II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3910 

To provide technical assistance and grants for faith-based organizations, institutions of higher education, and local governments to increase the supply 

of affordable rental housing, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 12, 2024 

Mr. BROWN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To provide technical assistance and grants for faith-based 

organizations, institutions of higher education, and local 

governments to increase the supply of affordable rental 

housing, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Yes in God’s Backyard 

5 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND GRANTS FOR FAITH2 BASED ORGANIZATIONS, INSTITUTIONS OF 

3 HIGHER EDUCATION, AND LOCAL GOVERN4 MENTS TO REMOVE BARRIERS TO AND IN5 CREASE THE SUPPLY OF AFFORDABLE RENT6 AL HOUSING. 

7 Title II of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable 

8 Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12721 et seq.), is amended by 

9 adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘Subtitle G—Technical Assistance 

11 and Grants for Faith-based Or12 ganizations, Institutions of 

13 Higher Education, and Local 

14 Governments to Remove Bar15 riers and to Increase the Supply 

16 of Affordable Rental Housing 

17 ‘‘SEC. 290. DEFINITIONS. 

18 ‘‘In this subtitle: 

19 ‘‘(1) AFFORDABLE RENTAL HOUSING.—The 

20 term ‘affordable rental housing’ means housing 

21 available to the public charging a monthly rent that 

22 is not more than 30 percent of household income of 

23 a covered household. 

24 ‘‘(2) AT RISK OF HOMELESSNESS.—The term 

25 ‘at risk of homelessness’ has the meaning given the 


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1 term in section 401 of the McKinney-Vento Home2 less Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11360). 

3 ‘‘(3) COVERED HOUSEHOLD.—The term ‘cov4 ered household’ means a household with income that 

5 is at or below 100 percent of area median income as 

6 defined by the Secretary. 

7 ‘‘(4) EXTREMELY LOW-INCOME FAMILIES.—The 

8 term ‘extremely low-income families’ has the mean9 ing given the term in section 3(b) of the United 

10 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a). 

11 ‘‘(5) FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATION.—The term 

12 ‘faith-based organization’— 

13 ‘‘(A) has the meaning given the term by 

14 the Secretary; and 

15 ‘‘(B) includes any organization assisted by 

16 the Partnership Center. 

17 ‘‘(6) HOMELESS.—The term ‘homeless’ has the 

18 meaning given the term in section 103 of the 

19 McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 

20 U.S.C. 11302). 

21 ‘‘(7) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 

22 The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the 

23 meaning given the term in section 101 of the Higher 

24 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 


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1 ‘‘(8) PARTNERSHIP CENTER.—The term ‘Part2 nership Center’ means the Center for Faith-Based 

3 and Neighborhood Partnerships in the Office of the 

4 Secretary or any successor office. 

5 ‘‘SEC. 291. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. 

6 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM.—The Secretary shall establish a pro7 gram to provide technical assistance to assist faith-based 

8 organizations, institutions of higher education, and local 

9 governments in order to remove barriers to the production 

10 and preservation of affordable rental housing on property 

11 owned by faith-based organizations and institutions of 

12 higher education. 

13 ‘‘(b) CONTENTS.—The program established under 

14 subsection (a) shall consist of resources related to— 

15 ‘‘(1) understanding how excess property owned 

16 by faith-based organizations and institutions of high17 er education can be developed into affordable rental 

18 housing and how existing affordable rental housing 

19 can be preserved; 

20 ‘‘(2) the development and preservation of af21 fordable rental housing on property owned by faith22 based organizations and institutions of higher edu23 cation, including— 

24 ‘‘(A) housing for households at or below 60 

25 percent of area median income; 


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1 ‘‘(B) housing for individuals and families 

2 who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, in3 cluding veterans; 

4 ‘‘(C) accessible rental housing for individ5 uals with disabilities; 

6 ‘‘(D) housing for intergenerational families 

7 under section 203 of the LEGACY Act of 2003 

8 (12 U.S.C. 1701q note); 

9 ‘‘(E) housing for other special needs popu10 lations as determined by the Secretary; and 

11 ‘‘(F) housing that would increase equitable 

12 access to well-resourced areas of opportunity; 

13 ‘‘(3) Federal assistance for affordable rental 

14 housing production and preservation, including in15 formation on federally assisted rental housing pro16 grams, and services for residents; 

17 ‘‘(4) best practices in the housing development 

18 and preservation processes, including selection of de19 velopment, preservation, and management partners, 

20 considerations regarding land lease, ownership, or 

21 sale ensuring equitable access to housing, and other 

22 considerations; 

23 ‘‘(5) best practices for State and local govern24 ments to remove barriers to and encourage the pro25 duction of affordable rental housing, especially in 


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1 well-resourced areas of opportunity, on property 

2 owned by faith-based organizations and institutions 

3 of higher education; and 

4 ‘‘(6) any other areas as determined by the Sec5 retary. 

