I

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 973

To amend the United States Housing Act of 1937 to require the Secretary

of Housing and Urban Development to administer a program of construction and revitalization of public housing, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 6, 1997

Mr. CONYERS (for himself, Mr. DELLUMS, Mr. EVANS, Mrs. MEEK of Florida,

and Ms. WATERS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Banking and Financial Services

A BILL

To amend the United States Housing Act of 1937 to require

the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to

administer a program of construction and revitalization

of public housing, 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 ‘‘Jesse Gray Housing

5 Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—
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1 (1) the number of rental dwelling units avail2 able for lower income families is insufficient, and the

3 physical condition of a substantial portion of such

4 dwelling units is inadequate;

5 (2) Federal housing assistance programs, such

6 as rent subsidies, vouchers, and other rental and

7 mortgage assistance, too frequently assist middle

8 and higher income families and do not meet the de9 mand for housing by lower income families;

10 (3) such Federal housing assistance programs

11 are not cost-effective, due to a lack of suitable rental

12 dwelling units available for lower income families;

13 and

14 (4) a significant number of families are paying

15 more than 25 percent of their monthly income for

16 rent.

17 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—

18 (1) to ensure that all families in the United

19 States have access to rental dwelling units at rents

20 that are not more than 25 percent of their monthly

21 income, and that such rental dwelling units are de22 cent, safe, and sanitary;

23 (2) to ensure that all funds for housing assist24 ance by the Federal Government benefit lower in25 come families by requiring the Secretary of Housing
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1 and Urban Development to propose that Federal

2 housing assistance be limited to lower income fami3 lies; and

4 (3) to encourage the establishment of a public

5 housing system that consists of—

6 (A) projects located throughout metropoli7 tan and rural areas;

8 (B) low-density projects, to the extent

9 practicable; and

10 (C) dwelling units that are visually indis11 tinguishable from comparable privately owned

12 dwelling units.

13 SEC. 3. CONSTRUCTION OF PUBLIC HOUSING.

14 Section 5 of the United States Housing Act of 1937

15 (42 U.S.C. 1437c) is amended by adding at the end the

16 following new subsection:

17 ‘‘(m)(1) The Secretary shall carry out a program for

18 the construction of 500,000 new dwelling units in public

19 housing during each of the fiscal years 1998 through

20 2007.

21 ‘‘(2) There are authorized to be appropriated to carry

22 out this subsection such sums as may be necessary for

23 each of the fiscal years 1998 through 2007. Any amount

24 appropriated under this paragraph shall remain available

25 until expended.’’.
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1 SEC. 4. REVITALIZATION OF PUBLIC HOUSING.

2 Section 14(b) of the United States Housing Act of

3 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437l(b)) is amended by adding at the

4 end the following new paragraph:

5 ‘‘(3)(A) To the extent approved in appropriation Acts

6 and subject to subparagraph (B), the Secretary shall make

7 available and contract to make available financial assist8 ance under this subsection, in addition to financial assist9 ance made available under paragraphs (1) and (2). In

10 making assistance available under this paragraph, the Sec11 retary shall give particular preference to public housing

12 agencies requesting such assistance for public housing

13 projects that the Secretary determines would likely have

14 been subject to demolition or disposition under section 18,

15 as such section was in effect before the date of the enact16 ment of the Jesse Gray Housing Act.

17 ‘‘(B) For purposes of this paragraph, the aggregate

18 amount of budget authority that may be obligated for con19 tracts for annual contributions is increased on October 1

20 of each of the years 1997 through 2006 by the amount

21 necessary to provide for the revitalization of 100,000

22 dwelling units in public housing during each of the fiscal

23 years 1998 through 2007, respectively.’’.
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1 SEC. 5. PROHIBITION OF DEMOLITION AND DISPOSITION

2 OF PUBLIC HOUSING.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 18(a) of the United

4 States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437p(a)) is

5 amended by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and all that follows

6 and inserting the following: ‘‘The Secretary may not au7 thorize any public housing agency to demolish or dispose

8 of any public housing project or any portion of a public

9 housing project.’’.

10 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 18 of the

11 United States Housing Act of 1937 is amended—

12 (1) by striking subsections (b), (c), (e), and (f);

13 (2) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘without ob14 taining the approval of the Secretary and satisfying

15 the conditions specified in subsections (a) and (b)’’;

16 and

17 (3) by redesignating subsections (d) and (g) as

18 subsections (b) and (c), respectively.

19 SEC. 6. TENANT RENT CONTRIBUTIONS.

20 (a) LOWER INCOME HOUSING UNDER THE UNITED

21 STATES HOUSING ACT OF 1937.—The United States

22 Housing Act of 1937 is amended—

23 (1) in section 3(a)(1)(A) (42 U.S.C.

24 1437a(a)(1)(A)), by striking ‘‘30’’ and inserting

25 ‘‘25’’;
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1 (2) in section 8(o) (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)), by

2 striking ‘‘30’’ each place it appears and inserting

3 ‘‘25’’;

4 (3) in section 8(u)(2) (42 U.S.C. 1437f(u)(2)),

5 by striking ‘‘30’’ and inserting ‘‘25’’;

6 (4) in section 8(y)(2)(A) (42 U.S.C.

7 1437f(y)(2)(A)), by striking ‘‘30’’ and inserting

8 ‘‘25’’;

9 (5) in section 16(d)(1) (42 U.S.C.

