘‘(J) Subparagraphs (C) through (E) of sec5 tion 8(o)(7) (relating to lease requirements and 

6 eviction protections for families assisted with 

7 tenant-based assistance). 

8 ‘‘(K) Subject to paragraph (1)(B) of this 

9 subsection, section 8(o)(13)(B) (relating to a per10 centage limitation on project-based assistance), 

11 except that for purposes of this subparagraph 

12 such section shall be applied by substituting ‘50 

13 percent’ for ‘20 percent’. 

14 ‘‘(L) Section 8(o)(13)(E) (relating to resi15 dent choice for tenants of units with project16 based vouchers), except with respect to— 

17 ‘‘(i) in the case of agencies partici18 pating in the moving to work demonstra19 tion, any housing assistance payment con20 tract entered into within 2 years after the 

21 enactment of this section; 

22 ‘‘(ii) project-based vouchers that re23 place public housing units; 

24 ‘‘(iii) not more than 10 percent of the 

25 vouchers available to the participating 


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1 agency upon entering the housing innova2 tion program under this section; and 

3 ‘‘(iv) any project-based voucher pro4 gram that is subject to evaluation under 

5 subsection (f). 

6 ‘‘(M) Section 8(r) (relating to portability of 

7 voucher assistance), except that a participating 

8 agency may receive funding for portability obli9 gations under section 8(dd) in the same manner 

10 as other public housing agencies. 

11 ‘‘(N) Subsections (a) and (b) of section 12 

12 (relating to payment of prevailing wages). 

13 ‘‘(O) Section 18 (relating to demolition and 

14 disposition of public housing). 

15 ‘‘(4) RENTS AND REQUIREMENTS FOR CONTIN16 UED OCCUPANCY OR PARTICIPATION.— 

17 ‘‘(A) BEFORE POLICY CHANGE.—Before 

18 adopting any policy pursuant to participation 

19 in the housing innovation program under this 

20 section that would make a material change to the 

21 requirements of this Act regarding tenant rents 

22 or contributions, or conditions of continued occu23 pancy or participation, a participating agency 

24 shall complete each of the following actions: 


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1 ‘‘(i) The agency shall conduct an im2 pact analysis of the proposed policy on fam3 ilies the agency is assisting under the pro4 gram under this section and on applicants 

5 on the waiting list, including analysis of 

6 the incidence and severity of rent burdens 

7 greater than 30 percent of adjusted income 

8 on households of various sizes and types and 

9 in various income tiers, that would result, 

10 if any, without application of the hardship 

11 provisions. The analysis with respect to ap12 plicants on the waiting list may be limited 

13 to demographic data provided by the appli14 cable consolidated plan, information pro15 vided by the Secretary, and other generally 

16 available information. The proposed policy, 

17 including provisions for addressing hard18 ship cases and transition provisions that 

19 mitigate the impact of any rent increases or 

20 changes in the conditions of continued occu21 pancy or participation, and data from this 

22 analysis shall be made available for public 

23 inspection for at least 60 days in advance 

24 of the public meeting described in clause 

25 (ii). 


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1 ‘‘(ii) The agency shall hold a public 

2 meeting regarding the proposed change, in3 cluding the hardship provisions, which may 

4 be combined with a public meeting on the 

5 draft annual plan under paragraph (8) or 

6 the annual report under paragraph (9). 

7 ‘‘(iii) The board of directors or other 

8 similar governing body of the agency shall 

9 approve the change in public session. 

10 ‘‘(iv) The agency shall obtain approval 

11 from the Secretary of the annual plan or 

12 plan amendment. The Secretary may ap13 prove a plan or amendment containing a 

14 material change to the requirements of this 

15 Act regarding tenant rents or contributions, 

16 or conditions of continued occupancy or 

17 participation, only if the agency agrees that 

18 such policy may be included as part of the 

19 national evaluation. 

20 ‘‘(B) AFTER POLICY CHANGE.—After adopt21 ing a policy described in subparagraph (A), a 

22 program agency shall complete each of the fol23 lowing actions: 

24 ‘‘(i) The agency shall provide adequate 

25 notice to residents, which shall include a deVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:39 Jun 29, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00083 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1851.RH H1851

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1 scription of the changes in the public hous2 ing lease or participation agreement that 

3 may be required and of the hardship or 

4 transition protections offered. 

5 ‘‘(ii) In the case of any additional re6 quirements for continued occupancy or par7 ticipation, the agency shall execute a lease 

8 addendum or participation agreement 

9 specifying the requirements applicable to 

10 both the resident and the agency. A resident 

11 may bring a civil action to enforce commit12 ments of the agency made through the lease 

13 addendum or participation agreement. 

14 ‘‘(iii) The agency shall reassess rent, 

15 subsidy level, and policies on program par16 ticipation no less often than every two 

17 years, which shall include preparing a re18 vised impact analysis, and make available 

19 to the public the results of such reassessment 

20 and impact analysis. The requirement 

21 under this clause may be met by sufficiently 

22 detailed interim reports, if any, by the na23 tional evaluating entity. 

24 ‘‘(iv) The agency shall include in the 

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1 mation sufficient to describe any hardship 

2 requests, including the number and types of 

3 requests made, granted, and denied, the use 

4 of transition rules, and adverse impacts re5 sulting from changes in rent or continued 

6 occupancy policies, including actions taken 

7 by the agency to mitigate such impacts and 

8 impacts on families no longer assisted 

9 under the program. 

10 ‘‘(C) APPLICABILITY TO EXISTING MTW

11 AGENCIES.—An existing MTW agency that, be12 fore the date of the enactment of this section, im13 plemented material changes to the requirements 

14 of this Act regarding tenant rents or contribu15 tions, or conditions of continued occupancy or 

16 participation, as part of the moving to work 

17 demonstration shall not be subject to subpara18 graph (A) with regard to such previously imple19 mented changes, but shall comply with the re20 quirements of subparagraph (B)(ii) and provide 

21 the evaluation and impact analysis required by 

22 subparagraph (B)(iii) by the end of the second 

23 agency fiscal year ending after such date of en24 actment. 


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1 ‘‘(5) PROHIBITION AGAINST DECREASE IN PRO2 GRAM FUNDS.—The amount of program funds a par3 ticipating agency receives shall not be diminished by 

4 its participation in the housing innovation program 

5 under this section. 

6 ‘‘(6) SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION.—As part of 

7 the annual report required under subsection (g)(2), 

8 each participating agency shall submit information 

9 annually to the Secretary regarding families assisted 

10 under the program of the agency and comply with 

11 any other data submissions required by the Secretary 

12 for purposes of evaluation of the program under this 

13 section. 

14 ‘‘(7) PUBLIC AND RESIDENT PARTICIPATION.— 

15 Each participating agency shall provide opportuni16 ties for resident and public participation in the an17 nual plan under paragraph (8), as follows: 

18 ‘‘(A) NOTICE TO RESIDENTS.— 

19 ‘‘(i) NOTICE.—Each year, the agency 

20 shall provide notice to the low-income fami21 lies it serves under the programs authorized 

22 by this section as to the impact of proposed 

23 policy changes and program initiatives and 

24 of the schedule of resident advisory board 

25 and public meetings for the annual plan. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) MEETING.—The agency shall hold 

2 at least one meeting with the resident advi3 sory board (including representatives of re4 cipients of assistance under section 8) to re5 view the annual plan for each year. 

6 ‘‘(B) PUBLIC MEETING.—With respect to 

7 each annual plan, the agency shall hold at least 

8 one annual public meeting to obtain comments 

9 on the plan, which may be combined with a 

10 meeting to review the annual report. In the case 

11 of any agency that administers, in the aggregate, 

12 more than 15,000 public housing units and 

13 vouchers, the agency shall hold additional meet14 ings in locations that promote attendance by 

15 residents and other stakeholders. 

16 ‘‘(C) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Before adop17 tion of any annual plan, and not less than 30 

18 days before the public meeting required under 

19 subparagraph (A)(ii) with respect to the plan, 

20 the agency shall make the proposed annual plan 

21 available for public inspection. The annual plan 

22 shall be made available for public inspection not 

23 less than 30 days before approval by the board 

24 of directors (or other similar governing body) of 

25 the agency and shall remain publicly available. 