6 ‘‘(c) CONSULTATION.—In developing technical assist7 ance and other resources under this section, the Secretary 

8 shall consult with the Partnership Center and other Fed9 eral agencies administering affordable housing and related 

10 programs, including the Departments of Agriculture, the 

11 Treasury, and Health and Human Services. 

12 ‘‘(d) DISSEMINATION.—The resources described in 

13 subsection (b) shall be made publicly available. 

14 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

15 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section— 

16 ‘‘(1) $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2024; and 

17 ‘‘(2) $10,000,000 each of fiscal years 2025 

18 through 2029. 

19 ‘‘SEC. 292. CHALLENGE GRANTS TO REMOVE BARRIERS TO 

20 AND INCREASE AFFORDABLE RENTAL HOUS21 ING SUPPLY ON PROPERTY OWNED BY FAITH22 BASED ORGANIZATIONS AND INSTITUTIONS 

23 OF HIGHER EDUCATION. 

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


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1 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE GRANTEE.—The term ‘eligible 

2 grantee’ means— 

3 ‘‘(A) a unit of general local government; 

4 ‘‘(B) a State; 

5 ‘‘(C) a metropolitan planning organization; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(D) a multi-jurisdiction entity, as defined 

8 by the Secretary. 

9 ‘‘(2) STATE; UNIT OF GENERAL LOCAL GOV10 ERNMENT.—The terms ‘State’ and ‘unit of general 

11 local government’ have the meanings given those 

12 terms in section 102 of the Housing and Community 

13 Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5302). 

14 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall estab15 lish a Challenge Grant program to make grants on a com16 petitive basis to eligible grantees that have policies in ef17 fect that are designed to remove barriers to the production 

18 and preservation of affordable rental housing on property 

19 owned by faith-based organizations and institutions of 

20 higher education. 

21 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity desiring a 

23 grant under this section shall submit to the Sec24 retary an application at such time, in such manner, 


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1 and containing such information as the Secretary 

2 may require. 

3 ‘‘(2) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—In order to re4 ceive a grant under this section, an applicant shall— 

5 ‘‘(A) demonstrate that the applicant has 

6 policies in effect designed to remove barriers to 

7 the production or preservation of affordable 

8 housing on property owned by faith-based orga9 nizations and institutions of higher education, 

10 as determined by the Secretary; 

11 ‘‘(B) make publicly available a proposed 

12 plan for use of a grant under this section and 

13 solicit comments on the plan; and 

14 ‘‘(C) address the disposition of public com15 ments described in paragraph (2) in a final 

16 plan submitted to the Secretary as part of the 

17 grant application. 

18 ‘‘(d) PREFERENCE.—In making awards under this 

19 section, the Secretary shall give preference to applicants 

20 that propose to use the grant to produce or preserve— 

21 ‘‘(1) affordable rental housing for families with 

22 incomes below 60 percent of area median income, as 

23 determined by the Secretary in well-resourced areas 

24 of opportunity; 


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1 ‘‘(2) affordable rental housing for extremely 

2 low-income families; 

3 ‘‘(3) affordable rental housing or non-con4 gregate emergency housing for individuals and fami5 lies who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, in6 cluding veterans; 

7 ‘‘(4) affordable and accessible rental housing 

8 for individuals with disabilities; 

9 ‘‘(5) affordable rental housing for intergenera10 tional families under section 203 of the LEGACY 

11 Act of 2003 (12 U.S.C. 1701q note); or 

12 ‘‘(6) affordable rental housing for other special 

13 needs populations as designated by the Secretary. 

14 ‘‘(e) ALLOWABLE USES.—An eligible entity that re15 ceives a grant under this section shall use grant funds to 

16 carry out 1 or more of the following activities pertaining 

17 to the removal of barriers to and encouraging the produc18 tion and preservation of affordable rental housing on prop19 erty owned by faith-based organizations and institutions 

20 of higher education: 

21 ‘‘(1) Assessing and removing local policy and 

22 procedural barriers to and adopting best practices to 

23 encourage the development of affordable rental hous24 ing under this section. 


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1 ‘‘(2) Outreach to and technical assistance for 

2 faith-based organizations, institutions of higher edu3 cation, and other community partners to facilitate 

4 production and preservation of affordable rental 

5 housing. 

6 ‘‘(3) Making grants and loans to projects that 

7 produce or preserve affordable rental housing under 

8 this section. 

9 ‘‘(4) Such other activities that will further the 

10 purposes of this subtitle, as determined by the Sec11 retary. 

12 ‘‘(f) REPORTING AND DATA COLLECTION.—A grant13 ee under this section shall submit such information as the 

14 Secretary may require in order to monitor, assist, and 

15 evaluate the performance of the grantee and program 

16 under this section. 

17 ‘‘(g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

19 appropriated to carry out this section $50,000,000 

20 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2029. 

21 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Of the funds 

22 authorized to be appropriated under paragraph (1), 

23 not more than 10 percent may be used by the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:28 Mar 18, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3910.IS S3910

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1 retary for administering the grant program estab2 lished under this section.’’. 

Æ 


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