I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1947 

To provide emergency rental assistance under the Housing Choice Voucher 

Program of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 16, 2021 

Mr. SMITH of Washington introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To provide emergency rental assistance under the Housing 

Choice Voucher Program of the Department of Housing 

and Urban Development, 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 ‘‘Ensuring a Long-Term 

5 Housing Recovery Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds that— 

8 (1) the economic impact of the novel 

9 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on housVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:48 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1947.IH H1947

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1 ing renters is substantial and has contributed to a 

2 growing rental income shortfall throughout the econ3 omy during the pandemic; 

4 (2) while other economic stimulus efforts have 

5 been very important, there is a gap in rental pay6 ments; 

7 (3) rigorous research shows that tenant-based 

8 housing vouchers, which help families afford decent 

9 stable housing in the private market, are the single 

10 most effective policy for reducing homelessness, 

11 housing instability, and overcrowding among ex12 tremely low-income persons; and 

13 (4) the Federal response must include, in the 

14 near term, an increase in the amount of provided 

15 under direct rental assistance programs, which are 

16 varied and can interact with the public through a va17 riety of different methods. 

18 SEC. 3. HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHER PROGRAM. 

19 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

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

21 appropriated to the Secretary of Housing and Urban 

22 Development (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Sec23 retary’’) $25,000,000,000 to remain available until 

24 expended (subject to subsection (d)), for an addi25 tional amount for fiscal year 2021 to be used for inVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:48 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1947.IH H1947

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1 cremental rental voucher assistance under section 

2 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 for 

3 use by individuals and families, including adminis4 trative and other expenses. Amounts authorized pur5 suant to this subsection are in addition to any other 

6 amounts authorized or made available for such pur7 poses. 

8 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE AND OTHER EXPENSES.— 

9 Administrative and other expenses of public housing 

10 agencies in administering the vouchers funded this 

11 subsection shall— 

12 (A) be funded under the same terms for 

13 administrative and other expenses to public 

14 housing agencies under paragraph (3) of this 

15 heading ‘‘Public and Indian Housing—Tenant16 Based Rental Assistance’’ in title II of division 

17 H of the Further Consolidated Appropriations 

18 Act, 2020 (Public Law 116–94; 133 Stat. 

19 2978), except that those expenses shall not be 

20 subject to any pro rata reduction under such 

21 paragraph; and 

22 (B) include costs related to retention and 

23 support of participating owners. 

24 (b) ALLOCATION.— 


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1 (1) FORMULA.—The Secretary shall allocate 75 

2 percent of any amounts made available pursuant to 

3 subsection (a) to public housing agencies not later 

4 than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this 

5 Act, according to a formula that— 

6 (A) is based on an agency’s authorized 

7 level of units under contract for calendar year 

8 2020; and 

9 (B) provides amounts for individuals and 

10 families residing in rural areas in each State in 

11 proportion to the population of income-eligible 

12 individuals and families residing in such areas 

13 in such State. 

14 (2) COMPETITION.—The Secretary shall allo15 cate 25 percent of any amounts made available pur16 suant to subsection (a) to public housing agencies 

17 under a competition based on need for such amounts 

18 and such other criteria as the Secretary shall estab19 lish. 

20 (3) REALLOCATION OF UNUSED ASSISTANCE.— 

21 If a public housing authority elects not to administer 

22 or does not utilize at least 95 percent of its author23 ized vouchers within a reasonable period of time, the 

24 Secretary shall reallocate any unissued vouchers and 


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1 associated funds to other public housing agencies ac2 cording to the criteria under paragraph (1). 

3 (4) PROHIBITION ON REISSUANCE.—A public 

4 housing agency shall not reissue any vouchers made 

5 available pursuant to subsection (a) for incremental 

6 rental voucher assistance when assistance for the 

7 family initially assisted is terminated. 

8 (c) ELIGIBLE INCOME.—Notwithstanding any other 

9 provision of law, the Secretary shall provide that assist10 ance with amounts made available pursuant to subsection 

11 (a) be used to assist households having an income not ex12 ceeding 80 percent of the area median income if the Sec13 retary determines it necessary to temporarily provide rent14 al housing assistance to meet moderate income housing 

15 needs. 

16 (d) USE FOR RENT AND UTILITIES.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Rental assistance made 

18 available pursuant to this section may be used for 

19 providing short- or medium-term assistance with 

20 rent and rent-related costs including— 

21 (A) tenant-paid utility costs (including 

22 costs of internet access service ); 

23 (B) utility-arrears (including costs of inter24 net access service); 

25 (C) rent-arrears; 


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1 (D) fees charged for utility arrears; 

2 (E) fees charged for rent arrears; 

3 (F) security deposits; 

4 (G) utility deposits; 

5 (H) application fees; and 

6 (I) landlord incentive payments, includ7 ing— 

8 (i) payments made to a landlord to 

9 participate in a public housing agency’s 

10 housing choice voucher program; 

11 (ii) payments made to a landlord to 

12 maintain the landlord’s participation in a 

13 public housing agency’s housing choice 

14 voucher program; and 

15 (iii) payments made to a landlord for 

16 referring another landlord to participate in 

17 a public housing agency’s housing choice 

18 voucher program. 

19 (2) GUIDANCE.—The Secretary shall issue 

20 guidance setting forth procedures for public housing 

21 agencies to cover or reimburse costs of tenant inter22 net access service. 

23 (e) WAIVERS AND ALTERNATIVE REQUIREMENTS.— 

24 In providing tenant-based rental assistance with amounts 

25 made available pursuant to this section: 


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1 (1) INCOME.—Any amounts received from un2 employment insurance shall be included as income, 

3 except that any amounts received from temporary 

4 supplemental unemployment insurance shall be ex5 cluded from income. 

