II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1986 

To amend the Fair Housing Act to prohibit discrimination based on source 

of income, veteran status, or military status. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 26, 2019 

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

to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Fair Housing Act to prohibit discrimination 

based on source of income, veteran status, or military status. 

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 ‘‘Fair Housing Improve5 ment Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PROHIBITING HOUSING DISCRIMINATION BASED 

7 ON SOURCE OF INCOME, VETERAN STATUS, 

8 OR MILITARY STATUS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 

10 3601 et seq.) is amended— 


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1 (1) in section 802 (42 U.S.C. 3602), by adding 

2 at the end the following: 

3 ‘‘(p) ‘Military status’ means a member of the uni4 formed services, as defined in section 101 of title 10, 

5 United States Code. 

6 ‘‘(q) ‘Source of income’ includes— 

7 ‘‘(1) a housing voucher under section 8 of the 

8 United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 

9 1437f) and any form of Federal, State, or local 

10 housing assistance provided to a person or family or 

11 provided to a housing owner on behalf of a person 

12 or family, including rental vouchers, rental assist13 ance, and rental subsidies from nongovernmental or14 ganizations; 

15 ‘‘(2) income received as a monthly benefit 

16 under title II of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

17 401 et seq.), as a supplemental security income ben18 efit under title XVI of the Social Security Act (42 

19 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.), or as a benefit under the Rail20 road Retirement Act of 1974 (45 U.S.C. 231 et 

21 seq.); 

22 ‘‘(3) income received by court order, including 

23 spousal support and child support; 

24 ‘‘(4) any payment from a trust, guardian, con25 servator, or other relative; and 


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1 ‘‘(5) any other lawful source of income or 

2 funds, including savings accounts and investments. 

3 ‘‘(r) ‘Veteran status’ means a veteran, as defined in 

4 section 101 of title 38, United States Code.’’; 

5 (2) in section 804 (42 U.S.C. 3604)— 

6 (A) by inserting ‘‘source of income, veteran 

7 status, military status,’’ after ‘‘familial status,’’ 

8 each place that term appears; and 

9 (B) in subsection (c)— 

10 (i) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘To 

11 make’’; and 

12 (ii) by adding at the end the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(2) Nothing in this title shall be construed to— 

15 ‘‘(A) prohibit a lender from implementing a 

16 loan program for veterans or based upon veteran 

17 status or military status; or 

18 ‘‘(B) prohibit an entity from providing housing 

19 assistance under section 8(o)(19) of the United 

20 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 

21 1437f(o)(19)), the Homeless Providers Grant and 

22 Per Diem program of the Department of Veterans 

23 Affairs, or any other Federal housing assistance pro24 gram for veterans or based upon veteran status or 

25 military status.’’; 


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1 (3) in section 805 (42 U.S.C. 3605)— 

2 (A) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘source 

3 of income, veteran status, military status,’’ 

4 after ‘‘familial status,’’; and 

5 (B) in subsection (c), by inserting ‘‘source 

6 of income, veteran status, military status,’’ 

7 after ‘‘handicap,’’; 

8 (4) in section 806 (42 U.S.C. 3606), by insert9 ing ‘‘source of income, veteran status, military sta10 tus,’’ after ‘‘familial status,’’; 

11 (5) in section 808(e)(6) (42 U.S.C. 3608(e)(6)), 

12 by inserting ‘‘source of income, veteran status, mili13 tary status,’’ after ‘‘handicap,’’; and 

14 (6) in section 810(f) (42 U.S.C. 3610(f)), by 

15 striking paragraph (4) and inserting the following: 

16 ‘‘(4) During the period beginning on the date of en17 actment of the Fair Housing Improvement Act of 2019 

18 and ending on the date that is 40 months after such date 

19 of enactment, each agency certified for purposes of this 

20 title on the day before such date of enactment shall, for 

21 purposes of this subsection, be considered certified under 

22 this subsection with respect to those matters for which the 

23 agency was certified on that date. If the Secretary deter24 mines in an individual case that an agency has not been 

25 able to meet the certification requirements within this 40- 


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1 month period due to exceptional circumstances, such as 

2 the infrequency of legislative sessions in that jurisdiction, 

3 the Secretary may extend such period by not more than 

4 6 months.’’. 

5 (b) PREVENTION OF INTIMIDATION IN FAIR HOUS6 ING CASES.—Section 901 of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 

7 (42 U.S.C. 3631) is amended by inserting ‘‘source of in8 come (as defined in section 802), veteran status (as de9 fined in section 802), military status (as defined in section 

10 802),’’ before ‘‘or national origin’’ each place that term 

11 appears. 

Æ 


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