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1 ‘‘(D) BOARD APPROVAL.—Before submitting 

2 an annual plan or annual report to the Sec3 retary, the plan or report, as applicable, shall be 

4 approved in a public meeting by the board of di5 rectors or other governing body of the agency. 

6 ‘‘(8) ANNUAL PLAN.— 

7 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT.—For each year that a 

8 participating agency participates in the housing 

9 innovation program under this section, the agen10 cy shall submit to the Secretary, in lieu of all 

11 other planning requirements, an annual plan 

12 under this paragraph. 

13 ‘‘(B) CONTENTS.—Each annual plan shall 

14 include the following information: 

15 ‘‘(i) A list and description of all pro16 gram initiatives and generally applicable 

17 policy changes, including references to af18 fected provisions of law or the implementing 

19 regulations affected. 

20 ‘‘(ii) A description and comparison of 

21 changes under the housing innovation pro22 gram of the agency from the plan for such 

23 program for the preceding year. 

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1 gies and proposed changes in policies or 

2 uses of funds required to implement such 

3 strategies. 

4 ‘‘(iv) Documentation of public and 

5 resident participation sufficient to comply 

6 with the requirements under paragraphs (4) 

7 and (7), including a copy of any rec8 ommendations submitted in writing by the 

9 resident advisory board of the agency and 

10 members of the public, a summary of com11 ments, and a description of the manner in 

12 which the recommendations were addressed. 

13 ‘‘(v) Certifications by the agency 

14 that— 

15 ‘‘(I) the annual plan will be car16 ried out in conformity with title VI of 

17 the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Fair 

18 Housing Act, section 504 of the Reha19 bilitation Act of 1973, title II of the 

20 Americans with Disabilities Act of 

21 1990, and the rules, standards, and 

22 policies in the approved plan; 

23 ‘‘(II) the agency will affirmatively 

24 further fair housing; and 


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1 ‘‘(III) the agency has complied 

2 and will continue to comply with its 

3 obligations under the national evalua4 tion. 

5 ‘‘(vi) A description of the agency’s 

6 local asset management strategy for public 

7 housing properties, which shall be in lieu of 

8 any other asset management, project based 

9 management or accounting, or other system 

10 of allocating resources and costs to partici11 pating agency assets or cost centers that the 

12 Secretary may otherwise impose under this 

13 Act. 

14 ‘‘(C) CHANGES.—If the agency proposes to 

15 make material changes in policies or initiatives 

16 in the plan during the year covered by the plan, 

17 the agency shall consult with the resident advi18 sory board for the agency established pursuant to 

19 section 5A(e) and the public regarding such 

20 changes before their adoption. 

21 ‘‘(D) APPROVAL PROCESS.— 

22 ‘‘(i) TIMING.—The Secretary shall re23 view and approve or disapprove each an24 nual plan submitted to the Secretary within 

25 45 days after such submission. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) STANDARDS FOR DISAPPROVAL.— 

2 The Secretary may disapprove a plan only 

3 if— 

4 ‘‘(I) the Secretary reasonably de5 termines, based on information con6 tained in the annual plan or annual 

7 report, that the agency is not in com8 pliance with the requirements of this 

9 section; 

10 ‘‘(II) the annual plan or most re11 cent annual report is not consistent 

12 with other reliable information avail13 able to the Secretary; or 

14 ‘‘(III) the annual plan or annual 

15 report or the agency’s activities under 

16 the program are not otherwise in ac17 cordance with applicable law. 

18 ‘‘(iii) FAILURE TO DISAPPROVE.—If a 

19 submitted plan is not disapproved within 

20 45 days after submission, the plan shall be 

21 considered to be approved for purposes of 

22 this section. The preceding sentence shall 

23 not preclude judicial review regarding such 

24 compliance pursuant to chapter 7 of title 5, 

25 United States Code, or an action regarding 


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1 such compliance under section 1979 of the 

2 Revised Statutes of the United States (42 

3 U.S.C. 1983). 

4 ‘‘(f) EVALUATION OF PERFORMANCE.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the expiration 

6 of the one-year period that begins upon selection 

7 under subsection (d) of at least half of the number of 

8 agencies able to participate in the program under this 

9 section, the Secretary shall conduct detailed evalua10 tions of all public housing agencies participating in 

11 the program under this section— 

12 ‘‘(A) to determine the level of success of each 

13 public housing agency in achieving the purposes 

14 of the program under subsection (a); and 

15 ‘‘(B) to identify program models that can be 

16 replicated by other agencies to achieve such suc17 cess. 

