I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1624

To improve the quality of housing for elderly individuals and families, and

for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 29, 1999

Mr. LAFALCE (for himself, Mr. VENTO, Mr. KANJORSKI, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon, Ms. LEE, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mrs.

MEEK of Florida, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. FILNER, Mr. BROWN

of California, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. OLVER, Mr. MEEHAN, and Mr. BRADY

of Pennsylvania) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Banking and Financial Services

A BILL

To improve the quality of housing for elderly individuals

and families, 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 ‘‘Elderly Housing Qual5 ity Improvement Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR ELDERLY HOUSING CAPITAL REPAIR

2 AND CONVERSION TO ASSISTED LIVING FA3 CILITIES.

4 Title II of the Housing Act of 1959 is amended by

5 inserting after section 202a (12 U.S.C. 1701q–1) the fol6 lowing new section:

7 ‘‘SEC. 202b. GRANTS FOR ELDERLY HOUSING CAPITAL RE8 PAIR AND CONVERSION TO ASSISTED LIVING

9 FACILITIES.

10 ‘‘(a) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—The Secretary may

11 make grants to eligible grantees described in subsection

12 (b) for one or both of the following activities:

13 ‘‘(1) REPAIRS.—Substantial capital repairs to a

14 project that are needed to rehabilitate, modernize, or

15 retrofit aging structures, common areas, or indi16 vidual dwelling units.

17 ‘‘(2) CONVERSION.—Activities designed to con18 vert dwelling units in the project to assisted living

19 facilities for elderly persons.

20 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE GRANTEES.—The Secretary may

21 make grants to owners of housing projects that are—

22 ‘‘(1) described in subparagraphs (B), (C), (D),

23 (E), (F), or (G) of section 683(2) of the Housing

24 and Community Development Act of 1992 (42

25 U.S.C. 13641(2)); and
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1 ‘‘(2) designated primarily for occupancy by el2 derly persons.

3 ‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.—Applications for grants under

4 this section shall be submitted to the Secretary in accord5 ance with such procedures as the Secretary shall establish.

6 Such applications shall contain—

7 ‘‘(1) a description of the substantial capital re8 pairs or the proposed conversion activities for which

9 a grant under this section is requested;

10 ‘‘(2) the amount of the grant requested to com11 plete the substantial capital repairs or conversion ac12 tivities;

13 ‘‘(3) a description of the resources that are ex14 pected to be made available, if any, in conjunction

15 with the grant under this section; and

16 ‘‘(4) such other information or certifications

17 that the Secretary determines to be necessary or ap18 propriate.

19 ‘‘(d) SELECTION CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall es20 tablish selection criteria for grants under this section,

21 which shall include—

22 ‘‘(1) in the case of a grant for substantial cap23 ital repairs, the extent to which the project to be re24 paired is in need of such repair, including such fac25 tors as the age of improvements to be repaired, and
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1 the impact on the health and safety of residents of

2 failure to make such repairs;

3 ‘‘(2) in the case of a grant for conversion activi4 ties, the extent to which the conversion is likely to

5 provide assisted living facilities that are needed or

6 are expected to be needed by the categories of elder7 ly persons that the assisted living facility is intended

8 to serve, with a special emphasis on very low-income

9 elderly persons who need assistance with activities of

10 daily living;

11 ‘‘(3) the inability of the applicant to fund the

12 repairs or conversion activities from existing finan13 cial resources, as evidenced by the applicant’s finan14 cial records, including assets in the applicant’s resid15 ual receipts account and reserves for replacement ac16 count;

17 ‘‘(4) the extent to which the applicant has evi18 denced community support for the repairs or conver19 sion, by such indicators as letters of support from

20 the local community for the repairs or conversion

21 and financial contributions from public and private

22 sources;

23 ‘‘(5) in the case of a grant for conversion activi24 ties, the extent to which the applicant demonstrates

25 a strong commitment to promoting the autonomy
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1 and independence of the elderly persons that the as2 sisted living facility is intended to serve;

3 ‘‘(6) in the case of a grant for conversion activi4 ties, the quality, completeness, and managerial capa5 bility of providing the services which the assisted liv6 ing facility intends to provide to elderly residents,

7 especially in such areas as meals, 24-hour staffing,

8 and on-site health care; and

9 ‘‘(7) such other criteria as the Secretary deter10 mines to be appropriate to ensure that funds made

11 available under this section are used effectively.

