I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2076 

To provide a path to end homelessness in the United States, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 6, 2017 

Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California (for herself, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Ms. 

MOORE, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. MCNERNEY, Ms. 

SLAUGHTER, Mrs. TORRES, Mr. ELLISON, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. 

VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. LYNCH, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, and Ms. LEE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee 

on the Budget, 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 provide a path to end homelessness in the United States, 

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 ‘‘Ending Homelessness 

5 Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) although the United States has experienced 

2 a reduction in veteran homelessness after a surge of 

3 new Federal funding targeted to homeless veterans 

4 starting in fiscal year 2008, major progress towards 

5 the national goals for ending homelessness in our 

6 Nation has virtually stalled in the absence of in7 creased funding; 

8 (2) according to the Department of Housing 

9 and Urban Development’s 2016 point-in-time count, 

10 there were 549,928 people experiencing homeless11 ness in the United States on any given night, includ12 ing over 120,000 children; 

13 (3) homelessness in many communities has 

14 reached crisis proportions and some cities have de15 clared that homelessness has reached a state of 

16 emergency; and 

17 (4) the Federal Government must renew its 

18 commitment to the national goals to end homeless19 ness. 

20 SEC. 3. EMERGENCY RELIEF FUNDING. 

21 Title IV of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance 

22 Act (42 U.S.C. 11360 et seq) is amended— 

23 (1) by redesignating section 491 (42 U.S.C. 

24 11408; relating to rural housing stability grant pro25 gram) as section 441; 


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1 (2) by redesignating section 592 (42 U.S.C. 

2 11408a; relating to use of FMHA inventory for 

3 transitional housing for homeless persons and for 

4 turnkey housing) as section 442; and 

5 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub6 title: 

7 ‘‘Subtitle E—5-Year Path To End 

8 Homelessness 

9 ‘‘SEC. 451. EMERGENCY RELIEF FUNDING. 

10 ‘‘(a) DIRECT APPROPRIATIONS.—There is appro11 priated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise 

12 appropriated for each of fiscal years 2018 through 2022, 

13 $1,000,000,000, to remain available until expended, for 

14 emergency relief grants under this section to address the 

15 unmet needs of homeless populations in jurisdictions with 

16 the highest need. 

17 ‘‘(b) FORMULA GRANTS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) ALLOCATION.—Amounts appropriated 

19 under subsection (a) for a fiscal year shall be allo20 cated among collaborative applicants that comply 

21 with section 402, in accordance with the funding for22 mula established under paragraph (2) of this sub23 section. 

24 ‘‘(2) FORMULA.—The Secretary shall, in con25 sultation with the United States Interagency Council 


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1 on Homeless, establish a formula for allocating 

2 grant amounts under this section to address the 

3 unmet needs of homeless populations in jurisdictions 

4 with the highest need, using the best currently avail5 able data that targets need based on key structural 

6 determinants of homelessness in the geographic area 

7 represented by a collaborative applicant, which shall 

8 include data providing accurate counts of— 

9 ‘‘(A) the poverty rate in the geographic 

10 area represented by the collaborative applicant; 

11 ‘‘(B) shortages of affordable housing for 

12 low-, very low-, and extremely low-income 

13 households in the geographic area represented 

14 by the collaborative applicant; 

15 ‘‘(C) the number of overcrowded housing 

16 units in the geographic area represented by the 

17 collaborative applicant; 

18 ‘‘(D) the number of unsheltered homeless 

19 individuals and the number of chronically home20 less individuals; and 

21 ‘‘(E) any other factors that the Secretary 

22 considers appropriate. 

23 ‘‘(3) GRANTS.—For each fiscal year for which 

24 amounts are made available under subsection (a), 

25 the Secretary shall make a grant to each collaboVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Apr 17, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2076.IH H2076

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1 rative applicant for which an amount is allocated 

2 pursuant to application of the formula established 

3 pursuant to paragraph (2) of this subsection in an 

4 amount that is equal to the formula amount deter5 mined for such collaborative applicant. 

6 ‘‘(4) TIMING.— 

7 ‘‘(A) FORMULA TO BE DEVISED SWIFT8 LY.—The funding formula required under para9 graph (2) shall be established not later than 60 

10 days after the date of enactment of this section. 

11 ‘‘(B) DISTRIBUTION.—Amounts appro12 priated or otherwise made available under this 

13 section shall be distributed according to the 

14 funding formula established pursuant to para15 graph (2) not later than 30 days after the es16 tablishment of such formula. 

