I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5164 

To amend the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 to ensure 

improved access to employment opportunities for low-income people. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 6, 2006 

Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ (for herself, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Ms. NORTON, 

and Mr. MEEKS of New York) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To amend the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 

to ensure improved access to employment opportunities 

for low-income people. 

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 ‘‘Earning and Living 

5 Opportunities Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENT FOR EMPLOYING LOW- AND VERY 

2 LOW-INCOME PERSONS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3 of the Housing and 

4 Urban Development Act of 1968 (12 U.S.C. 1701u) is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating subsections (e), (f), and 

7 (g) as subsections (i), (j), and (k), respectively; 

8 (2) in subsection (i), as so redesignated— 

9 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting at the 

10 end ‘‘Provided, however, that any resident of a 

11 public or Indian housing development or any 

12 other person who qualifies for a priority under 

13 section (c)(1)(B), and who was very low-income 

14 shall, for purposes of this Act, continue to qual15 ify, as initially verified, for a period of 5 years, 

16 irrespective of any increase in the person’s in17 come or other change in that person’s priority 

18 status during that period.’’; and 

19 (B) by inserting after paragraph (2) the 

20 following new paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(3) ONE-STOP DELIVERY SYSTEM.—The term 

22 ‘one-stop delivery system’ has the meaning given 

23 that term in section 134(c) of the Workforce Invest24 ment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2864(c)).’’; and 

25 (3) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol26 lowing new subsections: 


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1 ‘‘(e) REQUIREMENT FOR EMPLOYING LOW- AND

2 VERY LOW-INCOME PERSONS.— 

3 ‘‘(1) TWENTY PERCENT REQUIREMENT.— 

4 ‘‘(A) CONDITION OF ASSISTANCE.—It shall 

5 be a condition of any assistance provided to a 

6 public or Indian housing agency or contract 

7 awarded by a public or Indian housing agency 

8 for work to be performed in connection with de9 velopment assistance provided from the capital 

10 fund under section 9(d) of the United States 

11 Housing Act of 1937, the operating fund under 

12 section 9(e) of such Act, or any other Federal 

13 assistance for housing and community develop14 ment, including funding under section 

15 (8)(o)(13) of such Act, that, except as provided 

16 in paragraph 2(B), a minimum of 20 percent of 

17 all hours worked by employees of the public or 

18 Indian housing agency or of a contractor in 

19 connection with such contract shall be per20 formed by low- or very low-income persons who 

21 qualify for a priority under subsection 

22 (c)(1)(B). 

23 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT.—It shall be a condi24 tion of any assistance provided to a recipient of 

25 other Federal housing and community developVerDate Aug 31 2005 22:29 Apr 13, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5164.IH H5164

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1 ment assistance for housing rehabilitation, 

2 housing construction, or other public construc3 tion projects and their contractors, that a min4 imum of 20 percent of all hours worked by em5 ployees of the recipient or its contractors shall 

6 be performed by low- or very low-income per7 sons who qualify for a priority under subsection 

8 (c)(2)(B). 

9 ‘‘(2) COMPLIANCE.—As a condition of any con10 tract awarded for the work described in paragraph 

11 (1), any contractor awarded such a contract shall— 

12 ‘‘(A)(i) immediately before beginning work 

13 under such contract, submit evidence to the sat14 isfaction of the contracting agency and the sec15 tion 3 committee, showing that a minimum of 

16 20 percent of all hours worked in connection 

17 with such contract shall be performed by low18 or very low-income persons who qualify for a 

19 priority under paragraphs (1)(B) and (2)(B) of 

20 subsection (c); and 

21 ‘‘(ii) submit evidence to the satisfaction of 

22 the contracting agency and the section 3 com23 mittee showing that a minimum of 20 percent 

24 of all hours actually worked in connection with 

25 such contract were in fact performed by low- or 


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1 very low-income persons who qualify for a pri2 ority under paragraphs (1)(B) and (2)(B) of 

3 subsection (c); or 

4 ‘‘(B) if such contractor cannot meet the re5 quirement imposed by paragraph (1)— 

6 ‘‘(i) submit evidence to the satisfac7 tion of the contracting agency and the sec8 tion 3 committee that such contractor used 

9 all feasible means to meet such require10 ment by taking steps which include— 

11 ‘‘(I) recruiting and conducting 

12 job interviews at the affected develop13 ment, in the affected community, and 

14 at training facilities; 

15 ‘‘(II) working with the con16 tracting agency to advertise and re17 cruit low- and very low-income per18 sons; and 

19 ‘‘(III) giving notice of such con20 tract to the one-stop delivery system 

21 for the area in which the work is to 

22 be done, including the particular 

23 skills, knowledge, and abilities needed 

24 by potential employees for work under 

25 such contract; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) provide to the contracting agency 

2 and the section 3 committee, evidence, as 

3 the Secretary shall by regulation require, 

4 sufficient to show why low- or very low-in5 come persons who were referred by either 

6 the contracting agency or by the one-stop 

7 delivery system, or who otherwise made 

8 themselves available did not have the skills, 

9 knowledge, or abilities to perform the 

10 work. 

