I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3211 

To establish the Task Force on the Impact of the Affordable Housing Crisis, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 11, 2019 

Mr. PETERS (for himself, Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER, and Mr. KHANNA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To establish the Task Force on the Impact of the Affordable 

Housing Crisis, 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 ‘‘Task Force on the 

5 Impact of the Affordable Housing Crisis Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE OF TASK FORCE. 

7 The purpose of this Act is to establish the Task Force 

8 on the Impact of the Affordable Housing Crisis, which 

9 shall— 


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1 (1) evaluate and quantify the impact that a 

2 lack of affordable housing has on other areas of life 

3 and life outcomes; 

4 (2) evaluate and quantify the costs incurred by 

5 other Federal, State, and local programs due to a 

6 lack of affordable housing; and 

7 (3) make recommendations to Congress on how 

8 to use affordable housing to improve the effective9 ness of other Federal programs and improve life out10 comes. 

11 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

12 In this Act: 

13 (1) AFFORDABLE HOUSING.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘affordable 

15 housing’’ means— 

16 (i) housing for which the household is 

17 required to pay not more than 30 percent 

18 of the household income for gross housing 

19 costs, including utilities, where such in20 come is less than or equal to the area me21 dian income for the municipality in which 

22 the housing is located, as determined by 

23 the Secretary; and 

24 (ii) housing— 


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1 (I) for which the household pays 

2 more than 30 percent of the house3 hold income for gross housing costs, 

4 including utilities, where such income 

5 is less than or equal to the area me6 dian income for the municipality in 

7 which the housing is located, as deter8 mined by the Secretary; and 

9 (II) that is assisted or considered 

10 affordable by the Department of 

11 Housing and Urban Development, in12 cluding— 

13 (aa) public housing; 

14 (bb) housing assisted under 

15 section 8(o) of such Act (42 

16 U.S.C. 1437f(o)); 

17 (cc) housing receiving the 

18 low-income housing credit under 

19 section 42 of the Internal Rev20 enue Code; and 

21 (dd) housing assisted under 

22 other Federal or local housing 

23 programs serving households with 

24 incomes at or below 80 percent of 

25 the area median income or proVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3211.IH H3211

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1 viding services or amenities that 

2 will primarily be used by low-in3 come housing. 

4 (B) APPLICATION.—The definition in sub5 paragraph (A) shall apply to Federal, State, 

6 and local affordable housing programs. 

7 (2) LOW-INCOME HOUSING; PUBLIC HOUSING.— 

8 The terms ‘‘low-income housing’’ and ‘‘public hous9 ing’’ have the meanings given those terms in section 

10 3(b) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 

11 U.S.C. 1437a(b)). 

12 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

13 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 

14 (4) TASK FORCE.—The term ‘‘Task Force’’ 

15 means the Task Force on the Impact of the Afford16 able Housing Crisis established under section 4(a). 

17 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF TASK FORCE. 

18 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a bipar19 tisan task force to be known as the Task Force on the 

20 Impact of the Affordable Housing Crisis. 

21 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

22 (1) COMPOSITION.—The Task Force shall be 

23 composed of 18 members, of whom— 

24 (A) 1 member shall be appointed by the 

25 Majority Leader of the Senate and the Speaker 


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1 of the House of Representatives, who shall 

2 serve as co-chair of the Task Force; 

3 (B) 1 member shall be appointed by the 

4 Minority Leader of the Senate and the Minority 

5 Leader of the House of Representatives, who 

6 shall serve as co-chair of the Task Force; 

7 (C) 4 members shall be appointed by the 

8 Majority Leader of the Senate; 

9 (D) 4 members shall be appointed by the 

10 Minority Leader of the Senate; 

11 (E) 4 members shall be appointed by the 

12 Speaker of the House of Representatives; and 

13 (F) 4 members shall be appointed by the 

14 Minority Leader of the House of Representa15 tives. 

16 (2) CRITERIA.—Each member of the Task 

17 Force shall be an academic researcher, an expert in 

18 a field or policy area related to the purpose of the 

19 Task Force, or an individual who has experience 

20 with government programs related to the purpose of 

21 the Task Force. 

