II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4650 

To establish a rental assistance program for low-income veteran families, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 10, 2024 

Ms. SMITH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish a rental assistance program for low-income 

veteran families, 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 ‘‘Housing for All Vet5 erans Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. LOW-INCOME VETERAN RENTAL ASSISTANCE PRO7 GRAM. 

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

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

10 by adding at the end the following: 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 4650 IS

1 ‘‘(22) LOW-INCOME VETERAN RENTAL ASSIST2 ANCE PROGRAM.— 

3 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

4 ‘‘(i) QUALIFIED VETERAN FAMILY.— 

5 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The term 

6 ‘qualified veteran family’ means— 

7 ‘‘(aa) for fiscal year 2025, a 

8 veteran family having an income 

9 no higher than 50 percent of the 

10 applicable income limitation for 

11 extremely low-income families; 

12 ‘‘(bb) for fiscal year 2026, a 

13 veteran family having an income 

14 no higher than 75 percent of the 

15 applicable income limitation for 

16 extremely low-income families; 

17 ‘‘(cc) for fiscal year 2027, 

18 an extremely low-income veteran 

19 family; 

20 ‘‘(dd) for fiscal year 2028, a 

21 very low-income veteran family; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(ee) for fiscal year 2029 

24 and thereafter, a low-income vet25 eran family. 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 4650 IS

1 ‘‘(II) CONTINUING ELIGI2 BILITY.—The term ‘qualified veteran 

3 family’ includes a veteran family that 

4 was initially assisted under this para5 graph but no longer satisfies the re6 quirements under subclause (I), pro7 vided that the income of the veteran 

8 family does not exceed 100 percent of 

9 the area median income. 

10 ‘‘(ii) TRIBALLY DESIGNATED HOUSING

11 ENTITY.—The term ‘tribally designated 

12 housing entity’ has the meaning given the 

13 term in section 4 of the Native American 

14 Housing Assistance and Self-Determina15 tion Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4103). 

16 ‘‘(iii) VETERAN.—The term ‘vet17 eran’— 

18 ‘‘(I) means a person who, regard19 less of length of service, was a mem20 ber of the armed forces (as that term 

21 is defined in section 101 of title 10, 

22 United States Code); and 

23 ‘‘(II) does not include a person 

24 who— 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 4650 IS

1 ‘‘(aa) received a dishonor2 able discharge from the armed 

3 forces; or 

4 ‘‘(bb) was discharged or dis5 missed from the armed forces by 

6 reason of the sentence of a gen7 eral court-martial. 

8 ‘‘(iv) VETERAN FAMILY.—The term 

9 ‘veteran family’ means— 

10 ‘‘(I) a veteran who is a single 

11 person; 

12 ‘‘(II) a family (including families 

13 with children) whose head of house14 hold (or whose spouse) is a veteran; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(III) 1 or more veterans living 

17 together with 1 or more persons. 

18 ‘‘(B) ENTITLEMENT TO RENTAL ASSIST19 ANCE.— 

20 ‘‘(i) ENTITLEMENT.—A qualified vet21 eran family shall be entitled to rental as22 sistance under this paragraph. 

23 ‘‘(ii) ACCESS TO ASSISTANCE.—Each 

24 public housing agency administering assistVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:25 Aug 09, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4650.IS S4650

ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 4650 IS

1 ance under this subsection shall ensure 

2 that— 

3 ‘‘(I) any veteran family desiring 

4 to submit an application for assist5 ance under this paragraph shall have 

6 the opportunity to do so; and 

7 ‘‘(II) assistance under this para8 graph shall be furnished with reason9 able promptness to all qualified vet10 eran families. 

11 ‘‘(C) INFORMATION REGARDING SERV12 ICES.—The Secretary, in consultation with the 

13 Secretary of Veterans Affairs, shall provide 

14 public housing agencies assisting veteran fami15 lies under this paragraph with information re16 garding services available to veterans in the 

17 area, and those public housing agencies shall 

18 provide that information to all veteran families 

19 assisted under this paragraph. 

20 ‘‘(D) PROHIBITION ON DISCRIMINATION.— 

21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—An owner of 5 or 

22 more rental dwelling units may not refuse 

23 to lease any available unit to a holder of a 

24 voucher the funds for which are appro25 priated pursuant to this paragraph because 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 4650 IS

1 of the status of the prospective tenant as 

2 a holder of such voucher. 

3 ‘‘(ii) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—This 

4 subparagraph may not be construed to pre5 empt any law of any State or political sub6 division thereof that provides more protec7 tion than this subparagraph. 

8 ‘‘(E) VERIFICATION OF VETERAN STA9 TUS.— 

10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in 

11 consultation with the Secretary of Veterans 

12 Affairs, shall maintain an electronic proc13 ess through which a public housing agency 

14 may verify the veteran status of any vet15 eran family that applies for or receives 

16 rental assistance under this paragraph. 