17 ‘‘(c) USE OF GRANTS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraphs (2) 

19 through (4), a collaborative applicant that receives a 

20 grant under this section may use such grant 

21 amounts only for eligible activities under section 

22 415, 423, or 441(b). 

23 ‘‘(2) PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING RE24 QUIREMENT.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT.—Except as provided 

2 in subparagraph (B), each collaborative appli3 cant that receives a grant under this section 

4 shall use not less than 75 percent of such grant 

5 amount for permanent supportive housing, in6 cluding capital costs, rental subsidies, and serv7 ices. 

8 ‘‘(B) EXEMPTION.—The Secretary shall 

9 exempt a collaborative applicant from the appli10 cability of the requirement under subparagraph 

11 (A) if the applicant demonstrates, in accordance 

12 with such standards and procedures as the Sec13 retary shall establish, that— 

14 ‘‘(i) chronic homelessness has been 

15 functionally eliminated in the geographic 

16 area served by the applicant; or 

17 ‘‘(ii) the permanent supportive hous18 ing under development in the geographic 

19 area served by the applicant is sufficient to 

20 functionally eliminate chronic homelessness 

21 once such units are available for occu22 pancy. 

23 The Secretary shall consider and make a deter24 mination regarding each request for an exempVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Apr 17, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2076.IH H2076

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1 tion under this subparagraph not later than 60 

2 days after receipt of such request. 

3 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION ON USE FOR ADMINISTRATIVE

4 EXPENSES.—Not more than 5 percent of the total 

5 amount of any grant under this section to a collabo6 rative applicant may be used for costs of administra7 tion. 

8 ‘‘(4) HOUSING FIRST REQUIREMENT.—The Sec9 retary shall ensure that each collaborative applicant 

10 that receives a grant under this section is imple11 menting, to the extent possible, and will use such 

12 grant amounts in accordance with, a Housing First 

13 model for assistance for homeless persons. 

14 ‘‘(d) RENEWAL FUNDING.—Expiring contracts for 

15 leasing, rental assistance, or permanent housing shall be 

16 treated, for purposes of section 429, as expiring contracts 

17 referred to in subsection (a) of such section. 

18 ‘‘(e) REPORTING TO CONGRESS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than Sep20 tember 1, 2017, the Secretary and the United States 

21 Interagency Council on Homelessness shall submit a 

22 report to the Committees on Financial Services and 

23 Appropriations of the House of Representatives and 

24 the Committees on Banking, Housing, and Urban 

25 Affairs and Appropriations of the Senate describing 


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1 the design and implementation of the grant program 

2 under this section, which shall include the formula 

3 required by subsection (b)(2). 

4 ‘‘(2) SEMIANNUAL STATUS REPORTS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Sec6 retary and the United States Interagency Coun7 cil on Homelessness shall submit reports to the 

8 Committees specified in paragraph (1) semi9 annually describing the operation of the grant 

10 program under this section during the pre11 ceding 6 months, including identification of the 

12 grants made and a description of the activities 

13 funded with grant amounts. 

14 ‘‘(B) COLLECTION OF INFORMATION BY

15 SECRETARY.—The Secretary shall require each 

16 collaborative applicant that receives a grant 

17 under this section to submit such information 

18 to the Secretary as may be necessary for the 

19 Secretary to comply with the reporting require20 ment under subparagraph (A). 

21 ‘‘SEC. 452. SPECIAL PURPOSE VOUCHERS. 

22 ‘‘(a) DIRECT APPROPRIATION.—There is appro23 priated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise 

24 appropriated for each of fiscal years 2018 through 2022, 


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1 $500,000,000, to remain available until expended, which 

2 shall be used as follows: 

3 ‘‘(1) RENTAL ASSISTANCE.—Except as provided 

4 in paragraph (2), such amount shall be used for in5 cremental assistance for rental assistance under sec6 tion 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 

7 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)) for persons and households 

8 who are homeless (as such term is defined in section 

9 103 (42 U.S.C. 11302)), which assistance shall be in 

10 addition to such assistance provided pursuant to re11 newal of expiring contracts for such assistance. 

12 ‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE FEES.—The Secretary 

13 may use not more than 10 percent of such amounts 

14 provided for each fiscal year for administrative fees 

15 under 8(q) of the United States Housing Act of 

16 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(q)). The Secretary shall es17 tablish policies and procedures to provide such fees 

18 to the extent necessary to assist homeless persons 

19 and families on whose behalf rental assistance is 

20 provided to find and maintain suitable housing. 

21 ‘‘(b) ALLOCATION.—The Secretary shall make assist22 ance provided under this section available to public hous23 ing agencies based on geographical need for such assist24 ance by homeless persons and households, as identified by 


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1 the Secretary, public housing agency administrative per2 formance, and other factors as specified by the Secretary. 

3 ‘‘(c) AVAILABILITY.—Assistance made available 

4 under this section shall continue to remain available only 

5 for homeless persons and households upon turn-over. 

6 ‘‘(d) RENEWAL FUNDING.—Renewal of expiring con7 tracts for rental assistance provided under subsection (a) 

8 and for administrative fees under such subsection shall, 

9 to the extent provided in appropriation Acts, be funded 

10 under the section 8 tenant-based rental assistance ac11 count. 

12 ‘‘(e) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—Upon a finding by the 

13 Secretary that a waiver or alternative requirement pursu14 ant to this subsection is necessary to ensure that homeless 

15 persons and households can obtain housing using rental 

16 assistance made available under this section, the Secretary 

17 may waive, or specify alternative requirements for, any 

18 provision of any statute or regulation that the Secretary 

19 administers in connection with the use of funds made 

20 available under this section (except for requirements re21 lated to fair housing, nondiscrimination, labor standards, 

22 and the environment) that relates to screening of appli23 cants for assistance, admission of applicants, and selection 

24 of tenants. The Secretary shall require public housing 

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1 able under this section to take all reasonable actions to 

2 help assisted persons and families avoid subsequent home3 lessness. 

4 ‘‘SEC. 453. OUTREACH FUNDING. 

5 ‘‘(a) DIRECT APPROPRIATION.—There is appro6 priated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise 

7 appropriated for each of fiscal years 2018 through 2022, 

8 $100,000,000, to remain available until expended, to the 

9 Secretary for grants under this section to provide outreach 

10 and coordinate services for persons and households who 

11 are homeless or formerly homeless. 

12 ‘‘(b) GRANTS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make 

14 grants under this section on a competitive basis only 

15 to collaborative applicants who comply with section 

16 402. 

17 ‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—The competition for grants 

18 under this section shall provide priority to collabo19 rative applicants who submit plans to make innova20 tive and effective use of staff funded with grant 

21 amounts pursuant to subsection (c). 

22 ‘‘(c) USE OF GRANTS.—A collaborative applicant 

23 that receives a grant under this section may use such 

24 grant amounts only for providing case managers, social 

25 workers, or other staff who conduct outreach and coordiVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Apr 17, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2076.IH H2076

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1 nate services for persons and households who are homeless 

2 or formerly homeless. 

3 ‘‘(d) TIMING.— 

4 ‘‘(1) CRITERIA TO BE ESTABLISHED SWIFT5 LY.—The Secretary shall establish the criteria for 

6 the competition for grants under this section re7 quired under subsection (b) not later than 60 days 

8 after the date of enactment of this section. 

9 ‘‘(2) DISTRIBUTION.—Amounts appropriated or 

10 otherwise made available under this section shall be 

11 distributed according to the competition established 

12 by the Secretary pursuant to subsection (b) not later 

13 than 30 days after the establishment of such cri14 teria.’’. 

15 SEC. 4. HOUSING TRUST FUND. 

16 (a) FUNDING.— 

17 (1) ANNUAL FUNDING.—There is appropriated, 

18 out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise ap19 propriated, for fiscal year 2018 and each fiscal year 

20 thereafter, $1,000,000,000, to remain available until 

21 expended, which shall be credited to the Housing 

22 Trust Fund established pursuant to section 1338 of 

23 the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety 

24 and Soundness Act of 1992 (12 U.S.C. 4568) for 

25 use under such section. 


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1 (2) RENTAL ASSISTANCE.—There is appro2 priated, out of any money in the Treasury not other3 wise appropriated, for fiscal year 2018 and each fis4 cal year thereafter, $50,000,000, to remain available 

5 until expended, for incremental project-based vouch6 er assistance or project-based rental assistance, to 

7 be allocated to States pursuant to the formula estab8 lished under section 1338 of the Federal Housing 

9 Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 

10 1992 (12 U.S.C. 4568), to be used solely in conjunc11 tion with grant funds awarded under such section 

12 1338. 

13 (3) PRIORITY FOR HOUSING THE HOMELESS.— 

14 (A) PRIORITY.—During the first 5 fiscal 

15 years that amounts are made available under 

16 this subsection, the Secretary of Housing and 

17 Urban Development shall ensure that priority 

18 for occupancy in dwelling units described in 

19 subparagraph (B) that become available for oc20 cupancy shall be given to persons and house21 holds who are homeless (as such term is defined 

22 in section 103 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless 

23 Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11302)). 


