I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1856 

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

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 25, 2019 

Ms. WATERS (for herself, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. GREEN of Texas, 

Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Ms. ADAMS, Ms. ESHOO, 

Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. FOSTER, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. CRIST, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. HECK, Mr. CASE, Ms. NORTON, Mr. CUMMINGS, Ms. MENG, 

Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. ROUDA, Ms. OMAR, Mr. HIMES, Ms. 

SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Mr. LEWIS, Mr. 

VARGAS, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Ms. HILL of California, Ms. DEAN, Ms. 

KAPTUR, Mrs. TORRES of California, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. WELCH, Ms. 

TLAIB, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. COHEN, Ms. 

BONAMICI, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Ms. GABBARD, Mr. GONZALEZ of 

Texas, Mr. CLAY, and Ms. CLARKE of New York) 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ending Homelessness 

3 Act of 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 

5 The Congress finds that— 

6 (1) although the United States has experienced 

7 a reduction in veteran homelessness after a surge of 

8 new Federal funding targeted to homeless veterans 

9 starting in fiscal year 2008, major progress towards 

10 the national goals for ending homelessness in our 

11 Nation has virtually stalled in the absence of in12 creased funding; 

13 (2) according to the Department of Housing 

14 and Urban Development’s 2018 point-in-time count, 

15 there were 552,830 people experiencing homeless16 ness in the United States on any given night, includ17 ing nearly 160,000 children and youth; 

18 (3) homelessness in many communities has 

19 reached crisis proportions and some cities have de20 clared that homelessness has reached a state of 

21 emergency; and 

22 (4) the Federal Government must renew its 

23 commitment to the national goals to end homeless24 ness. 


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1 SEC. 3. EMERGENCY RELIEF FUNDING. 

2 Title IV of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance 

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

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

5 11408; relating to rural housing stability grant pro6 gram) as section 441; 

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

8 11408a; relating to use of FMHA inventory for 

9 transitional housing for homeless persons and for 

10 turnkey housing) as section 442; and 

11 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub12 title: 

13 ‘‘Subtitle E—5-Year Path To End 

14 Homelessness 

15 ‘‘SEC. 451. EMERGENCY RELIEF FUNDING. 

16 ‘‘(a) DIRECT APPROPRIATIONS.—There is appro17 priated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise 

18 appropriated for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024, 

19 $1,000,000,000, to remain available until expended, for 

20 emergency relief grants under this section to address the 

21 unmet needs of homeless populations in jurisdictions with 

22 the highest need. 

23 ‘‘(b) FORMULA GRANTS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) ALLOCATION.—Amounts appropriated 

25 under subsection (a) for a fiscal year shall be allo26 cated among collaborative applicants that comply 


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1 with section 402, in accordance with the funding for2 mula established under paragraph (2) of this sub3 section. 

4 ‘‘(2) FORMULA.—The Secretary shall, in con5 sultation with the United States Interagency Council 

6 on Homeless, establish a formula for allocating 

7 grant amounts under this section to address the 

8 unmet needs of homeless populations in jurisdictions 

9 with the highest need, using the best currently avail10 able data that targets need based on key structural 

11 determinants of homelessness in the geographic area 

12 represented by a collaborative applicant, which shall 

13 include data providing accurate counts of— 

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

15 area represented by the collaborative applicant; 

16 ‘‘(B) shortages of affordable housing for 

17 low-, very low-, and extremely low-income 

18 households in the geographic area represented 

19 by the collaborative applicant; 

20 ‘‘(C) the number of overcrowded housing 

21 units in the geographic area represented by the 

22 collaborative applicant; 

23 ‘‘(D) the number of unsheltered homeless 

24 individuals and the number of chronically home25 less individuals; and 


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

2 considers appropriate. 

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

4 amounts are made available under subsection (a), 

5 the Secretary shall make a grant to each collabo6 rative applicant for which an amount is allocated 

7 pursuant to application of the formula established 

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

9 amount that is equal to the formula amount deter10 mined for such collaborative applicant. 

11 ‘‘(4) TIMING.— 

12 ‘‘(A) FORMULA TO BE DEVISED SWIFT13 LY.—The funding formula required under para14 graph (2) shall be established not later than 60 

15 days after the date of enactment of this section. 