18 ‘‘(2) REPORTS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

20 submit three reports to the Congress, as provided 

21 in subparagraph (B), evaluating the programs of 

22 all public housing agencies participating in the 

23 program under this section and all agencies par24 ticipating in the moving to work demonstration. 

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1 ommendations for any appropriate legislative 

2 action. 

3 ‘‘(B) TIMING.—The reports under this para4 graph shall include— 

5 ‘‘(i) an initial report, which shall be 

6 submitted before the expiration of the 3-year 

7 period beginning on the date of the enact8 ment of the Section 8 Voucher Reform Act 

9 of 2007; 

10 ‘‘(ii) an interim report, which shall be 

11 submitted before the expiration of the 5-year 

12 period beginning on such date of enactment; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(iii) a final report, which shall be 

15 submitted before the expiration of the 10- 

16 year period beginning on such date of en17 actment. 

18 ‘‘(3) EVALUATING ENTITY.—The Secretary may 

19 contract out the responsibilities under this para20 graphs (1) and (2) to an independent entity that is 

21 qualified to perform such responsibilities. 

22 ‘‘(4) PERFORMANCE MEASURES.—The Secretary 

23 or the evaluating entity, as applicable, shall establish 

24 performance measures, which may include— 


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1 ‘‘(A) a baseline performance level against 

2 which program activities may be evaluated; and 

3 ‘‘(B) performance measures for— 

4 ‘‘(i) increasing housing opportunities 

5 for extremely low-, very low-, and low-in6 come families, replacing or rehabilitating 

7 housing at risk of physical deterioration or 

8 obsolescence, and developing additional af9 fordable housing; 

10 ‘‘(ii) leveraging other Federal, State, 

11 and local funding sources, including the 

12 low-income housing tax credit program, to 

13 expand and preserve affordable housing op14 portunities, including public housing; 

15 ‘‘(iii) moving families to self-suffi16 ciency and increasing employment rates 

17 and wages of families without imposing a 

18 significant rent burden on the families hav19 ing the lowest incomes; 

20 ‘‘(iv) reducing administrative costs; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(v) any other performance measures 

23 that the Secretary or evaluating entity, as 

24 applicable, may establish. 

25 ‘‘(g) RECORDKEEPING, REPORTS, AND AUDITS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) RECORDKEEPING.—Each public housing 

2 agency participating in the program under this sec3 tion shall keep such records as the Secretary may pre4 scribe as reasonably necessary to disclose the amounts 

5 and the disposition of amounts under the program, to 

6 ensure compliance with the requirements of this sec7 tion, and to measure performance. 

8 ‘‘(2) REPORTS.—In lieu of all other reporting re9 quirements, each such agency participating in the 

10 program shall submit to the Secretary an annual re11 port in a form and at a time specified by the Sec12 retary. Each annual report shall include the following 

13 information: 

14 ‘‘(A) A description, including an annual 

15 consolidated financial report, of the sources and 

16 uses of funds of the agency under the program, 

17 which shall account separately for funds made 

18 available under section 8 and subsections (d) 

19 and (e) of section 9, and shall compare the agen20 cy’s actions under the program with its annual 

21 plan for the year. 

22 ‘‘(B) An annual audit that complies with 

23 the requirements of Circular A–133 of the Office 

24 of Management and Budget, including the OMB 

25 Compliance Supplement. 


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1 ‘‘(C) A description of each hardship excep2 tion requested and granted or denied, and of the 

3 use of any transition rules. 

4 ‘‘(D) Documentation of public and resident 

5 participation sufficient to comply with the re6 quirements under paragraph (7). 

7 ‘‘(E) A comparison of income and the sizes 

8 and types of families assisted by the agency 

9 under the program compared to those assisted by 

10 the agency in the base year. 

11 ‘‘(F) Every two years, an evaluation of rent 

12 policies, subsidy level policies, and policies on 

13 program participation. 

14 ‘‘(G) A description of any ongoing local 

15 evaluations and the results of any local evalua16 tions completed during the year. 