17 ‘‘(ii) WAIVER STATUS.—The Sec18 retary, in consultation with the Secretary 

19 of Veterans Affairs, may waive the exclu20 sion described in subparagraph (A)(iii)(II) 

21 for purposes of eligibility for rental assist22 ance under this paragraph for particular 

23 areas served by a public housing agency. 

24 ‘‘(F) MOVING TO WORK.—Sums appro25 priated pursuant to this paragraph may not be 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 4650 IS

1 used for or pursuant to the Moving to Work 

2 demonstration program authorized under sec3 tion 204 of the Departments of Veterans Af4 fairs and Housing and Urban Development and 

5 Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996 

6 (Public Law 104–134; 110 Stat. 1321). 

7 ‘‘(G) COMPLIANCE WITH INCOME TAR8 GETING REQUIREMENTS.—Rental assistance 

9 provided under this paragraph shall not be con10 sidered for the purpose of determining compli11 ance with the requirements of section 16(b). 

12 ‘‘(H) EXCLUSION OF VETERAN DISABILITY

13 BENEFITS.—Disability benefits administered by 

14 the Department of Veterans Affairs shall not be 

15 counted as income for the purpose of deter16 mining whether a veteran family meets the re17 quirements to be a qualified veteran family 

18 under subparagraph (A)(i). 

19 ‘‘(I) ADMINISTERING AGENCIES.—The Sec20 retary shall designate a public housing agency 

21 to administer assistance under this paragraph 

22 in any area where no existing public housing 

23 agency has jurisdiction or where no public hous24 ing agency is adequately administering such as25 sistance, subject to public comment and after 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 4650 IS

1 consultation with States, public housing agen2 cies, local governments, Indian tribes, and trib3 ally designated housing entities. 

4 ‘‘(J) TRANSITION.—No veteran receiving 

5 rental assistance under this subsection on the 

6 date of enactment of this paragraph shall be 

7 subject to any redetermination of eligibility as 

8 a result of the enactment of this paragraph. 

9 ‘‘(K) SUPPORTED HOUSING.— 

10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding 

11 this paragraph, all vouchers made available 

12 by law for the supported housing program 

13 administered by the Secretary in conjunc14 tion with the Department of Veterans Af15 fairs under paragraph (19) shall continue 

16 to be included in that supported housing 

17 program. 

18 ‘‘(ii) REFERRALS.—Public housing 

19 agencies shall refer veterans assisted under 

20 this paragraph to the supported housing 

21 program under paragraph (19) if the pub22 lic housing agency determines that assist23 ance through that program would be ap24 propriate for the veteran. 

25 ‘‘(L) SERVICE FEES.— 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 4650 IS

1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Public housing 

2 agencies administering assistance under 

3 this paragraph shall be eligible to receive 

4 service fees to cover costs of assisting 

5 qualified veteran families to successfully 

6 lease units with assistance under this para7 graph, as determined by the Secretary. 

8 ‘‘(ii) AMOUNT.—The amount of serv9 ice fees under this subparagraph shall not 

10 exceed $4,000 for each applicant household 

11 determined to be eligible for assistance 

12 under this paragraph, except that such 

13 amount shall be adjusted for inflation an14 nually by the Secretary in accordance with 

15 an inflationary index selected by the Sec16 retary. 

17 ‘‘(M) AUTHORIZATION AND PERMANENT

18 APPROPRIATION.—For fiscal year 2025 and 

19 each succeeding fiscal year, there is appro20 priated, out of any money in the Treasury not 

21 otherwise appropriated, for the Secretary to 

22 carry out this paragraph, such sums as may be 

23 necessary to provide rental assistance for all 

24 qualified veteran families entitled to assistance 

25 under this paragraph, administrative fees under 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS
10 

•S 4650 IS

1 subsection (q) associated with such rental as2 sistance, and service fees under subparagraph 

3 (L) of this paragraph. 

4 ‘‘(N) RELATION TO EXISTING VOUCHER

5 PROGRAMS.— 

6 ‘‘(i) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.— 

7 Amounts appropriated under subparagraph 

8 (M) shall supplement, and not supplant, 

9 amounts otherwise made available for rent10 al assistance under this subsection, includ11 ing amounts made available under para12 graph (19). 

13 ‘‘(ii) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.— 

14 Nothing in this paragraph shall be con15 strued to affect the number of vouchers for 

16 rental assistance otherwise provided under 

17 this subsection, including under paragraph 

18 (19).’’. 

19 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

20 this section shall take effect on the first day of the fiscal 

21 year beginning after the fiscal year during which this sec22 tion was enacted. 

Æ 


ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS