II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1772 

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

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 11, 2019 

Mr. YOUNG (for himself, Mr. KING, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. KAINE, Mr. JONES, 

Mr. GARDNER, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. COONS, Mr. KENNEDY, Ms. MURKOWSKI, 

Mrs. SHAHEEN, Ms. HASSAN, Ms. WARREN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Ms. COLLINS, and Mr. TESTER) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 

Affairs 

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’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
2 

•S 1772 IS

1 SEC. 2. PURPOSE OF TASK FORCE. 

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

3 on the Impact of the Affordable Housing Crisis, which 

4 shall— 

5 (1) evaluate and quantify the impact that a 

6 lack of affordable housing has on other areas of life 

7 and life outcomes; 

8 (2) evaluate and quantify the costs incurred by 

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

10 lack of affordable housing; and 

11 (3) make recommendations to Congress on how 

12 to use affordable housing to improve the effective13 ness of other Federal programs and improve life out14 comes. 

15 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

16 In this Act: 

17 (1) AFFORDABLE HOUSING.— 

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

19 housing’’ means— 

20 (i) housing for which the household is 

21 required to pay not more than 30 percent 

22 of the household income for gross housing 

23 costs, including utilities, where such in24 come is less than or equal to the area me25 dian income for the municipality in which 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
3 

•S 1772 IS

1 the housing is located, as determined by 

2 the Secretary; and 

3 (ii) housing— 

4 (I) for which the household pays 

5 more than 30 percent of the house6 hold income for gross housing costs, 

7 including utilities, where such income 

8 is less than or equal to the area me9 dian income for the municipality in 

10 which the housing is located, as deter11 mined by the Secretary; and 

12 (II) that is assisted or considered 

13 affordable by the Department of 

14 Housing and Urban Development, in15 cluding— 

16 (aa) public housing; 

17 (bb) housing assisted under 

18 section 8(o) of such Act (42 

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

20 (cc) housing receiving the 

21 low-income housing credit under 

22 section 42 of the Internal Rev23 enue Code; and 

24 (dd) housing assisted under 

25 other Federal or local housing 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
4 

•S 1772 IS

1 programs serving households with 

2 incomes at or below 80 percent of 

3 the area median income or pro4 viding services or amenities that 

5 will primarily be used by low-in6 come housing. 

7 (B) APPLICATION.—The definition in sub8 paragraph (A) shall apply to Federal, State, 

9 and local affordable housing programs. 

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

11 The terms ‘‘low-income housing’’ and ‘‘public hous12 ing’’ have the meanings given those terms in section 

13 3(b) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 

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

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

16 the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 

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

18 means the Task Force on the Impact of the Afford19 able Housing Crisis established under section 4(a). 

20 SEC. 4. ESTABLISHMENT OF TASK FORCE. 

21 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a bipar22 tisan task force to be known as the Task Force on the 

23 Impact of the Affordable Housing Crisis. 

24 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
5 

•S 1772 IS

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

2 composed of 18 members, of whom— 

3 (A) 1 member shall be appointed by the 

4 Majority Leader of the Senate and the Speaker 

5 of the House of Representatives, who shall 

6 serve as co-chair of the Task Force; 

7 (B) 1 member shall be appointed by the 

8 Minority Leader of the Senate and the Minority 

9 Leader of the House of Representatives, who 

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

11 (C) 4 members shall be appointed by the 

12 Majority Leader of the Senate; 

13 (D) 4 members shall be appointed by the 

14 Minority Leader of the Senate; 

15 (E) 4 members shall be appointed by the 

16 Speaker of the House of Representatives; and 

17 (F) 4 members shall be appointed by the 

18 Minority Leader of the House of Representa19 tives. 

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

21 Force shall be an academic researcher, an expert in 

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

23 Task Force, or an individual who has experience 

24 with government programs related to the purpose of 

25 the Task Force. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
6 

•S 1772 IS

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

2 Task Force may appoint and fix the pay of addi3 tional staff to the Task Force. 

4 (4) DETAILEES.—Any Federal Government em5 ployee may be detailed to the Task Force without re6 imbursement from the Task Force, and the detailee 

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

8 or her regular employment without interruption. 

9 (5) COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS.—Members of 

10 the Task Force may be allowed travel expenses, in11 cluding per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates au12 thorized for employees of agencies under subchapter 

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

14 away from their homes or regular places of business 

15 in the performance of services for the Task Force. 

16 (c) TIMING OF APPOINTMENTS.—Appointments to 

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

18 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

19 (d) PERIOD OF APPOINTMENT; VACANCIES.— 

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

21 Force shall be appointed for the life of the Task 

22 Force. 

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

24 Force— 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
7 

•S 1772 IS

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

2 Force; and 

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

4 the original appointment. 

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

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

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

8 (f) MEETINGS.— 

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

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

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

12 the Task Force shall constitute a quorum, but a 

13 lesser number of members may hold hearings. 

14 SEC. 5. DUTIES OF THE TASK FORCE. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force shall utilize avail16 able survey and statistical data related to the purpose of 

17 the Task Force to complete a comprehensive report to— 

18 (1) evaluate and quantify the impact that a 

19 lack of affordable housing has on other areas of life 

20 and life outcomes for individuals living in the United 

21 States, including— 

22 (A) education; 

23 (B) employment; 

24 (C) income level; 

25 (D) health; 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
8 

•S 1772 IS

1 (E) nutrition; 

2 (F) access to transportation; 

3 (G) the poverty level of the neighborhood 

4 in which individuals live; 

5 (H) regional economic growth; 

6 (I) neighborhood and rural community sta7 bility and revitalization; and 

8 (J) other areas of life and life outcomes re9 lated to the purpose of the Task Force nec10 essary to complete a comprehensive report; 

11 (2) evaluate and quantify the costs incurred by 

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

13 lack of affordable housing; and 

14 (3) make recommendations to Congress on how 

15 to use affordable housing to improve the effective16 ness of other Federal programs and improve life out17 comes for individuals living in the United States. 

18 (b) PUBLIC COMMENT.—The Task Force shall pub19 lish in the Federal Register a notice for a public comment 

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

21 Force. 

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

23 Task Force terminates, the Task Force shall submit to 

24 the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

25 and the Committee on Finance of the Senate and the 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
9 

•S 1772 IS

1 Committee on Financial Services and the Committee on 

2 Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and 

3 make publicly available a final report that— 

4 (1) contains the information, evaluations, and 

5 recommendations described in subsection (a); and 

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

7 Force. 

8 SEC. 6. POWERS OF TASK FORCE. 

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

10 hearings, take such testimony, and receive such evidence 

11 as the Task Force considers advisable to carry out this 

12 Act. 

13 (b) INFORMATION FROM FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

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

15 directly from any Federal department or agency 

16 such information as the Task Force considers nec17 essary to carry out this Act. 

18 (2) FURNISHING INFORMATION.—On request of 

19 the co-chairs of the Task Force, the head of a Fed20 eral department or agency described in paragraph 

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

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

23 United States mails in the same manner and under the 

24 same conditions as other Federal departments and agen25 cies. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
10 

•S 1772 IS

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 to be appropriated such sums 

7 as may be necessary to carry out this Act for fiscal years 

8 2020 through 2023. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS