II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3278 

To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act to provide 

and improve housing in rural areas for educators, public safety officers, 

and medical providers, and their households, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 7, 2012 

Mr. BEGICH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development 

Act to provide and improve housing in rural areas for 

educators, public safety officers, and medical providers, 

and their households, 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 ‘‘Rural Educator and 

5 American Community Housing Act of 2012’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. HOUSING FOR EDUCATORS, PUBLIC SAFETY OFFI2 CERS, AND MEDICAL PROVIDERS. 

3 Section 306(a) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural 

4 Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1926(a)) is amended by add5 ing at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(26) GRANTS AND LOAN GUARANTEES TO

7 PROVIDE HOUSING FOR EDUCATORS, PUBLIC SAFETY

8 OFFICERS, AND MEDICAL PROVIDERS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(i) EDUCATOR.—The term ‘educator’ 

11 means an individual who— 

12 ‘‘(I) is employed full-time as a 

13 teacher, principal, or administrator 

14 by— 

15 ‘‘(aa) a public elementary 

16 school or secondary school that 

17 provides direct services to stu18 dents in grades prekindergarten 

19 through grade 12, or a Head 

20 Start program; and 

21 ‘‘(bb) meets the appropriate 

22 teaching certification or licensure 

23 requirements of the State for the 

24 position in which the individual is 

25 employed; or 


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1 ‘‘(II) is employed full-time as a 

2 librarian, a career guidance or coun3 seling provider, an education aide, or 

4 in another instructional or administra5 tive position for a public elementary 

6 school or secondary school. 

7 ‘‘(ii) MEDICAL PROVIDER.—The term 

8 ‘medical provider’ means— 

9 ‘‘(I) a licensed doctor of medicine 

10 or osteopathy; 

11 ‘‘(II) an American Indian, Alaska 

12 Native, or Native Hawaiian recog13 nized as a traditional healing practi14 tioner; 

15 ‘‘(III) a health care provider 

16 that— 

17 ‘‘(aa) is licensed or certified 

18 under Federal or State law, as 

19 applicable; and 

20 ‘‘(bb) is providing services 

21 that are eligible for coverage 

22 under a plan under the Federal 

23 Employees Health Benefits Pro24 gram under chapter 89 of title 5, 

25 United States Code; 


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1 ‘‘(IV) a provider authorized 

2 under section 119 of the Indian 

3 Health Care Improvement Act (25 

4 U.S.C. 1616l); or 

5 ‘‘(V) any other individual that 

6 the Secretary determines is capable of 

7 providing health care services. 

8 ‘‘(iii) PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICER.—The 

9 term ‘public safety officer’ means an indi10 vidual who is employed full-time— 

11 ‘‘(I) as a law enforcement officer 

12 by a law enforcement agency of the 

13 Federal Government, a State, a unit 

14 of general local government, or an In15 dian tribe; or 

16 ‘‘(II) as a firefighter by a fire de17 partment of the Federal Government, 

18 a State, a unit of general local govern19 ment, or an Indian tribe. 

20 ‘‘(iv) QUALIFIED COMMUNITY.—The 

21 term ‘qualified community’ means any 

22 open country, or any place, town, village, 

23 or city— 

24 ‘‘(I) that is not part of or associ25 ated with an urban area; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) that— 

2 ‘‘(aa) has a population of 

3 not more than 2,500; or 

4 ‘‘(bb)(AA) has a population 

5 of not more than 10,000; and 

6 ‘‘(BB) is not accessible by a 

7 motor vehicle, as defined in sec8 tion 30102 of title 49, United 

9 States Code. 

10 ‘‘(v) QUALIFIED HOUSING.—The term 

11 ‘qualified housing’ means housing for edu12 cators, public safety officers, or medical 

13 providers that is located in a qualified 

14 community. 

15 ‘‘(vi) QUALIFIED PROJECT.—The 

16 term ‘qualified project’ means— 

17 ‘‘(I) the construction, moderniza18 tion, renovation, or repair of qualified 

19 housing; 

20 ‘‘(II) the payment of interest on 

21 bonds or other financing instruments 

22 (excluding instruments used for refi23 nancing) that are issued for the con24 struction, modernization, renovation, 

25 or repair of qualified housing; 


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1 ‘‘(III) the repayment of a loan 

2 used— 

3 ‘‘(aa) for the construction, 

4 modernization, renovation, or re5 pair of qualified housing; or 

6 ‘‘(bb) to purchase real prop7 erty on which qualified housing 

8 will be constructed; 

9 ‘‘(IV) purchasing or leasing real 

10 property on which qualified housing 

11 will be constructed, renovated, mod12 ernized, or repaired; or 

13 ‘‘(V) any other activity normally 

14 associated with the construction, mod15 ernization, renovation, or repair of 

16 qualified housing, as determined by 

17 the Secretary. 

18 ‘‘(vii) EDUCATIONAL SERVICE AGEN19 CY, ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, LOCAL EDU20 CATIONAL AGENCY, SECONDARY SCHOOL, 

21 STATE EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The terms 

22 ‘educational service agency’, ‘elementary 

23 school’, ‘local educational agency’, ‘sec24 ondary school’, and ‘State educational 

25 agency’ have the meanings given those 


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1 terms in section 9101 of the Elementary 

2 and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 

3 U.S.C. 7801). 

4 ‘‘(B) GRANTS.—The Secretary may make 

5 a grant to an applicant to carry out a qualified 

6 project. 

7 ‘‘(C) LOAN GUARANTEES.—The Secretary 

8 may guarantee a loan made to an applicant for 

9 the construction, modernization, renovation, or 

10 repair of qualified housing. 