12 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this

13 section—

14 ‘‘(1) the term ‘assisted living facility’ has the

15 meaning given that term in section 232(b) of the

16 National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1715w(b)); and

17 ‘‘(2) the definitions in section 202(k) shall

18 apply.

19 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

20 is authorized to be appropriated for providing grants

21 under this section $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2000 and

22 such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years

23 2001 and 2002.’’.
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1 SEC. 3. REHABILITATION AND MAINTENANCE OF FEDER2 ALLY ASSISTED HOUSING UNITS.

3 (a) SECTION 202 PREPAYMENT AND REFI4 NANCING.—

5 (1) APPROVAL OF PREPAYMENT OF DEBT.—

6 Upon request of the project sponsor, the Secretary

7 shall approve the prepayment of any indebtedness to

8 the Secretary relating to any remaining principal

9 and interest under any loan for a project made

10 under section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959 as

11 part of a refinancing plan in which—

12 (A) the project sponsor agrees to operate

13 the project until the maturity date of the origi14 nal loan under terms at least as advantageous

15 to existing and future tenants as the terms re16 quired by the original loan agreement or any

17 section 8 rental assistance payments contract

18 relating to the project; and

19 (B) results in a lower interest rate on the

20 principal of the loan for the project and in re21 ductions in debt service related to such loan.

22 (2) SOURCES OF REFINANCING.—The project

23 sponsor may refinance a project under this section

24 through refinancing by any third party source, in25 cluding financing by State and local housing finance

26 agencies, use of tax-exempt bonds, multi-family
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1 mortgage insurance under the National Housing

2 Act, reinsurance, or other credit enhancements, in3 cluding risk sharing as provided under section 542

4 of the Housing and Community Development Act of

5 1992. For purposes of underwriting a loan insured

6 under the National Housing Act, the Secretary may

7 assume that any section 8 assistance contract relat8 ing to a project will be renewed for the term of such

9 loan.

10 (3) USE OF UNEXPENDED AMOUNTS.—Upon

11 execution of the refinancing, the Secretary shall

12 make available at least 50 percent of the annual sav13 ings resulting from reduced section 8 assistance con14 tracts in a manner that is advantageous to the ten15 ants, including—

16 (A) not more than 15 percent of the cost

17 of increasing the availability or provision of

18 supportive services;

19 (B) rehabilitation, modernization, or ret20 rofit of structures, common areas, or individual

21 dwelling units;

22 (C) construction of an addition or other fa23 cility in the project, including assisted living fa24 cilities (or, upon the approval of the Secretary,

25 facilities located in the community where the
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1 project sponsor refinances a project under this

2 section or pools shared resources from more

3 than one such project); or

4 (D) rent reduction of unassisted tenants

5 residing in the project according to a pro rata

6 allocation of shared savings resulting from the

7 refinancing.

8 (4) USE OF CERTAIN PROJECT FUNDS.—The

9 Secretary shall allow a project sponsor that is pre10 paying and refinancing a project under this

11 section—

12 (A) to use any residual receipts held for

13 that project in excess of $500 per individual

14 dwelling unit for not more than 15 percent of

15 the cost of activities designed to increase the

16 availability or provision of supportive services;

17 and

18 (B) to use any reserves for replacement in

19 excess of $1,000 per individual dwelling unit for

20 activities described in subparagraphs (B) and

21 (C) of paragraph (3).

22 (b) REHABILITATION LOANS FROM RECAPTURED

23 IRP AMOUNTS.—Section 236(s) of the National Housing

24 Act (12 U.S.C. 1715z–1) is amended—
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1 (1) by striking the subsection designation and

2 heading and inserting the following:

3 ‘‘(s) GRANTS AND LOANS FOR REHABILITATION OF

4 MULTIFAMILY PROJECTS.—’’;

5 (2) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘and loans’’

6 after ‘‘grants’’;

7 (3) in paragraph (2)—

8 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph

9 (A), by striking ‘‘capital grant assistance under

10 this subsection’’ and inserting ‘‘capital assist11 ance under this subsection under a grant or

12 loan only’’; and

13 (B) in subparagraph (D)(i), by striking

14 ‘‘capital grant assistance’’ and inserting ‘‘cap15 ital assistance under this subsection from a

16 grant or loan (as appropriate)’’;

17 (4) in paragraph (3), by striking all of the mat18 ter that precedes subparagraph (A) and inserting

19 the following:

20 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE USES.—Amounts from a grant

21 or loan under this subsection may be used only for

22 projects eligible under paragraph (2) for the pur23 poses of—’’;

24 (5) in paragraph (4)—
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1 (A) by striking the paragraph heading and

2 inserting ‘‘GRANT AND LOAN AGREEMENTS’’;

3 and

4 (B) by inserting ‘‘or loan’’ after ‘‘grant’’,

5 each place it appears;

6 (6) in paragraph (5), by inserting ‘‘or loan’’

7 after ‘‘grant’’, each place it appears;

8 (7) in paragraph (6), by adding at the end the

9 following new subparagraph:

10 ‘‘(D) LOANS.—In making loans under this

11 subsection using the amounts that the Sec12 retary has recaptured from contracts for inter13 est reduction payments pursuant to clause (i)

14 or (ii) of paragraph (7)(A)—

15 ‘‘(i) the Secretary may use such re16 captured amounts for costs (as such term

17 is defined in section 502 of the Congres18 sional Budget Act of 1974) of such loans;

19 ‘‘(ii) the Secretary may make loans in

20 any fiscal year only to the extent or in

21 such amounts that amounts are used

22 under clause (i) to cover costs of such

23 loans.

24 ‘‘(iii) the authority of the Secretary to

25 enter into commitments to make such
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1 loans shall be effective for any fiscal year

2 only to the extent that (I) there is enacted

3 in advance, in an appropriations Act, a

4 maximum limitation on the aggregate prin5 cipal amount of such commitments for

6 such fiscal year, and (II) the aggregate

7 principal amount of such commitments en8 tered into by the Secretary does not exceed

9 such maximum amount.’’;

10 (8) by redesignating paragraphs (5) and (6) (as

11 amended by the preceding provisions of this sub12 section) as paragraphs (6) and (7); and

13 (9) by inserting after paragraph (4) the fol14 lowing new paragraph:

15 ‘‘(5) LOAN TERMS.—A loan under this

16 subsection—

17 ‘‘(A) shall provide amounts for the eligible

18 uses under paragraph (3) in a single loan dis19 bursement of loan principal;

20 ‘‘(B) shall be repaid, as to principal and

21 interest, on behalf of the borrower using

22 amounts recaptured from contracts for interest

23 reduction payments pursuant to clause (i) or

24 (ii) of paragraph (7)(A);
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1 ‘‘(C) shall have a term to maturity of the

2 same duration as the remaining period for

3 which the interest reduction payments for the

4 insured mortgage that funds repayment of the

5 loan would have continued after extinguishment

6 or writedown of the mortgage (in accordance

7 with the terms of such mortgage in effect im8 mediately before such extinguishment or

9 writedown);

10 ‘‘(D) shall bear interest at a rate, as deter11 mined by the Secretary of the Treasury, that is

12 based upon the current market yields on out13 standing marketable obligations of the United

14 States having comparable maturities; and

15 ‘‘(E) shall involve a principal obligation of

16 an amount not exceeding the amount that can

17 be repaid using amounts described in subpara18 graph (B) over the term determined in accord19 ance with subparagraph (C), with interest at

20 the rate determined under subparagraph (D).’’.

