I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2729 

To amend title IV of the Social Security Act to provide for information 

comparisons for USDA Housing Assistance programs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 18, 2013 

Mr. ADERHOLT (for himself, Mr. FARR, Mr. REICHERT, and Mr. DOGGETT) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each 

case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 

the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend title IV of the Social Security Act to provide 

for information comparisons for USDA Housing Assistance programs, 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 Assistance 

5 Eligibility Verification Act of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INFORMATION COMPARISONS FOR USDA HOUSING 

2 ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 453(j) of the Social Secu4 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 653(j)) is amended by adding at the 

5 end the following new paragraph: 

6 ‘‘(12) INFORMATION COMPARISONS FOR USDA

7 HOUSING ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) FURNISHING OF INFORMATION BY

9 SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE.—Subject to the 

10 provisions of this paragraph, the Secretary of 

11 Agriculture shall furnish to the Secretary, on 

12 such periodic basis as determined by the Sec13 retary of Agriculture in consultation with the 

14 Secretary, information in the custody of the 

15 Secretary of Agriculture for comparison with 

16 information in the National Directory of New 

17 Hires, in order to obtain information in such 

18 Directory with respect to individuals (including 

19 tenants) who are applying for or participating 

20 in any housing program under title V of the 

21 Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1471 et seq.), 

22 including the single family and multifamily 

23 housing programs. 

24 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT TO SEEK MINIMUM

25 INFORMATION.—The Secretary of Agriculture 

26 shall seek information pursuant to this paraVerDate Mar 15 2010 03:41 Jul 20, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2729.IH H2729

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1 graph only to the extent necessary to verify the 

2 employment and income of individuals described 

3 in subparagraph (A). 

4 ‘‘(C) DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY.— 

5 ‘‘(i) INFORMATION DISCLOSURE.—The 

6 Secretary, in consultation with the Sec7 retary of Agriculture, shall compare infor8 mation in the National Directory of New 

9 Hires with information provided by the 

10 Secretary of Agriculture with respect to in11 dividuals described in subparagraph (A), 

12 and shall disclose information in such Di13 rectory regarding such individuals to the 

14 Secretary of Agriculture, in accordance 

15 with this paragraph, for the purposes spec16 ified in this paragraph. 

17 ‘‘(ii) CONDITION ON DISCLOSURE.— 

18 The Secretary shall make disclosures in ac19 cordance with clause (i) only to the extent 

20 that the Secretary determines that such 

21 disclosures do not interfere with the effec22 tive operation of the program under this 

23 part. 

24 ‘‘(D) USE OF INFORMATION BY SEC25 RETARY OF AGRICULTURE.—The Secretary of 


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1 Agriculture may use information resulting from 

2 a data match pursuant to this paragraph 

3 only— 

4 ‘‘(i) for the purposes specified in sub5 paragraph (B); and 

6 ‘‘(ii) after removal of personal identi7 fiers, to conduct analyses of the employ8 ment and income reporting of individuals 

9 described in subparagraph (B). 

10 ‘‘(E) DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION BY

11 SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE.— 

12 ‘‘(i) PURPOSE OF DISCLOSURE.—The 

13 Secretary of Agriculture may make a dis14 closure under this subparagraph only for 

15 the purpose of verifying the employment 

16 and income of individuals described in sub17 paragraph (A). 

18 ‘‘(ii) DISCLOSURES PERMITTED.— 

19 Subject to clause (iii), the Secretary of Ag20 riculture may disclose information result21 ing from a data match pursuant to this 

22 paragraph only to the owner of a property, 

23 the Inspector General of the Department 

24 of Agriculture, and the Attorney General 

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1 ployment and income requirements for the 

2 programs described in subparagraph (A). 

3 Information obtained by the Secretary of 

4 Agriculture pursuant to this paragraph 

5 shall not be made available under section 

6 552(b)(3) of title 5, United States Code. 

7 ‘‘(iii) CONDITIONS ON DISCLOSURE.— 

8 Disclosures under this paragraph shall 

9 be— 

10 ‘‘(I) made in accordance with 

11 data security and control policies es12 tablished by the Secretary of Agri13 culture and approved by the Sec14 retary; 

15 ‘‘(II) subject to audit in a man16 ner satisfactory to the Secretary; and 

17 ‘‘(III) subject to the sanctions 

18 under subsection (l)(2). 

19 ‘‘(iv) ADDITIONAL DISCLOSURES.— 

20 ‘‘(I) DETERMINATION BY SECRE21 TARIES.—The Secretary of Agri22 culture and the Secretary shall deter23 mine whether to permit disclosure of 

24 information under this paragraph to 

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1 clause (II), based on an evaluation 

2 made by the Secretary of Agriculture 

3 (in consultation with and approved by 

4 the Secretary), of the costs and bene5 fits of disclosures made under clause 

6 (ii) and the adequacy of measures 

7 used to safeguard the security and 

8 confidentiality of information so dis9 closed. 

10 ‘‘(II) PERMITTED PERSONS OR

11 ENTITIES.—If the Secretary of Agri12 culture and the Secretary determine 

13 pursuant to subclause (I) that disclo14 sures to additional persons or entities 

15 shall be permitted, information under 

16 this paragraph may be disclosed by 

17 the Secretary of Agriculture to a pri18 vate owner of a property and a man19 agement agent, in connection with the 

20 administration of a program described 

21 in subparagraph (A), subject to the 

22 conditions in clause (iii) and such ad23 ditional conditions as agreed to by the 

24 Secretaries. 


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1 ‘‘(v) RESTRICTIONS ON REDISCLO2 SURE.—A person or entity to which infor3 mation is disclosed under this subpara4 graph may use or disclose such informa5 tion only as needed for verifying the em6 ployment and income of individuals de7 scribed in subparagraph (A), subject to the 

8 conditions in clause (iii) and such addi9 tional conditions as agreed to by the Secre10 taries. 

11 ‘‘(F) REIMBURSEMENT OF HHS COSTS.— 

12 The Secretary of Agriculture shall reimburse 

13 the Secretary, in accordance with subsection 

14 (k)(3), for the costs incurred by the Secretary 

15 in furnishing the information requested under 

16 this paragraph. 

17 ‘‘(G) CONSENT.—The Secretary of Agri18 culture shall not seek, use, or disclose informa19 tion under this paragraph relating to an indi20 vidual without the prior written consent of such 

21 individual (or of a person legally authorized to 

22 consent on behalf of such individual).’’. 

23 (b) AMENDMENT TO THE INTERNAL REVENUE

24 CODE.—Section 6103(l)(7)(D) of the Internal Revenue 

25 Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 6103(l)(7)(D)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in clause (viii), by striking the ‘‘and’’ at the 

2 end; 

3 (2) in clause (ix), by striking the period at the 

4 end and inserting ‘‘, and’’; and 

5 (3) by inserting after clause (ix) the following 

6 new clause: 

7 ‘‘(x) any housing program under title 

8 V of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 

9 1471 et seq.).’’. 

Æ 


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