22 (3) ADDITIONAL STAFF.—The co-chairs of the 

23 Task Force may appoint and fix the pay of addi24 tional staff to the Task Force. 


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1 (4) DETAILEES.—Any Federal Government em2 ployee may be detailed to the Task Force without re3 imbursement from the Task Force, and the detailee 

4 shall retain the rights, status, and privileges of his 

5 or her regular employment without interruption. 

6 (5) COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS.—Members of 

7 the Task Force may be allowed travel expenses, in8 cluding per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates au9 thorized for employees of agencies under subchapter 

10 I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while 

11 away from their homes or regular places of business 

12 in the performance of services for the Task Force. 

13 (c) TIMING OF APPOINTMENTS.—Appointments to 

14 the Task Force shall be made not later than 180 days 

15 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

16 (d) PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT; VACANCIES.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—A member of the Task 

18 Force shall be appointed for the life of the Task 

19 Force. 

20 (2) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy in the Task 

21 Force— 

22 (A) shall not affect the powers of the Task 

23 Force; and 

24 (B) shall be filled in the same manner as 

25 the original appointment. 


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1 (e) INITIAL MEETING.—The Task Force shall meet 

2 not later than 30 days after the date on which a majority 

3 of the members of the Task Force have been appointed. 

4 (f) MEETINGS.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force shall meet 

6 at the call of the co-chairs of the Task Force. 

7 (2) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of 

8 the Task Force shall constitute a quorum, but a 

9 lesser number of members may hold hearings. 

10 SEC. 5. DUTIES OF THE TASK FORCE. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force shall utilize avail12 able survey and statistical data related to the purpose of 

13 the Task Force to complete a comprehensive report to— 

14 (1) evaluate and quantify the impact that a 

15 lack of affordable housing has on other areas of life 

16 and life outcomes for individuals living in the United 

17 States, including— 

18 (A) education; 

19 (B) employment; 

20 (C) income level; 

21 (D) health; 

22 (E) nutrition; 

23 (F) access to transportation; 

24 (G) the poverty level of the neighborhood 

25 in which individuals live; 


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1 (H) regional economic growth; 

2 (I) neighborhood and rural community sta3 bility and revitalization; and 

4 (J) other areas of life and life outcomes re5 lated to the purpose of the Task Force nec6 essary to complete a comprehensive report; 

7 (2) evaluate and quantify the costs incurred by 

8 other Federal, State, and local programs due to a 

9 lack of affordable housing; and 

10 (3) make recommendations to Congress on how 

11 to use affordable housing to improve the effective12 ness of other Federal programs and improve life out13 comes for individuals living in the United States. 

14 (b) PUBLIC COMMENT.—The Task Force shall pub15 lish in the Federal Register a notice for a public comment 

16 period of 90 days on the purpose and activities of the Task 

17 Force. 

18 (c) REPORT.—Not later than the date on which the 

19 Task Force terminates, the Task Force shall submit to 

20 the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

21 and the Committee on Finance of the Senate and the 

22 Committee on Financial Services and the Committee on 

23 Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and 

24 make publicly available a final report that— 


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1 (1) contains the information, evaluations, and 

2 recommendations described in subsection (a); and 

3 (2) is signed by each member of the Task 

4 Force. 

5 SEC. 6. POWERS OF TASK FORCE. 

6 (a) HEARINGS.—The Task Force may hold such 

7 hearings, take such testimony, and receive such evidence 

8 as the Task Force considers advisable to carry out this 

9 Act. 

10 (b) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force may secure 

12 directly from any Federal department or agency 

13 such information as the Task Force considers nec14 essary to carry out this Act. 

15 (2) FURNISHING INFORMATION.—On request of 

16 the co-chairs of the Task Force, the head of a Fed17 eral department or agency described in paragraph 

18 (1) shall furnish the information to the Task Force. 

19 (c) POSTAL SERVICES.—The Task Force may use the 

20 United States mails in the same manner and under the 

21 same conditions as other Federal departments and agen22 cies. 


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1 SEC. 7. TERMINATION OF TASK FORCE. 

2 The Task Force shall terminate not later than 2 

3 years after the date on which all members of the Task 

4 Force are appointed under section 4. 

5 SEC. 8. FUNDING. 

6 There are authorized such sums as may be necessary 

7 to be appropriated to carry out this Act for fiscal years 

8 2020 through 2023. 

Æ 


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