I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1724 

To provide emergency rental assistance vouchers to respond to the COVID– 

19 pandemic, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 9, 2021 

Ms. WATERS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To provide emergency rental assistance vouchers to respond 

to the COVID–19 pandemic, 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 ‘‘Emergency Housing 

5 Voucher Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EMERGENCY RENTAL ASSISTANCE VOUCHER PRO7 GRAM. 

8 (a) APPROPRIATION.—In addition to amounts other9 wise made available, out of any money in the Treasury 

10 not otherwise appropriated, there is appropriated for an 


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1 additional amount to the Secretary of Housing and Urban 

2 Development (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Sec3 retary’’), $5,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2021, to remain 

4 available through fiscal year 2030, for— 

5 (1) incremental emergency vouchers under sub6 section (b); 

7 (2) renewals of the vouchers under subsection 

8 (b); 

9 (3) fees for the costs of administering vouchers 

10 under subsection (b) and other eligible expenses de11 fined by notice to prevent, prepare, and respond to 

12 coronavirus to facilitate the leasing of the emergency 

13 vouchers, such as security deposit assistance and 

14 other costs related to retention and support of par15 ticipating owners; and; 

16 (4) adjustments in the calendar year 2021 sec17 tion 8 renewal funding allocation, including main18 stream vouchers, for public housing agencies that ex19 perience a significant increase in voucher per-unit 

20 costs due to extraordinary circumstances or that, de21 spite taking reasonable cost savings measures, would 

22 otherwise be required to terminate rental assistance 

23 for families as a result of insufficient funding. 

24 (b) EMERGENCY VOUCHERS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide 

2 emergency rental assistance vouchers under sub3 section (a), which shall be tenant-based rental assist4 ance under section 8(o) of the United States Hous5 ing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)). 

6 (2) QUALIFYING INDIVIDUALS OR FAMILIES DE7 FINED.—For the purposes of this section, qualifying 

8 individuals or families are those who are— 

9 (A) homeless (as such term is defined in 

10 section 103(a) of the McKinney-Vento Home11 less Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11302(a)); 

12 (B) at risk of homelessness (as such term 

13 is defined in section 401(1) of the McKinney14 Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

15 11360(1))); 

16 (C) fleeing, or attempting to flee, domestic 

17 violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalk18 ing, or human trafficking; or 

19 (D) recently homeless, as determined by 

20 the Secretary, and for whom providing rental 

21 assistance will prevent the family’s homeless22 ness or having high risk of housing instability. 

23 (3) ALLOCATION.—Public housing agencies 

24 shall be notified of the number of emergency vouch25 ers allocated to the agency not later than 60 days 


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1 after the date of the enactment of this Act, in ac2 cordance with a formula that includes public housing 

3 agency capacity and ensures geographic diversity, in4 cluding with respect to rural areas, among public 

5 housing agencies administering the Housing Choice 

6 Voucher program. 

7 (4) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.— 

8 (A) ELECTION TO ADMINISTER.—The Sec9 retary shall establish a procedure for public 

10 housing agencies to accept or decline the emer11 gency vouchers allocated to the agency in ac12 cordance with the formula under subparagraph 

13 (3). 

14 (B) FAILURE TO USE VOUCHERS PROMPT15 LY.—If a public housing agency fails to lease 

16 its authorized vouchers under subsection (b) on 

17 behalf of eligible families within a reasonable 

18 period of time, the Secretary may revoke and 

19 redistribute any unleased vouchers and associ20 ated funds, including administrative fees and 

21 costs referred to in subsection (a)(3), to other 

22 public housing agencies according to the for23 mula under paragraph (3). 

24 (5) WAIVERS AND ALTERNATIVE REQUIRE25 MENTS.—Any provision of any statute or regulation 


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1 used to administer the amounts made available 

2 under this section (except for requirements related 

3 to fair housing, nondiscrimination, labor standards, 

4 and the environment), shall be waived upon a find5 ing that any such waivers or alternative require6 ments are necessary to expedite or facilitate the use 

7 of amounts made available in this section. 

8 (6) TERMINATION OF VOUCHERS UPON TURN9 OVER.—After September 30, 2023, a public housing 

10 agency may not reissue any vouchers made available 

11 under this section when assistance for the family as12 sisted ends. 

13 (c) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND OTHER COSTS.— 

14 The Secretary may use not more $20,000,000 of the 

15 amounts made available under this section for the costs 

16 to the Secretary of administering and overseeing the im17 plementation of this section and the Housing Choice 

18 Voucher program generally, including information tech19 nology, financial reporting, and other costs. Of the 

20 amounts set aside under this subsection, the Secretary 

21 may use not more than $10,000,000, without competition, 

22 to make new awards or increase prior awards to existing 

23 technical assistance providers to provide an immediate in24 crease in capacity building and technical assistance to 

25 public housing agencies. 


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1 (d) IMPLEMENTATION.—The provisions of this sec2 tion may be implemented by notice. 

Æ 


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