17 ‘‘(3) ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS BY SECRETARY.— 

18 The Secretary shall have access for the purpose of 

19 audit and examination to any books, documents, pa20 pers, and records that are pertinent to assistance in 

21 connection with, and the requirements of, this section. 

22 ‘‘(4) ACCESS TO DOCUMENTS BY THE COMP23 TROLLER GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of the 

24 United States, or any of the duly authorized rep25 resentatives of the Comptroller General, shall have acVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:39 Jun 29, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00096 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1851.RH H1851

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1 cess for the purpose of audit and examination to any 

2 books, documents, papers, and records that are perti3 nent to assistance in connection with, and the re4 quirements of, this section. 

5 ‘‘(5) REPORTS REGARDING EVALUATIONS.—The 

6 Secretary shall require each public housing agency 

7 participating in the program under this section to 

8 submit to the Secretary, as part of the agency’s an9 nual report under paragraph (2), such information as 

10 the Secretary considers appropriate to permit the Sec11 retary to evaluate (pursuant to subsection (f)) the 

12 performance and success of the agency in achieving 

13 the purposes of the demonstration. 

14 ‘‘(h) ADDITIONAL PROGRAM AGENCIES.—In partici15 pating in the program under the terms of this subsection, 

16 the public housing agencies designated for such participa17 tion shall be subject to the requirements of this section, and 

18 the additional following requirements: 

19 ‘‘(1) APPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN EXISTING PRO20 VISIONS.—Such agencies shall be subject to the provi21 sions of— 

22 ‘‘(A) subsections (a) and (b) of section 3; 

23 and 

24 ‘‘(B) section 8(o), except for paragraph (11) 

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1 quired to comply with any provision of such sec2 tion 8(o) that pursuant to subsection (e)(3) of 

3 this section does not apply to agencies that are 

4 subject to such section (e)(3). 

5 ‘‘(2) NO TIME LIMITS.—Such agencies may not 

6 impose time limits on the term of housing assistance 

7 received by families under the program. 

8 ‘‘(3) NO EMPLOYMENT CONDITIONS.—Such agen9 cies may not condition the receipt of housing assist10 ance by families under the program on the employ11 ment status of one of more family members. 

12 ‘‘(4) ONE-FOR-ONE REPLACEMENT.— 

13 ‘‘(A) CONDITIONS ON DEMOLITION.—Such 

14 agencies may not demolish or dispose of any 

15 dwelling unit of public housing operated or ad16 ministered by such agency (including any un17 inhabitable unit and any unit previously ap18 proved for demolition) except pursuant to a plan 

19 for replacement of such units in accordance with, 

20 and approved by the Secretary of Housing and 

21 Urban Development pursuant to, subparagraph 

22 (B). 

23 ‘‘(B) PLAN REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary 

24 may not approve a plan that provides for demo25 lition or disposition of any dwelling unit of pubVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:39 Jun 29, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00098 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1851.RH H1851

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1 lic housing referred to in subparagraph (A) un2 less— 

3 ‘‘(i) such plan provides for outreach to 

4 public housing agency residents in accord5 ance with paragraph (5); 

6 ‘‘(ii) not later than 60 days before the 

7 date of the approval of such plan, such 

8 agency has convened and conducted a public 

9 hearing regarding the demolition or disposi10 tion proposed in the plan; 

11 ‘‘(iii) such plan provides that for each 

12 such dwelling unit demolished or disposed 

13 of, such public housing agency will provide 

14 an additional dwelling unit through— 

15 ‘‘(I) the acquisition or develop16 ment of additional public housing 

17 dwelling units; or 

18 ‘‘(II) the acquisition, development, 

19 or contracting (including through 

20 project-based assistance) of additional 

21 dwelling units that are subject to re22 quirements regarding eligibility for oc23 cupancy, tenant contribution toward 

24 rent, and long-term affordability reVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:39 Jun 29, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00099 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1851.RH H1851

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1 strictions which are comparable to 

2 public housing units; 

3 ‘‘(iv) such plan provides for a right, 

4 and implementation of such right, to occu5 pancy of additional dwelling units provided 

6 in accordance with clause (iii), for house7 holds who, as of the time that dwelling 