6 (2) UNOBLIGATED BALANCES.—The Secretary 

7 shall award any remaining unobligated balances ap8 propriated pursuant to this section only for incre9 mental vouchers under this section to prevent, pre10 pare for, and respond to coronavirus. 

11 (3) AUTHORITY AND CONDITIONS.—Rental as12 sistance made available pursuant to this section shall 

13 be used under the same authority and conditions as 

14 the additional appropriations for rental assistance 

15 for fiscal year 2020 made available under the head16 ing ‘‘Tenant-Based Rental Assistance’’ in title XII 

17 of division B of the CARES Act (Public Law 116– 

18 136), except that any amounts provided for adminis19 trative expenses and other expenses of public hous20 ing agencies for carrying out their section 8 rental 

21 assistance programs, including mainstream vouchers, 

22 under such heading in the CARES Act (Public Law 

23 116–136) and any amounts made available pursuant 

24 to this section shall also be available for housing asVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:48 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1947.IH H1947

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1 sistance payments under section 8(o) of the United 

2 States Housing Act of 1937. 

3 (4) COSTS.—Amounts made available for rental 

4 assistance pursuant to this section and under the 

5 heading ‘‘Tenant-Based Rental Assistance’’ in title 

6 XII of division B of the CARES Act may be used 

7 to cover or reimburse allowable costs incurred to 

8 prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus, in9 cluding administrative fees for public housing agen10 cies, regardless of the date on which such costs were 

11 incurred. 

12 (5) WAITING LISTS.—To address the special 

13 needs created by the coronavirus pandemic, the Sec14 retary shall authorize public housing agencies to de15 part from any existing waiting list to fund vouchers 

16 for rental assistance made available pursuant to this 

17 section and shall waive any other requirements for 

18 public housing agencies that the Secretary deter19 mines are necessary to simplify implementation of 

20 the provision of such rental assistance. 

21 SEC. 4. WAIVER AUTHORITY IN CONNECTION WITH ASSIST22 ANCE UNDER THIS ACT. 

23 (a) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—Except for requirements 

24 related to fair housing, nondiscrimination, labor stand25 ards, prohibition on prerequisites, data reporting, and the 


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1 environment, the Secretary may waive, or specify alter2 native requirements for, any provision of any statute or 

3 regulation that the Secretary administers in connection 

4 with the use of the amounts made available pursuant to 

5 section 3 if the Secretary determines that any such waiv6 ers or alternative requirements are necessary for the safe 

7 and effective administration of such amounts to prevent, 

8 prepare for, and respond to coronavirus and such waiver 

9 or alternative requirement is consistent with the purposes 

10 of this Act. 

11 (b) PUBLIC NOTICE.—The Secretary shall notify the 

12 public through publication of notice in the Federal Reg13 ister or other appropriate means of any waiver or alter14 native requirement pursuant to this subsection to ensure 

15 the most expeditious allocation of rental assistance 

16 amounts made available pursuant to this section and in 

17 order for such waiver or alternative requirement to take 

18 effect, and such public notice may be provided, at a min19 imum, online on the Internet at an appropriate website 

20 of the Department of Housing and Urban Development 

21 or through other electronic media, as determined by the 

22 Secretary. 


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1 SEC. 5. EXTENSION OF EXISTING WAIVERS AND WAIVER AU2 THORITY. 

3 (a) 5-YEAR EXTENSION OF WAIVERS.—Subject to 

4 subsection (d) and notwithstanding any other provision of 

5 law, any waiver impacting the housing choice voucher pro6 gram included in Notice PIH 2020–33(HA), REV–2 of 

7 the Department of Housing and Urban Development, 

8 issued November 30, 2020, shall remain in effect until the 

9 expiration of the 5-year period beginning on the date of 

10 the enactment of this Act. The Secretary of Housing and 

11 Urban Development shall modify any alternative require12 ments to comply with the waiver extensions. 

13 (b) 5-YEAR EXTENSION OF WAIVER AUTHORITY.— 

14 Subject to subsection (d) and notwithstanding any other 

15 provision of law, any authority under this Act, the CARES 

16 Act, or any other provision of law, that provides for the 

17 Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to waive, 

18 or specify alternative requirements for, any provision of 

19 any statute or regulation that the Secretary administers, 

20 that is in effect as of the date of the enactment of this 

21 Act, shall remain in effect until the expiration of the 5- 

22 year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this 

23 Act. 

24 (c) 5-YEAR INAPPLICABILITY OF CASH MANAGE25 MENT REQUIREMENTS.—The cash management require26 ments described in section 3.1.C of part 3 of the CompliVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:48 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1947.IH H1947

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1 ance Supplement of the Office of Management and Budget 

2 (2 C.F.R. Part 200, Appendix XI) shall not apply to any 

3 programs administered by the Secretary of Housing and 

4 Urban Development during the 5-year period beginning on 

5 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

6 (d) EXTENSION.—Before the expiration of the 5-year 

7 period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, 

8 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall 

9 analyze any waivers in effect pursuant to subsections (a) 

10 and (b) and the inapplicability of the cash management 

11 requirements pursuant to subsection (c) to determine the 

12 effectiveness of such waivers and inapplicability in improv13 ing program efficiencies without reducing program integ14 rity or quality. The Secretary may, based on such deter15 minations, extend any such waivers or inapplicability for 

16 such period as the Secretary considers appropriate upon 

17 written notice to the Congress of such extension and the 

18 reasons for such extension. 

Æ 


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