59–006 

110TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session 110–205 

RURAL HOUSING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 

IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2007 

JUNE 21, 2007.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of 

the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, from the Committee on Financial 

Services, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 1982] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office] 

The Committee on Financial Services, to whom was referred the 

bill (H.R. 1982) to authorize appropriations for the rural housing 

and economic development program of the Department of Housing 

and Urban Development, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill as 

amended do pass. 

CONTENTS 

Page 

Amendment .............................................................................................................. 1 

Purpose and Summary ............................................................................................ 2 

Background and Need for Legislation .................................................................... 2 

Hearings ................................................................................................................... 2 

Committee Consideration ........................................................................................ 3 

Committee Votes ...................................................................................................... 3 

Committee Oversight Findings ............................................................................... 3 

Performance Goals and Objectives ......................................................................... 3 

New Budget Authority, Entitlement Authority, and Tax Expenditures ............. 4 

Committee Cost Estimate ....................................................................................... 4 

Congressional Budget Office Estimate ................................................................... 4 

Federal Mandates Statement ................................................................................. 5 

Advisory Committee Statement .............................................................................. 5 

Constitutional Authority Statement ...................................................................... 5 

Applicability to Legislative Branch ........................................................................ 5 

Earmark Identification ............................................................................................ 5 

Section-by-Section Analysis of the Legislation ...................................................... 5 

AMENDMENT

The amendment is as follows: 


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Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the following: 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rural Housing and Economic Development Improvement Act of 2007’’. 

SEC. 2. RURAL HOUSING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE. 

(a) USE.—The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development may carry out a program, through the Office of Rural Housing and Economic Development, to provide 

assistance to Indian tribes, State housing finance agencies, State community or economic development agencies, local nonprofit organizations and community development corporations in rural areas to support innovative housing and economic development activities in rural areas. 

(b) REQUIREMENT OF SOCIAL SECURITY ACCOUNT NUMBER FOR ASSISTANCE.—As a 

condition of initial or continuing assistance under any housing or economic development activity that is provided assistance with amounts made available under this 

section, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall require that each 

member of a family so assisted (or of a family applying for such assistance) who is 

18 years of age or older or is the spouse of the head of household of such family, 

shall have a valid social security number. 

(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is authorized to be appropriated 

to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for assistance under this section—

(1) $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; and 

(2) $40,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013. 

PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

H.R. 1982, the Rural Housing and Economic Development Improvement Act of 2007, authorizes funding for the Rural Housing 

and Economic Development (RHED) program administered by the 

Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). 

H.R. 1982 authorizes $30 million for the U.S. Department of 

Housing and Urban Development’s RHED program in FY 2008 and 

$40 million for Fiscal Years 2009–2013. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

RHED, a competitive grant program, was first funded by Congress in 1999, but has never been formally authorized. The program has provided $175.3 million to support innovative housing 

and economic development programs across the country. Because 

the majority of HUD’s resources are devoted to assisting urban 

communities, it is the only exclusively rural housing program administered by HUD. The program encourages community level approaches that combine both economic and housing development. 

According to the Office of Management and Budget numbers, 

RHED has helped to create more than 9,100 jobs and more than 

12,000 housing units. At least 60 percent of the organizations that 

have received RHED funds over the program’s history serve highneeds regions, such as Appalachia, the Mississippi Delta, the Border Colonias, and Native American lands. 

HEARINGS

On May 8, 2007, the Subcommittee on Housing and Community 

Opportunity held a hearing entitled ‘‘Rural Housing Programs: Review Fiscal Year 2008 Budget and Pending Rural Housing Legislation,’’ which included testimony from witnesses on H.R. 1982: 


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Panel one 

• The Honorable Pamela Patenaude, Assistant Secretary for 

Community Planning and Development, U.S. Department of 

Housing and Urban Development 

• Mr. Russell T. Davis, Administrator for Rural Development Housing and Community Facilities Programs, U.S. Department of Agriculture 

Panel two 

• Mr. Gideon Anders, National Housing Law Project 

• Dr. Tom Carew, Director of Design and Community, Frontier Housing, Inc. 

• Mr. Moises Loza, Executive Director, Housing Assistance 

Council 

• Mr. Robert Rice, Jr., Council for Affordable and Rural 

Housing 

• The Honorable Peter Carey, Executive Director of Self 

Help Enterprises 

COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION

The Committee on Financial Services met in open session on 

May 23, 2007, and ordered H.R. 1982, the Rural Housing and Economic Development Act of 2007, as amended, favorably reported to 

the House by a voice vote. 

COMMITTEE VOTES

Clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives requires the Committee to list the record votes on the motion 

to report legislation and amendments thereto. No record votes were 

taken with in conjunction with the consideration of this legislation. 