16 ‘‘(B) DISTRIBUTION.—Amounts appro17 priated or otherwise made available under this 

18 section shall be distributed according to the 

19 funding formula established pursuant to para20 graph (2) not later than 30 days after the es21 tablishment of such formula. 

22 ‘‘(c) USE OF GRANTS.— 

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

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

25 grant under this section may use such grant 


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1 amounts only for eligible activities under section 

2 415, 423, or 441(b). 

3 ‘‘(2) PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING RE4 QUIREMENT.— 

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

6 in subparagraph (B), each collaborative appli7 cant that receives a grant under this section 

8 shall use not less than 75 percent of such grant 

9 amount for permanent supportive housing, in10 cluding capital costs, rental subsidies, and serv11 ices. 

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

13 exempt a collaborative applicant from the appli14 cability of the requirement under subparagraph 

15 (A) if the applicant demonstrates, in accordance 

16 with such standards and procedures as the Sec17 retary shall establish, that— 

18 ‘‘(i) chronic homelessness has been 

19 functionally eliminated in the geographic 

20 area served by the applicant; or 

21 ‘‘(ii) the permanent supportive hous22 ing under development in the geographic 

23 area served by the applicant is sufficient to 

24 functionally eliminate chronic homelessness 


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1 once such units are available for occu2 pancy. 

3 The Secretary shall consider and make a deter4 mination regarding each request for an exemp5 tion under this subparagraph not later than 60 

6 days after receipt of such request. 

7 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION ON USE FOR ADMINISTRATIVE

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

9 amount of any grant under this section to a collabo10 rative applicant may be used for costs of administra11 tion. 

12 ‘‘(4) HOUSING FIRST REQUIREMENT.—The Sec13 retary shall ensure that each collaborative applicant 

14 that receives a grant under this section is imple15 menting, to the extent possible, and will use such 

16 grant amounts in accordance with, a Housing First 

17 model for assistance for homeless persons. 

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

19 leasing, rental assistance, or permanent housing shall be 

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

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

22 ‘‘(e) REPORTING TO CONGRESS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than the expi24 ration of the 6-month period beginning on the date 

25 of the enactment of this subtitle, the Secretary and 


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1 the United States Interagency Council on Homeless2 ness shall submit a report to the Committees on Fi3 nancial Services and Appropriations of the House of 

4 Representatives and the Committees on Banking, 

5 Housing, and Urban Affairs and Appropriations of 

6 the Senate describing the design and implementation 

7 of the grant program under this section, which shall 

8 include the formula required by subsection (b)(2). 

9 ‘‘(2) SEMIANNUAL STATUS REPORTS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Sec11 retary and the United States Interagency Coun12 cil on Homelessness shall submit reports to the 

13 Committees specified in paragraph (1) semi14 annually describing the operation of the grant 

15 program under this section during the pre16 ceding 6 months, including identification of the 

17 grants made and a description of the activities 

18 funded with grant amounts. 

19 ‘‘(B) COLLECTION OF INFORMATION BY

20 SECRETARY.—The Secretary shall require each 

21 collaborative applicant that receives a grant 

22 under this section to submit such information 

23 to the Secretary as may be necessary for the 

24 Secretary to comply with the reporting require25 ment under subparagraph (A). 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 452. SPECIAL PURPOSE VOUCHERS. 

2 ‘‘(a) DIRECT APPROPRIATION.—There is appro3 priated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise 

4 appropriated for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024, 

5 $500,000,000, to remain available until expended, which 

6 shall be used as follows: 

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

8 in paragraph (2), such amount shall be used for in9 cremental assistance for rental assistance under sec10 tion 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 

11 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)) for persons and households 

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

13 103 (42 U.S.C. 11302)), which assistance shall be in 

14 addition to such assistance provided pursuant to re15 newal of expiring contracts for such assistance. 

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

17 may use not more than 10 percent of such amounts 

18 provided for each fiscal year for administrative fees 

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

20 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(q)). The Secretary shall es21 tablish policies and procedures to provide such fees 

22 to the extent necessary to assist homeless persons 

23 and families on whose behalf rental assistance is 

24 provided to find and maintain suitable housing. 

25 ‘‘(b) ALLOCATION.—The Secretary shall make assist26 ance provided under this section available to public housVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:35 Apr 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1856.IH H1856

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1 ing agencies based on geographical need for such assist2 ance by homeless persons and households, as identified by 

3 the Secretary, public housing agency administrative per4 formance, and other factors as specified by the Secretary. 