21 (c) ELIGIBILITY OF NONINSURED PROJECTS FOR

22 IRP CAPITAL GRANTS.—Section 236(s)(2) of the Na23 tional Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1715z–1(s)(2)(A)) is

24 amended by striking subparagraph (A) and inserting the

25 following new subparagraph:
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1 ‘‘(A) if the project is federally assisted

2 housing described in subparagraph (B), (C),

3 (D), (E), (F) or (G) of section 683(2) of the

4 Housing and Community Development Act of

5 1992 (42 U.S.C. 13641(2));’’.

6 (d) EXCESS INCOME OF NONINSURED SECTION 236

7 PROJECTS.—Section 236 of the National Housing Act (12

8 U.S.C. 1715z–1) is amended by striking the matter that

9 follows the period at the end of paragraph (7) of sub10 section (f) and precedes subsection (h) and inserting the

11 following new subsection:

12 ‘‘(g) EXCESS RENTAL CHARGES.—The project owner

13 shall, as required by the Secretary, accumulate, safeguard,

14 and periodically pay the Secretary or such other entity as

15 determined by the Secretary and upon such terms and

16 conditions as the Secretary deems appropriate, all rental

17 charges collected on a unit-by-unit basis in excess of the

18 basic rental charges. Unless otherwise directed by the Sec19 retary, such excess charges shall be credited to a reserve

20 used by the Secretary to make additional assistance pay21 ments as provided in paragraph (3) of subsection (f ). Not22 withstanding any other requirements of this subsection,

23 the project owner may retain some or all of such excess

24 charges for project use if authorized by the Secretary and
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1 upon such terms and conditions as established by the Sec2 retary.’’.

3 SEC. 4. SERVICE COORDINATORS AND CONGREGATE SERV4 ICES FOR ELDERLY AND DISABLED HOUSING.

5 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR FED6 ERALLY ASSISTED HOUSING.—There is authorized to be

7 appropriated to the Secretary of Housing and Urban De8 velopment $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2000, and such

9 sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2001

10 and 2002, for the following purposes:

11 (1) GRANTS FOR SERVICE COORDINATORS FOR

12 CERTAIN FEDERALLY ASSISTED MULTIFAMILY HOUS13 ING.—For grants under section 676 of the Housing

14 and Community Development Act of 1992 (42

15 U.S.C. 13632) for providing service coordinators.

16 (2) CONGREGATE SERVICES FOR FEDERALLY

17 ASSISTED HOUSING.—For contracts under section

18 802 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable

19 Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8011) to provide congregate

20 services programs for eligible residents of eligible

21 housing projects under subparagraphs (B) through

22 (D) of subsection (k)(6) of such section.

23 (b) FUNDING FOR RENEWALS AND ADDITIONAL

24 GRANTS FOR PUBLIC HOUSING.—
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1 (1) RENEWAL OF ALL CONTRACTS NOT RE2 NEWED IN FISCAL YEAR 1998.—There is authorized

3 to be appropriated to the Secretary of Housing and

4 Urban Development for fiscal year 1999, in addition

5 to any amounts appropriated by the Departments of

6 Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Develop7 ment, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act,

8 1999 (Public Law 105–276), such sums as may be

9 necessary to renew each grant for providing service

10 coordinators and congregate services for the elderly

11 and disabled in public housing that was made from

12 amounts that were appropriated for fiscal year 1995,

13 1996, or 1997 that was not renewed using amounts

14 appropriated for fiscal year 1998.

15 (2) FULL RENEWALS IN FISCAL YEAR 1999.—Of

16 the amounts appropriated for fiscal year 1999 under

17 the heading ‘‘COMMUNITY PLANNING AND DEVEL18 OPMENT—COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK

19 GRANTS’’ in the Departments of Veterans Affairs

20 and Housing and Urban Development, and Inde21 pendent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 (Public

22 Law 105–276; 112 Stat. 2477) and made available

23 for grants for service coordinators and congregate

24 services for the elderly and disabled in public hous25 ing, the Secretary shall use such sums as may be
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1 necessary to renew all grants made for fiscal year

2 1998 for such activities (including grants renewed

3 with amounts made available pursuant to paragraph

4 (1) of this subsection).

5 (3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR

6 FISCAL YEAR 2000.—There is authorized to be ap7 propriated to the Secretary of Housing and Urban

8 Development for fiscal year 2000 for grants for use

9 only for activities described in paragraph (2) of sec10 tion 34(b) of the United States Housing Act of 1937

11 (42 U.S.C. 1437z–6(b)(2))—

12 (A) such sums as may be necessary for re13 newal of all grants described in paragraphs (1)

14 and (2) of this subsection; and

15 (B) $11,000,000 for grants in addition to

16 such renewal grants.

17 (c) INCREASED FLEXIBILITY FOR USE OF SERVICE

18 COORDINATORS IN CERTAIN FEDERALLY ASSISTED

19 HOUSING.—Section 676 of the Housing and Community

20 Development Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 13632) is

21 amended—

22 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘MUL23 TIFAMILY HOUSING ASSISTED UNDER

24 THE NATIONAL HOUSING ACT’’ and in-
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1 serting ‘‘CERTAIN FEDERALLY ASSISTED

2 HOUSING’’;

3 (2) in subsection (a)—

4 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘(E)

5 and (F)’’ and inserting ‘‘(B), (C), (D), (E),

6 (F), and (G)’’; and

7 (B) in the last sentence—

8 (i) by striking ‘‘section 661’’ and in9 serting ‘‘section 671’’; and

10 (ii) by adding after the period at the

11 end the following new sentence: ‘‘A service

12 coordinator funded with a grant under this

13 section for a project may provide services

14 to low-income elderly or disabled families

15 living in the vicinity of such project.’’;

16 (3) in subsection (d)—

17 (A) by striking ‘‘(E) or (F)’’ and inserting

18 ‘‘(B), (C), (D), (E), (F), or (G)’’; and

19 (B) by striking ‘‘section 661’’ and insert20 ing ‘‘section 671’’; and

21 (4) by striking subsection (c) and redesignating

22 subsection (d) (as amended by paragraph (3) of this

23 subsection) as subsection (c).
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1 (d) REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE SERVICE COORDINA2 TORS.—Section 671 of the Housing and Community De3 velopment Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 13631) is amended—

4 (1) in the first sentence of subsection (a), by

5 striking ‘‘to carry out this subtitle pursuant to the

6 amendments made by this subtitle’’ and inserting

7 the following: ‘‘for providing service coordinators

8 under this section’’;

9 (2) in subsection (d), by inserting ‘‘)’’ after

10 ‘‘section 683(2)’’; and

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

13 ‘‘(e) SERVICES FOR LOW-INCOME ELDERLY OR DIS14 ABLED FAMILIES RESIDING IN VICINITY OF CERTAIN

15 PROJECTS.—To the extent only that this section applies

16 to service coordinators for covered federally assisted hous17 ing described in subparagraphs (B), (C), (D), (E), (F),

18 and (G) of section 683(2), any reference in this section

19 to elderly or disabled residents of a project shall be con20 strued to include low-income elderly or disabled families

21 living in the vicinity of such project.’’.

22 SEC. 5. USE OF SECTION 8 ASSISTANCE FOR ASSISTED LIV23 ING FACILITIES.

24 (a) VOUCHER ASSISTANCE.—Section 8(o) of the

25 United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o))
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1 is amended by adding at the end the following new para2 graph:

3 ‘‘(18) RENTAL ASSISTANCE FOR ASSISTED LIV4 ING FACILITIES.—

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A public housing

6 agency may make assistance payments on be7 half of a family that uses an assisted living fa8 cility as a principal place of residence. Such

9 payments may be made only for covering costs

10 of rental of the dwelling unit in the assisted liv11 ing facility and not for covering any portion of

12 the cost of residing in the assisted living facility

13 that is attributable to service relating to as14 sisted living.

15 ‘‘(B) RENT CALCULATION.—

16 ‘‘(i) CHARGES INCLUDED.—For as17 sistance pursuant to this paragraph, the

18 rent of the dwelling unit that is an assisted

19 living facility with respect to which assist20 ance payments are made shall include

21 maintenance and management charges re22 lated to the dwelling unit and tenant-paid

23 utilities. Such rent shall not include any

24 charges attributable to services relating to

25 assisted living.
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1 ‘‘(ii) PAYMENT STANDARD.—The pub2 lic housing agency shall establish a pay3 ment standard for the purpose of deter4 mining the monthly assistance that may be

5 paid under this paragraph on behalf of any

6 family. The payment standard may not ex7 ceed an amount approved or established by

8 the Secretary and shall be based on upon

9 the applicable payment standard estab10 lished under paragraph (1) for the market

11 area in which the assisted living facility is

12 located.

13 ‘‘(iii) MONTHLY ASSISTANCE PAY14 MENT.—The monthly assistance payment

15 for a family assisted under this paragraph

16 shall be determined in accordance with

17 paragraph (2) (using the rent and payment

18 standard for the dwelling unit as deter19 mined in accordance with this subsection).

20 ‘‘(C) DEFINITION OF ASSISTED LIVING FA21 CILITY.—For the purposes of this paragraph,

22 the term ‘assisted living facility’ has the mean23 ing given that term in section 232(b) of the Na24 tional Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1715w(b)).’’.
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1 (b) PROJECT-BASED ASSISTANCE.—Section 202b of

2 the Housing Act of 1959, as added by section 2 of this

3 Act, is amended by inserting after subsection (d) the fol4 lowing new subsection:

5 ‘‘(e) SECTION 8 PROJECT-BASED ASSISTANCE.—

6 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBILITY.—Notwithstanding any other

7 provision of law, a multifamily project which in8 cludes one or more dwelling units that have been

9 converted to assisted living facilities using grants

10 made under this section shall be eligible for project11 based assistance under section 8 of the United

12 States Housing Act of 1937, in the same manner in

13 which the project would be eligible for such assist14 ance but for the assisted living facilities in the

15 project.

16 ‘‘(2) CALCULATION OF RENT.—For assistance

17 pursuant to this subsection, the maximum monthly

18 rent of a dwelling unit that is an assisted living fa19 cility with respect to which assistance payments are

20 made shall not include charges attributable to serv21 ices relating to assisted living.’’.

22 SEC. 6. INCREMENTAL VOUCHERS FOR ASSISTED LIVING

23 FACILITIES.

24 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to es25 tablish a demonstration program to test the effectiveness
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1 of providing vouchers for use in connection with assisted

2 living facilities—

3 (1) to assist elderly families who need assist4 ance with activities of daily living;

5 (2) to provide incentives for the conversion,

6 substantial rehabilitation, or new construction of as7 sisted living facilities for the elderly; and

8 (3) to reduce medicaid expenditures by pro9 viding enhanced assisted living alternatives to nurs10 ing home care for low-income elderly families.

11 (b) HOUSING ASSISTANCE.—In connection with this

12 demonstration, the Secretary of Housing and Urban De13 velopment may, to the extent amounts are provided by ap14 propriations Acts, enter into contracts with 10 public

15 housing agencies or State housing finance agencies to pro16 vide not more than 15,000 incremental vouchers with re17 spect to fiscal year 1999 for assistance under section 8

18 of the United States Housing Act of 1937.

19 (c) USES.—

20 (1) LOW-INCOME ELDERLY FAMILIES.—Vouch21 ers provided under this section may only be used by

22 low-income elderly families who need assistance with

23 activities of daily living.

24 (2) ASSISTED LIVING FACILITIES.—
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1 (A) EXISTING FACILITIES.—Vouchers pro2 vided under this section for use in connection

3 with an assisted living facility that is not a new

4 assisted living facility may be used only by a

5 family eligible under paragraph (1) who, at the

6 time such family is initially approved for such

7 voucher assistance, is residing in a dwelling

8 unit assisted with project-based assistance (as

9 defined in section 16(c) of the United States

10 Housing Act of 1937 or section 683 of the

11 Housing and Community Development Act of

12 1992).

13 (B) NEW FACILITIES.—

14 (i) IN GENERAL.—Vouchers provided

15 under this section for use in connection

16 with a new assisted living facility may be

17 used by any family eligible under para18 graph (1).

19 (ii) VERY LOW INCOME ELDERLY

20 FAMILIES.—To the maximum extent finan21 cially practicable, vouchers shall be made

22 available to very low-income elderly fami23 lies who are eligible for medicaid.

24 (iii) RESERVATION OF VOUCHERS—In

25 making assistance available under this sub-
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1 paragraph, for each fiscal year for which

2 funds are available for vouchers under this

3 section, a public housing agency or State

4 housing finance agency shall reserve a spe5 cific number of vouchers for use in certain

6 assisted living facilities which shall in turn

7 agree to reserve an equal number of dwell8 ing units for use in conjunction with such

9 vouchers.

10 (d) APPLICATIONS.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—In order to request assist12 ance under this section, a public housing agency or

13 a State housing finance agency shall submit an ap14 plication to the Secretary in such form and in ac15 cordance with such procedures as the Secretary shall

16 establish.

17 (2) CONTENTS.—The Secretary shall require

18 that an application for assistance under this section

19 contain, at a minimum—

20 (A) an application for housing assistance

21 under section 8 of the United States Housing

22 Act of 1937, if necessary;

23 (B) the number of vouchers requested for

24 use under each of subparagraphs (A) and (B)

25 of subsection (c)(2);
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1 (C) in an application requesting vouchers

2 for use under subsection (c)(2)(A), the number

3 of elderly families residing in dwelling units as4 sisted with project-based assistance and an esti5 mate of the number of elderly families likely to

6 become eligible in fiscal years 2000 and 2001

7 for voucher assistance under this subsection in

8 the jurisdiction which the public housing agency

9 or State housing finance agency serves; and

10 (D) in an application requesting vouchers

11 for use under subsection (c)(2)(B)—

12 (i) an analysis of the need for new as13 sisted living facilities for use by low-income

14 elderly families in the jurisdiction which

15 the public housing agency or State housing

16 finance agency serves;

17 (ii) information sufficient to dem18 onstrate that voucher assistance under

19 subsection (c)(2)(B) is necessary to make

20 new assisted living facilities for which such

21 assistance will be used financially viable

22 and affordable for low-income elderly fami23 lies;

24 (iii) an explanation of the criteria that

25 the public housing agency or State housing
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1 finance agency plans to use to determine

2 for which new assisted living facilities the

3 voucher assistance will be used; and

4 (iv) the extent to which the assisted

5 living facilities for which such assistance

6 will be used are likely to use medicaid

7 waivers to provide on-site health care serv8 ices; and

9 (E) plans, if any, to allow other qualified

10 administrative agencies to use some or all of the

11 vouchers requested.

12 (e) SELECTION CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall es13 tablish selection criteria for a national competition for as14 sistance under this section, which shall include—

15 (1) the ability of the public housing agency or

16 State housing finance agency to implement the pro17 gram;

18 (2) the need for assisted living facilities for el19 derly families eligible for assistance requested under

20 this section in the area to be served;

21 (3) the level of public or private financial assist22 ance, if any, toward the cost of developing or oper23 ating the assisted living facility;
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1 (4) the extent to which the assistance requested

2 would meet the needs of the elderly families pro3 posed to be served by the program; and

4 (5) such other factors as the Secretary con5 siders to be appropriate for purposes of carrying out

6 the demonstration program established by this sec7 tion.