11 ‘‘(3) SECTION 3 COMMITTEE.—The Secretary 

12 shall require that a public and Indian housing agen13 cy and other recipients of Federal housing and com14 munity development assistance establish a section 3 

15 committee composed of interested parties, including 

16 a representative of the affected section 3 residents to 

17 oversee all aspects of compliance with section 3. For 

18 projects with a significant economic impact relative 

19 to the community size and the public housing agen20 cy, membership on the section 3 committee shall, at 

21 a minimum, include a representative of— 

22 ‘‘(A) the contractor; 

23 ‘‘(B) the public or Indian Housing Agency; 


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1 ‘‘(C) the resident association from the de2 velopment (or tenant delegate or section 3 resi3 dent where a tenant association does not exist); 

4 ‘‘(D) where possible, a community based 

5 organization that has as its mission the pro6 motion of workforce development or economic 

7 development in low-income communities; 

8 ‘‘(E) where they exist, women and minority 

9 trades organizations that offer employment 

10 services with expertise in preparing skilled 

11 workers for the construction field; and 

12 ‘‘(F) when possible, coordinators and rep13 resentatives of the apprenticeship programs. 

14 ‘‘(4) TRAINING.—Any contractor awarded a 

15 contract for the work described in paragraph (1) 

16 shall provide on-the-job training to any employee 

17 who is eligible for priority under subsection 

18 (c)(1)(B) and (c)(2)(B). Such training shall be pro19 vided through a State approved apprenticeship pro20 gram. 

21 ‘‘(f) RECRUITMENT, REFERRAL, AND TRAINING RE22 QUIREMENTS.—The Secretary shall require the following 

23 of public and Indian housing agencies and recipients of 

24 other Federal housing and community development assist25 ance: 


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1 ‘‘(1) That such agencies and other recipients 

2 advertise the availability of training and employment 

3 opportunities generated by development assistance, 

4 and, with the section 3 committee, maintain a reg5 istry of eligible low- and very low-income persons 

6 who express interest in those opportunities. For pub7 lic and Indian housing agencies, advertising shall be 

8 conducted in a manner that is most likely to reach 

9 eligible low- and very low income persons who reside 

10 in public or Indian housing or who otherwise qualify 

11 for a priority in accordance with subsection 

12 (c)(1)(B). For recipients of other housing and com13 munity development assistance, advertising shall be 

14 conducted in a manner that is most likely to reach 

15 eligible low- or very low-income persons who qualify 

16 for a priority in accordance with subsection 

17 (c)(2)(B). The registry shall contain sufficient infor18 mation (such as work experience, education level, de19 sired employment, career goals, etc.) to allow each 

20 public and Indian housing agency or recipient of 

21 other federal housing and community development 

22 assistance to make appropriate job referrals and to 

23 determine the need for job training and other sup24 port services. 


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1 ‘‘(2) That such agencies and other recipients 

2 provide to any contractor and the section 3 com3 mittee names, priority status, and applications of 

4 low-and very low-income persons who have the skills 

5 identified by the contractor or the public housing 

6 agency for the work to be performed. 

7 ‘‘(3) That such agencies and other recipients 

8 refer any low- or very low-income persons who are 

9 participants in the housing agency’s housing pro10 grams and who are seeking qualifying skills to the 

11 one-stop delivery system for the area in which the 

12 work is to be done. 

13 ‘‘(4) That such agencies and other recipients 

14 consult with contractors to ensure that low-and very 

15 low-income persons with the skills, knowledge, and 

16 abilities are provided a priority in hiring and are not 

17 passed over. 

18 ‘‘(5) That such agencies and other recipients 

19 provide to the one-stop delivery system for the area 

20 in which the development where the work is to be 

21 done, a detailed description of the work to be done, 

22 including all projects for which it is accepting, or 

23 will be accepting, bids, and a list of the applicable 

24 priority categories (as set forth in subsection 

25 (c)(1)(B) and (c)(2)(B), so that eligible low- and 


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1 very low-income persons may be appropriately 

2 trained. 