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1 (B) COVERED DWELLING UNITS.—A dwell2 ing unit described in this subparagraph is any 

3 dwelling unit that— 

4 (i) is located in housing that was at 

5 any time provided assistance with any 

6 amounts from the Housing Trust Fund re7 ferred to paragraph (1) that were credited 

8 to such Trust Fund by such paragraph; or 

9 (ii) is receiving assistance described in 

10 paragraph (2) with amounts made avail11 able under such paragraph. 

12 (b) TENANT RENT CONTRIBUTION.— 

13 (1) LIMITATION.—Subparagraph (A) of section 

14 1338(c)(7) of the Federal Housing Enterprises Fi15 nancial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 (12 

16 U.S.C. 4568(c)(7)(A)) is amended— 

17 (A) by striking ‘‘except that not less than 

18 75 percent’’ and inserting the following: ‘‘except 

19 that— 

20 ‘‘(i) not less than 75 percent’’; 

21 (B) by adding at the end the following new 

22 clause: 

23 ‘‘(ii) notwithstanding any other provi24 sion of law, all rental housing dwelling 

25 units shall be subject to legally binding 


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1 commitments that ensure that the con2 tribution toward rent by a family residing 

3 in the dwelling unit shall not exceed 30 

4 percent of the adjusted income (as such 

5 term is defined in section 3(b) of the 

6 United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 

7 U.S.C. 1437a(b))) of such family; and’’. 

8 (2) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Housing 

9 and Urban Development shall issue regulations to 

10 implement section 1338(c)(7)(A)(ii) of the Federal 

11 Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Sound12 ness Act of 1992, as added by the amendment made 

13 by paragraph (1)(B) of this section, not later than 

14 the expiration of the 90-day period beginning on the 

15 date of the enactment of this Act. 

16 SEC. 5. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FUNDS TO HELP STATES 

17 AND LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS ALIGN HEALTH 

18 AND HOUSING SYSTEMS. 

19 (a) FUNDING.—There is hereby made available to the 

20 Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 

21 $20,000,000, to remain available until expended, for pro22 viding technical assistance under section 405 of the 

23 McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

24 11361(b)) in connection with expanding the Healthcare 

25 and Housing (H2) Systems Integration Initiative of the 


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1 Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, in collabo2 ration with the United States Interagency Council on 

3 Homelessness and the Secretary of Health and Human 

4 Services. 

5 (b) USE.—In expanding the Initiative referred to in 

6 subsection (a), the Secretary shall seek to— 

7 (1) assist States and localities in integrating 

8 and aligning policies and funding between Medicaid 

9 programs, behavioral health providers, and housing 

10 providers to create supportive housing opportunities; 

11 and 

12 (2) engages State Medicaid program directors, 

13 Governors, State housing and homelessness agencies, 

14 any other relevant State offices, and any relevant 

15 local government entities, to assist States in increas16 ing use of their Medicaid programs to finance sup17 portive services for homeless persons. 

18 (c) PRIORITY.—In using amounts made available 

19 under this section, the Secretary shall give priority to use 

20 for States and localities having the highest numbers of 

21 chronically homeless persons. 


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1 SEC. 6. PERMANENT AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS 

2 FOR MCKINNEY-VENTO HOMELESS ASSIST3 ANCE ACT GRANTS. 

4 Section 408 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assist5 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 11364) is amended to read as follows: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 408. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

7 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

8 this title such sums as may be necessary for each fiscal 

9 year.’’. 

10 SEC. 7. PERMANENT EXTENSION OF UNITED STATES 

11 INTERAGENCY COUNCIL ON HOMELESSNESS. 

12 Section 209 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assist13 ance Act (42 U.S.C. 11319) is hereby repealed. 

14 SEC. 8. EMERGENCY DESIGNATION. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The amounts provided by this 

16 Act, and the amendments made by this Act, are des17 ignated as an emergency requirement pursuant to section 

18 4(g) of the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (2 

19 U.S.C. 933(g)). 

20 (b) DESIGNATION IN SENATE.—In the Senate, this 

21 Act and the amendments made by this Act are designated 

22 as an emergency requirement pursuant to section 403(a) 

23 of S. Con. Res. 13 (111th Congress), the concurrent reso24 lution on the budget for fiscal year 2010. 

Æ 


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