8 (f) RENT CALCULATION.—

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in this

10 subsection, monthly assistance payments for voucher

11 assistance under this section shall be provided in the

12 same manner as such payments are provided under

13 section 8(o)(18) of the United States Housing Act

14 of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(18)).

15 (2) PAYMENT STANDARD.—The public housing

16 agency or State housing finance agency shall estab17 lish a payment standard for the purpose of deter18 mining the monthly assistance that may be paid

19 under this section on behalf of a family. The pay20 ment standard for a market area shall be the same

21 as any payment standard established under section

22 8(o)(18)(B)(ii) of the United States Housing Act of

23 1937 for the market area, unless the Secretary de24 termines that an amount greater than such standard

25 is necessary to make a new assisted living facility fi-
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1 nancially viable and affordable for low-income elderly

2 families.

3 (g) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section:

4 (1) The term ‘‘assisted living facility’’ has the

5 meaning given that term in section 232(b) of the

6 National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1715w(b)).

7 (2) The term ‘‘elderly family’’ has the meaning

8 given that term in section 3(b) of the United States

9 Housing Act of 1937.

10 (3) The term ‘‘low-income’’ means having an

11 income that meets the requirement for a low-income

12 family under section 3(b) of the United States

13 Housing Act of 1937.

14 (4) The term ‘‘very low-income’’ means having

15 an income that meets the requirement for a very

16 low-income family under section 3(b) of the United

17 States Housing Act of 1937.

18 (5) The term ‘‘new assisted living facility’’

19 means an assisted living facility—

20 (A) construction of which has been com21 pleted for not more than 1 year prior to the

22 date of approval of an application for assistance

23 under this section; or

24 (B) which required conversion or substan25 tial rehabilitation activities to convert the facil-
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1 ity to an assisted living facility and such activi2 ties have been completed not more than 1 year

3 prior to the date of approval of an application

4 for assistance under this section.

5 (6) The term ‘‘public housing agency’’ has the

6 meaning given that term in section 3(b) of the

7 United States Housing Act of 1937. The term in8 cludes an Indian Housing Authority, as defined in

9 section 3(b) of such Act.

10 (7) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

11 of Housing and Urban Development.

12 (8) The term ‘‘State housing finance agency’’

13 has the meaning given the term under section

14 802(b)(2)(A) of the Housing and Community Devel15 opment Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 1440(b)(2)(A)).

16 (h) REPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the Sec17 retary provides the 15,000 vouchers under this section, the

18 Secretary, in coordination with the Secretary of Health

19 and Human Services, shall submit to Congress an annual

20 report evaluating—

21 (1) the degree of success in making assisted liv22 ing facilities available to low-income elderly families

23 who would otherwise not be able to afford to live in

24 assisted living facilities; and
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1 (2) the extent to which the provision of vouch2 ers under this section reduced medicaid expenditures

3 through a reduction in the need for nursing home

4 care.

5 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

6 are authorized to be appropriated for providing 15,000 in7 cremental vouchers for housing assistance under section

8 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937, for fiscal

9 years 2000 and such sums as are necessary to renew such

10 vouchers for each fiscal year thereafter.

11 SEC. 7. NEW CONSTRUCTION OF ELDERLY AFFORDABLE

12 HOUSING UNITS.

13 Section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C.

14 1701q) is amended by adding at the end the following new

15 subsection:

16 ‘‘(m) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be

18 appropriated for providing assistance under this sec19 tion $710,000,000 for fiscal year 2000 and such

20 sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years

21 2001 and 2002.

22 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL FUNDS.—In addition to

23 amounts appropriated under paragraph (1), there is

24 authorized to be appropriated additional funds for

25 fiscal year 2000 for use under this section under ad-
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1 ditional criteria which encourage or give preference

2 to the leveraging of funds from other sources or the

3 development of additional individual dwelling units

4 affordable for moderate-income elderly families.’’.

Æ