8 units demolished or disposed of were va9 cated to provide for such demolition or dis10 position, were occupying such dwelling 

11 units; 

12 ‘‘(v) such plan provides that the pro13 posed demolition or disposition and reloca14 tion will be carried out in a manner that 

15 affirmatively furthers fair housing, as de16 scribed in subsection (e) of section 808 of 

17 the Civil Rights Act of 1968; and 

18 ‘‘(vi) to the extent that such plan pro19 vides for the provision of replacement or ad20 ditional dwelling units, or redevelopment, 

21 in phases over time, such plan provides that 

22 the ratio of dwelling units described in sub23 clauses (I) and (II) of clause (iii) that are 

24 provided in any such single phase to the 

25 total number of dwelling units provided in 


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1 such phase is not less than the ratio of the 

2 aggregate number of such dwelling units 

3 provided under the plan to the total number 

4 of dwelling units provided under the plan. 

5 ‘‘(C) INAPPLICABLE PROVISIONS.—Subpara6 graphs (B) and (D) of section 8(o)(13) of the 

7 United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 

8 1437f(o)(13)) shall not apply with respect to 

9 vouchers used to comply with the requirements of 

10 subparagraph (B)(iii) of this paragraph. 

11 ‘‘(D) MONITORING.—The Secretary of Hous12 ing and Urban Development shall provide for the 

13 appropriate field offices of the Department to 

14 monitor and supervise enforcement of this para15 graph and plans approved under this paragraph 

16 and to consult, regarding such monitoring and 

17 enforcement, with resident councils of, and resi18 dents of public housing operated or administered 

19 by, the agency. 

20 ‘‘(5) COMPREHENSIVE OUTREACH PLAN.—No 

21 program funds of such agencies may be use to demol22 ish, dispose of, or eliminate any public housing dwell23 ing units except in accordance with a comprehensive 

24 outreach plan for such activities, developed by the 


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1 agency in conjunction with the residents of the public 

2 housing agency, as follows: 

3 ‘‘(A) The plan shall be developed by the 

4 agency and a resident task force, which may in5 clude members of the Resident Council, but may 

6 not be limited to such members, and which shall 

7 represent all segments of the population of resi8 dents of the agency, including single parent9 headed households, the elderly, young employed 

10 and unemployed adults, teenage youth, and dis11 abled persons. 

12 ‘‘(B) The votes and agreements regarding 

13 the plan shall involve not less than 25 and not 

14 more than 35 persons. 

15 ‘‘(C) The plan shall provide for and describe 

16 outreach efforts to inform residents of the pro17 gram under this subsection, including a door-to18 door information program, monthly newsletters 

19 to each resident household, monthly meetings 

20 dedicated solely to every aspect of the proposed 

21 development, including redevelopment factors, 

22 which shall include the one-for-one replacement 

23 requirement under paragraph (5), resident rights 

24 to return, the requirements of the program under 

25 this subsection, new resident support and comVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:39 Jun 29, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00102 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1851.RH H1851

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1 munity services to be provided, opportunities for 

2 participation in architectural design, and em3 ployment opportunities for residents, which shall 

4 reserve at least 70 percent of the jobs in demoli5 tion activities and 50 percent of the jobs in con6 struction activities related to the redevelopment 

7 project, including job training, apprenticeships, 

8 union membership assistance. 

9 ‘‘(D) The plan shall provide for regularly 

10 scheduled monthly meeting updates and a system 

11 for filing complaints about any aspect of the re12 development process. 

13 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the 

14 following definitions shall apply: 

15 ‘‘(1) EXISTING MTW AGENCY.—The term ‘existing 

16 MTW agency’ means a public housing agency that as 

17 of the date of the enactment of the Section 8 Voucher 

18 Reform Act of 2007 has an existing agreement with 

19 the Secretary pursuant to the moving to work dem20 onstration. 

21 ‘‘(2) BASE YEAR.—The term ‘base year’ means, 

22 with respect to a participating agency, the agency fis23 cal year most recently completed prior to selection 

24 and approval for participation in the housing inno25 vation program under this section. 