A motion by Mr. Frank to report the bill, as amended, to the House 

with a favorable recommendation was agreed to by a voice vote. 

During the consideration of the bill in Committee, the following 

amendment was considered: 

An amendment by Ms. Brown-Waite, No. 1, requiring the social 

security account number for assistance, was agreed to by a voice 

vote. 

COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS

Pursuant to clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House 

of Representatives, the Committee has held hearings and made 

findings that are reflected in this report. 

PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

Pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House 

of Representatives, the Committee establishes the following performance related goals and objectives for this legislation: 

H.R. 1982, the Rural Housing and Economic Development Improvement Act of 2007, authorizes funding for the Rural Housing 

and Economic Development program administered by HUD with 

the goal of providing a competitive funding source to provide for affordable housing and economic development in rural America. 


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NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY, ENTITLEMENT AUTHORITY, AND TAX

EXPENDITURES

In compliance with clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, the Committee adopts as its own the estimate of new budget authority, entitlement authority, or tax expenditures or revenues contained in the cost estimate prepared by 

the Director of the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 

402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. 

COMMITTEE COST ESTIMATE

The Committee adopts as its own the cost estimate prepared by 

the Director of the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 

402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. 

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE ESTIMATE

Pursuant to clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House 

of Representatives, the following is the cost estimate provided by 

the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 402 of the 

Congressional Budget Act of 1974: 

JUNE 1, 2007. 

Hon. BARNEY FRANK, Chairman, Committee on Financial Services, 

House of Representatives, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 1982, the Rural Housing 

and Economic Opportunity Act of 2007. 

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased 

to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Chad Chirico. 

Sincerely, 

PETER R. ORSZAG. 

Enclosure. 

H.R. 1982—Rural Housing and Economic Development Improvement Act of 2007 

Summary: H.R. 1982 would authorize the appropriation of $30 

million in 2008 and $40 million for each of fiscal years 2009 

through 2013 to establish a program to support housing and economic development activities in rural areas. Assuming appropriation of the authorized amounts, CBO estimates that implementing 

the bill would cost about $100 million over the 2008–2012 period, 

with additional amounts spent in later years. Enacting H.R. 1982 

would not affect direct spending or revenues. 

H.R. 1982 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA); 

any costs to state, local, or tribal governments would be incurred 

voluntarily. 

Estimated cost to the Federal Government: The estimated budgetary impact of H.R. 1982 is shown in the following table. For this 

estimate, CBO assumes that the amounts authorized by the bill 

will be appropriated by the beginning of each fiscal year and that 

outlays will follow the historical rate of spending for similar programs. The costs of this legislation fall within budget function 600 

(income security). 


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By fiscal year, in millions of dollars— 

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

CHANGES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION 

Authorization Level ................................................................................... 30 40 40 40 40 40 

Estimated Outlays .................................................................................... 1 8 21 32 39 40 

Intergovernmental and private-sector impact: H.R. 1982 contains 

no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in 

UMRA. State, local, and tribal governments that participate in economic development activities in rural areas would benefit from 

funds authorized in the bill. Any costs those governments incur 

would be incurred voluntarily. 

Estimate prepared by: Federal Costs: Chad Chirico; Impact on 

State, Local, and Tribal Governments: Lisa Ramirez-Branum; Impact on the Private Sector: Page Shevlin. 

Estimate approved by: Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis. 

FEDERAL MANDATES STATEMENT

The Committee adopts as its own the estimate of Federal mandates prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office 

pursuant to section 423 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. 

ADVISORY COMMITTEE STATEMENT

No advisory committees within the meaning of section 5(b) of the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act were created by this legislation. 

CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

Pursuant to clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House 

of Representatives, the Committee finds that the Constitutional 

Authority of Congress to enact this legislation is provided by Article 1, section 8, clause 1 (relating to the general welfare of the 

United States) and clause 3 (relating to the power to regulate interstate commerce). 

APPLICABILITY TO LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to the 

terms and conditions of employment or access to public services or 

accommodations within the meaning of section 102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act. 

EARMARK IDENTIFICATION

H.R. 1982 does not contain any congressional earmarks, limited 

tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in clause 9 of rule 

XXI. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE LEGISLATION

Section 1. Short title 

This section establishes the short title of the bill, the ‘‘Rural 

Housing and Economic Development Improvement Act of 2007.’’


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Section 2. Rural housing and economic development assistance 

This section authorizes the Rural Housing and Economic Development program administered by Department of Housing and 

Urban Development and authorizes appropriations for the program 

in the amount of $30,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; and $40,000,000 

for each of fiscal years 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013. 

The section also requires each member of a family assisted by 

the RHED program to have a valid social security number. 

Æ 


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