3 ‘‘(6) That such agencies and other recipients 

4 make any other effort that may be necessary, includ5 ing contacting and working with other job clearing6 houses, job training centers, labor groups, and resi7 dent and community groups, to increase the number 

8 of low- and very low-income persons who are pro9 vided with training and employment opportunities 

10 and a priority in accordance with subsections 

11 (c)(1)(B) and (c)(2)(B). 

12 ‘‘(g) REPORTS.— 

13 ‘‘(1) AGENCY REPORTS.—All public and Indian 

14 housing agencies shall report quarterly to the Sec15 retary on the number of hours worked by persons el16 igible for a priority under subsection (c)(1)(B) or 

17 (c)(2)(B) at the public and Indian agency and with 

18 their contractors. Grantees shall ensure that they 

19 and other recipients of housing and community de20 velopment funds and their contractors report quar21 terly to the Secretary on the number of hours 

22 worked by persons eligible for a priority under sub23 section (c)(1)(B) or (c)(2)(B). The reports shall in24 clude at a minimum current information by job cat25 egory regarding the total number of hours worked 


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1 by all persons and by persons within each priority. 

2 The reports shall also include current information 

3 about the dollar amount and the number of the con4 tracts provided to section 3 businesses, by priority 

5 category and as a percentage of the total amount of 

6 contracts awarded. 

7 ‘‘(2) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary 

8 shall report annually to Congress a summary of in9 formation derived from the quarterly reports re10 quired under paragraph (1) and shall provide infor11 mation on the total amount of Federal funds that 

12 are subject to section 3. For each program, includ13 ing public housing and other federal housing and 

14 community development assistance, by program, the 

15 report shall provide the number of jobs and training 

16 opportunities generated and the number of hours 

17 worked by low and very low income persons, and the 

18 number and amount of contracts and percentage of 

19 total contracts awarded to section 3 businesses. 

20 ‘‘(h) FINES FOR NONCOMPLIANCE.— 

21 ‘‘(1) FINES.—If a contractor of a public or In22 dian housing agency or any other contractor for a 

23 project receiving assistance under this section fails 

24 to comply with the requirements of this section, such 

25 contractor shall be fined by the Secretary in an 


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1 amount not less than 1 percent of the amount of the 

2 contract with such agency. 

3 ‘‘(2) DEPOSIT OF AMOUNTS.—The Secretary 

4 shall make the amounts collected under paragraph 

5 (1) available to the respective section 3 committee in 

6 the locality where such fines are assessed for the 

7 purpose of providing job training opportunities for 

8 low- or very low-income persons who reside in the 

9 area of the contract described in paragraph (1).’’. 

10 (b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 180 days after 

11 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 

12 promulgate regulations to implement the requirements of 

13 subsections (e), (f), and (g) of section 3 of the Housing 

14 and Urban Development Act of 1968 (12 U.S.C. 1701u), 

15 including a requirement that public and Indian housing 

16 agencies include information regarding their compliance 

17 with this section in their five year plan, annual plans, or 

18 any alternative plan which calls for similar reporting. 

19 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 3(c) of the 

20 Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 (12 U.S.C. 

21 1701u(c) is amended— 

22 (1) in paragraph (1)(A), by inserting before the 

23 period ‘‘, and development and operating assistance 

24 provided pursuant to any other federal housing and 

25 community development assistance’’; 


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1 (2) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking clause (iv) 

2 and inserting after clause (iii) the following: 

3 ‘‘(iv) To participants in section 8 pro4 grams administered by the public and In5 dian housing agency. 

6 ‘‘(v) To other low-income persons re7 siding within the metropolitan area (or 

8 nonmetropolitan county) in which the as9 sistance is expended, with preference to 

10 very low-income persons.’’; 

11 (3) in paragraph(2)(A), by adding at the end: 

12 ‘‘The Secretary shall further ensure that permanent 

13 opportunities for training and employment created 

14 and retained as a result of housing and community 

15 development assistance are given to low- and very 

16 low income persons residing within the metropolitan 

17 area (or nonmetropolitan county) in which the 

18 project is located.’’; and 

19 (4) in paragraph (2)(B), by inserting ‘‘, with 

20 preference to very low-income persons’’ after ‘‘very 

21 low-income persons’’. 

Æ 


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