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

6 under this section shall continue to remain available only 

7 for homeless persons and households upon turn-over. 

8 ‘‘(d) RENEWAL FUNDING.—Renewal of expiring con9 tracts for rental assistance provided under subsection (a) 

10 and for administrative fees under such subsection shall, 

11 to the extent provided in appropriation Acts, be funded 

12 under the section 8 tenant-based rental assistance ac13 count. 

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

15 Secretary that a waiver or alternative requirement pursu16 ant to this subsection is necessary to ensure that homeless 

17 persons and households can obtain housing using rental 

18 assistance made available under this section, the Secretary 

19 may waive, or specify alternative requirements for, any 

20 provision of any statute or regulation that the Secretary 

21 administers in connection with the use of funds made 

22 available under this section (except for requirements re23 lated to fair housing, nondiscrimination, labor standards, 

24 and the environment) that relates to screening of appli25 cants for assistance, admission of applicants, and selection 


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1 of tenants. The Secretary shall require public housing 

2 agencies receiving rental assistance funding made avail3 able under this section to take all reasonable actions to 

4 help assisted persons and families avoid subsequent home5 lessness. 

6 ‘‘SEC. 453. OUTREACH FUNDING. 

7 ‘‘(a) DIRECT APPROPRIATION.—There is appro8 priated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise 

9 appropriated for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024, 

10 $100,000,000, to remain available until expended, to the 

11 Secretary for grants under this section to provide outreach 

12 and coordinate services for persons and households who 

13 are homeless or formerly homeless. 

14 ‘‘(b) GRANTS.— 

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

16 grants under this section on a competitive basis only 

17 to collaborative applicants who comply with section 

18 402. 

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

20 under this section shall provide priority to collabo21 rative applicants who submit plans to make innova22 tive and effective use of staff funded with grant 

23 amounts pursuant to subsection (c). 

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

25 that receives a grant under this section may use such 


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1 grant amounts only for providing case managers, social 

2 workers, or other staff who conduct outreach and coordi3 nate services for persons and households who are homeless 

4 or formerly homeless. 

5 ‘‘(d) TIMING.— 

6 ‘‘(1) CRITERIA TO BE ESTABLISHED SWIFT7 LY.—The Secretary shall establish the criteria for 

8 the competition for grants under this section re9 quired under subsection (b) not later than 60 days 

10 after the date of enactment of this section. 

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

12 otherwise made available under this section shall be 

13 distributed according to the competition established 

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

15 than 30 days after the establishment of such cri16 teria.’’. 

17 SEC. 4. HOUSING TRUST FUND. 

18 (a) FUNDING.— 

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

20 out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise ap21 propriated, for fiscal year 2019 and each fiscal year 

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

23 expended, which shall be credited to the Housing 

24 Trust Fund established pursuant to section 1338 of 

25 the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety 


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

2 use under such section. 

3 (2) RENTAL ASSISTANCE.—There is appro4 priated, out of any money in the Treasury not other5 wise appropriated, for fiscal year 2019 and each fis6 cal year thereafter, $50,000,000, to remain available 

7 until expended, for incremental project-based vouch8 er assistance or project-based rental assistance, to 

9 be allocated to States pursuant to the formula estab10 lished under section 1338 of the Federal Housing 

11 Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 

12 1992 (12 U.S.C. 4568), to be used solely in conjunc13 tion with grant funds awarded under such section 

14 1338. 

15 (3) PRIORITY FOR HOUSING THE HOMELESS.— 

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

17 years that amounts are made available under 

18 this subsection, the Secretary of Housing and 

19 Urban Development shall ensure that priority 

20 for occupancy in dwelling units described in 

21 subparagraph (B) that become available for oc22 cupancy shall be given to persons and house23 holds who are homeless (as such term is defined 

24 in section 103 of the McKinney-Vento Homeless 

25 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’’; and 

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)) to integrate and coordinate assistance provided 

25 under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (42 


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1 U.S.C. 11301 et seq.) with health care funded by Federal 

2 programs, in collaboration with the United States Inter3 agency Council on Homelessness and the Secretary of 

4 Health and Human Services. 

5 (b) USE.—In allocating amounts made available by 

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) engage 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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