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1 ‘‘(3) MOVING TO WORK DEMONSTRATION.—The 

2 term ‘moving to work demonstration’ means the mov3 ing to work demonstration program under section 204 

4 of the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing 

5 and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies 

6 Appropriations Act, 1996 (42 U.S.C. 1437f note). 

7 ‘‘(4) PARTICIPATING AGENCIES.—The term ‘par8 ticipating agencies’ means public housing agencies 

9 designated and approved for participation, and par10 ticipating, in the housing innovation program under 

11 this section. 

12 ‘‘(5) PROGRAM FUNDS.—The term ‘program 

13 funds’ means, with respect to a participating agency, 

14 any amounts that the agency is authorized, pursuant 

15 to subsection (e)(1), to use to carry out the housing 

16 innovation program under this section of the agency. 

17 ‘‘(6) RESIDENTS.—The term ‘residents’ means, 

18 with respect to a public housing agency, tenants of 

19 public housing of the agency and participants in the 

20 voucher or other housing assistance programs of the 

21 agency funded under section 8(o), or tenants of other 

22 units owned by the agency and assisted under this 

23 section. 

24 ‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR RESI25 DENT TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—There is authorized to be 


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1 appropriated for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2012 

2 $10,000,000, for providing capacity building and technical 

3 assistance to enhance the capabilities of low-income families 

4 assisted under the program under this section to participate 

5 in the process for establishment of annual plans under this 

6 section for participating agencies. 

7 ‘‘(k) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR EVAL8 UATIONS.—There is authorized to be appropriated 

9 $15,000,000 to the Department of Housing and Urban De10 velopment for the purpose of conducting the evaluations re11 quired under subsection (f)(1).’’. 

12 (b) GAO REPORT.—Not later than 48 months after the 

13 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

14 of the United States shall submit a report to the Congress 

15 on the extent to which the public housing agencies partici16 pating in the housing innovation program under section 

17 36 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 are meeting 

18 the goals and purposes of such program, as identified in 

19 subsection (a) of such section 36. 

20 SEC. 17. DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM WAIVER AUTHORITY. 

21 (a) AUTHORITY TO ENTER INTO AGREEMENTS.—Not22 withstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of 

23 Housing and Urban Development may enter into such 

24 agreements as may be necessary with the Social Security 

25 Administration and the Secretary of Health and Human 


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1 Services to allow for the participation, in any demonstra2 tion program described in subsection (c), by the Department 

3 of Housing and Urban Development and the use under such 

4 program of housing choice vouchers under section 8(o) of 

5 the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 

6 1437f(o)). 

7 (b) WAIVER OF INCOME REQUIREMENTS.—The Sec8 retary of Housing and Urban Development may, to extent 

9 necessary to allow rental assistance under section 8(o) of 

10 the United States Housing Act of 1937 to be provided on 

11 behalf of persons described in subsection (c) who participate 

12 in a demonstration program described in such subsection, 

13 and to allow such persons to be placed on a waiting list 

14 for such assistance, partially or wholly disregard increases 

15 in earned income for the purpose of rent calculations under 

16 section 3 for such persons. 

17 (c) DEMONSTRATION PROGRAMS.—A demonstration 

18 program described in this subsection is a demonstration 

19 program of a State that provides for persons with signifi20 cant disabilities to be employed and continue to receive ben21 efits under programs of the Department of Health and 

22 Human Services and the Social Security Administration, 

23 including the program of supplemental security income 

24 benefits under title XVI of the Social Security Act, dis25 ability insurance benefits under title II of such Act, and 


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1 the State program for medical assistance (Medicaid) under 

2 title XIX of such Act. 

3 SEC. 18. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

4 There is authorized to be appropriated the amount nec5 essary for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2012 to provide 

6 public housing agencies with incremental tenant-based as7 sistance under section 8(o) of the United States Housing 

8 Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)) sufficient to assist 20,000 

9 incremental dwelling units in each such fiscal year. 

10 SEC. 19. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

11 Except as otherwise specifically provided in this Act, 

12 this Act and the amendments made by this Act, shall take 

13 effect on January 1, 2008. 


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Union Calendar No. 132 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1851 

[Report No. 110

–216] 

A BILL 

To reform the housing choice voucher program 

Act of 1937. under section 8 of the United States Housing 

JUNE 28, 2007 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


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