11 ‘‘(D) FINANCING MECHANISMS.—The Sec12 retary may make payments of interest on 

13 bonds, loans, or other financial instruments 

14 (other than financial instruments used for refi15 nancing) that are issued to an applicant for a 

16 qualified project. 

17 ‘‘(E) APPLICATION.—An applicant that de18 sires a grant, loan guarantee, or payment of in19 terest under this paragraph shall submit to the 

20 Secretary an application that— 

21 ‘‘(i) indicates whether the qualified 

22 housing for which the grant, loan guar23 antee, or payment of interest is sought is 

24 located in a qualified community; 

25 ‘‘(ii) identifies the applicant; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) indicates whether the applicant 

2 prefers to receive a grant, loan guarantee, 

3 or payment of interest under this para4 graph; 

5 ‘‘(iv) describes how the applicant 

6 would ensure the adequate maintenance of 

7 qualified housing assisted under this para8 graph; 

9 ‘‘(v) demonstrates a need for qualified 

10 housing in a qualified community, which 

11 may include a deficiency of affordable 

12 housing, a deficiency of habitable housing, 

13 or the need to modernize, renovate, or re14 pair housing; 

15 ‘‘(vi) describes the expected impact of 

16 the grant, loan guarantee, or payment of 

17 interest on— 

18 ‘‘(I) educators, public safety offi19 cers, and medical providers in a quali20 fied community, including the impact 

21 on recruitment and retention of edu22 cators, public safety officers, and 

23 medical providers; and 

24 ‘‘(II) the economy of a qualified 

25 community, including— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) any plans to use small 

2 business concerns for the con3 struction, modernization, renova4 tion, or repair of qualified hous5 ing; and 

6 ‘‘(bb) the short- and long7 term impact on the rate of em8 ployment in the qualified commu9 nity; and 

10 ‘‘(vii) describes how the applicant 

11 would ensure that qualified housing as12 sisted under this paragraph is used for 

13 educators, public safety officers, and med14 ical providers. 

15 ‘‘(F) INPUT FROM STATE DIRECTOR OF

16 RURAL DEVELOPMENT.—The State Director of 

17 Rural Development for a State may submit to 

18 the Secretary an evaluation of any application 

19 for a qualified project in the State for which an 

20 application for assistance under this paragraph 

21 is submitted and the Secretary shall take into 

22 consideration the evaluation in determining 

23 whether to provide assistance. 

24 ‘‘(G) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants and 

25 making loan guarantees and payments of interVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:30 Jun 11, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3278.IS S3278

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1 est under this paragraph, the Secretary shall 

2 give priority to an applicant that is— 

3 ‘‘(i) a State educational agency or 

4 local educational agency; 

5 ‘‘(ii) an educational service agency; 

6 ‘‘(iii) a State or local housing author7 ity; 

8 ‘‘(iv) an Indian tribe or tribal organi9 zation, as those terms are defined in sec10 tion 4 of the Indian Self-Determination 

11 and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 

12 450b); 

13 ‘‘(v) a tribally designated housing en14 tity; 

15 ‘‘(vi) a local government; or 

16 ‘‘(vii) a consortium of any of the enti17 ties described in clauses (i) through (vi). 

18 ‘‘(H) LIMITATION.—The Secretary may 

19 provide assistance to the same applicant under 

20 only 1 of subparagraphs (B), (C), and (D). 

21 ‘‘(I) REQUIREMENT.—As a condition of eli22 gibility for a grant, loan guarantee, or payment 

23 of interest under this paragraph, at least 1 

24 named applicant shall be required to maintain 

25 ownership of the qualified housing that is the 


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1 subject of the grant, loan guarantee, or pay2 ment of interest during the greater of— 

3 ‘‘(i) 15 years; or 

4 ‘‘(ii) the period of the loan for which 

5 a loan guarantee or payment of interest is 

6 made under this paragraph. 

7 ‘‘(J) REPORTING.— 

8 ‘‘(i) BY APPLICANTS.—Not later than 

9 2 years after the date on which an appli10 cant receives a grant, loan guarantee, or 

11 payment of interest under this paragraph, 

12 the applicant shall submit to the Secretary 

13 a report that— 

14 ‘‘(I) describes how the grant, 

15 loan guarantee, or payment of interest 

16 was used; and 

17 ‘‘(II) contains an estimate of the 

18 number of jobs created or maintained 

19 by use of the grant, loan guarantee, 

20 or payment of interest. 

21 ‘‘(ii) BY GAO.—Not later than 2 years 

22 after the date of enactment of this para23 graph, the Comptroller General of the 

24 United States shall submit to Congress a 


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1 report evaluating the program under this 

2 paragraph. 

3 ‘‘(K) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA4 TIONS.— 

5 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—There is author6 ized to be appropriated to the Secretary 

7 $50,000,0000 for fiscal year 2012, and 

8 each fiscal year thereafter. 

9 ‘‘(ii) AVAILABILITY.—Any amounts 

10 appropriated to carry out this paragraph 

11 shall remain available for obligation by the 

12 Secretary during the 3-year period begin13 ning on the date of the appropriation. 

14 ‘‘(iii) USE OF FUNDS.—Of any 

15 amounts appropriated for a fiscal year to 

16 carry out this paragraph, the Secretary 

17 shall use— 

18 ‘‘(I) not less than 50 percent to 

19 make grants under this paragraph; 

20 ‘‘(II) not more than 5 percent to 

21 carry out national activities under this 

22 paragraph, including providing tech23 nical assistance and conducting out24 reach to qualified communities; and 


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1 ‘‘(III) any amounts not expended 

2 in accordance with subclauses (I) and 

3 (II) to make loan guarantees and pay4 ments of interest under this para5 graph.’’. 

Æ 


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