10 1437n(d)(1)), by striking ‘‘30’’ and inserting ‘‘25’’;

11 (6) in section 23(d) (42 U.S.C. 1437u(d)), by

12 striking ‘‘30’’ each place it appears and inserting

13 ‘‘25’’; and

14 (7) in section 304(b) (42 U.S.C. 1437aaa–

15 3(b)), by striking ‘‘30’’ and inserting ‘‘25’’.

16 (b) PUBLIC HOUSING MIXED INCOME NEW COMMU17 NITIES STRATEGY DEMONSTRATION.—Section 521(e)(4)

18 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing

19 Act (42 U.S.C. 1437f note) is amended by striking ‘‘30’’

20 and inserting ‘‘25’’.

21 (c) SUPPORTIVE HOUSING FOR THE ELDERLY.—Sec22 tion 202(c)(3) of the Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C.

23 1701q(c)(3)) is amended by striking ‘‘30’’ and inserting

24 ‘‘25’’.
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1 (d) SUPPORTIVE HOUSING FOR PERSONS WITH DIS2 ABILITIES.—Section 811(d)(3) of the Cranston-Gonzalez

3 National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013(d)(3))

4 is amended by striking ‘‘30’’ and inserting ‘‘25’’.

5 (e) HOME PROGRAM.—Section 215(a) of the Cran6 ston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42

7 U.S.C. 12745(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘30’’ each place

8 it appears and inserting ‘‘25’’.

9 (f) RENT SUPPLEMENTS.—Section 101(d) of the

10 Housing and Urban Development Act of 1965 (12 U.S.C.

11 1701s(d)) is amended by striking ‘‘30’’ and inserting

12 ‘‘25’’.

13 (g) RENTAL AND COOPERATIVE HOUSING FOR

14 LOWER INCOME FAMILIES.—Section 236(f) of the Na15 tional Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1715z–1(f)) is amended—

16 (1) in paragraphs (1), (2), and (5)(A)(i), by

17 striking ‘‘30’’ each place it appears and inserting

18 ‘‘25’’; and

19 (2) in paragraph (1)(ii), by striking ‘‘25’’ and

20 inserting ‘‘20’’.

21 (h) MULTIFAMILY PROPERTY DISPOSITION.—Section

22 203 of the Housing and Community Development Amend23 ments of 1978 (12 U.S.C. 1701z–11) is amended by strik24 ing ‘‘30’’ each place it appears in subsections (b)(5) and

25 (g) and inserting ‘‘25’’.
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1 (i) TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS.—Section 206(d)(6)

2 of the Housing and Urban-Rural Recovery Act of 1983

3 (42 U.S.C. 1437a note) is amended by striking ‘‘30’’ and

4 inserting ‘‘25’’.

5 (j) LOW-INCOME HOUSING PRESERVATION AND

6 RESIDENT HOMEOWNERSHIP ACT OF 1990.—The Low7 Income Housing Preservation and Resident Homeowner8 ship Act of 1990 is amended—

9 (1) in section 218(a)(1)(A) (12 U.S.C.

10 4108(a)(1)(A)), by striking ‘‘30’’ and inserting

11 ‘‘25’’; and

12 (2) in subparagraphs (D) and (E)(iii) of section

13 222(a)(2) (12 U.S.C. 4112(a)(2)), by striking ‘‘30’’

14 each place it appears and inserting ‘‘25’’.

15 (k) STATE PRESERVATION PROJECT ASSISTANCE.—

16 Section 613(b)(2) of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Af17 fordable Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 4125(b)(2)) is amended

18 by striking ‘‘30’’ and inserting ‘‘25’’.

19 (l) PRESERVING EXISTING HOUSING INVESTMENT.—

20 The item relating to ‘‘HOUSING PROGRAMS—PRESERVING

21 EXISTING HOUSING INVESTMENT’’ in title II of the De22 partments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban

23 Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations

24 Act, 1997 (12 U.S.C. 4101 note) is amended by striking

25 ‘‘30’’ and inserting ‘‘25’’.
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1 (m) EMERGENCY LOW INCOME HOUSING PRESERVA2 TION ACT OF 1987.—In carrying out the provisions of the

3 Emergency Low Income Housing Preservation Act of

4 1987 (12 U.S.C. 1715l note) pursuant to section 604 of

5 the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act,

6 each reference in such provisions to 30 percent of adjusted

7 income shall be considered to refer to 25 percent of ad8 justed income.

9 (n) HOPE HOMEOWNERSHIP PROGRAMS.—Sections

10 424(b) and 444(b) of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Af11 fordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12874(b), 12894(b)) are

12 each amended by striking ‘‘30’’ and inserting ‘‘25’’.

13 (o) NATIVE AMERICAN HOUSING ASSISTANCE.—Sec14 tion 203(a)(2) of the Native American Housing Assistance

15 and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C.

16 4133(a)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘30’’ and inserting

17 ‘‘25’’.

18 (p) FHA-INSURED ASSISTED HOUSING.—Section

19 221 of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1715l) is

20 amended by striking ‘‘30’’ and inserting ‘‘25’’ in each of

21 the following provisions:

22 (1) Subparagraph (A) of the last undesignated

23 paragraph of subsection (f).

24 (2) Subsection (l)(1).
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1 (q) AFFORDABLE HOUSING GOALS FOR FEDERAL

2 HOUSING ENTERPRISES.—Sections 1332(c)(2) and

3 1333(c)(2) of the Housing and Community Development

4 Act of 1992 (12 U.S.C. 4562(c)(2), 4563(c)(2)) are each

5 amended by striking ‘‘30’’ and inserting ‘‘15’’.

6 (r) RURAL HOUSING FOR LOWER INCOME FAMI7 LIES.—The Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1471 et seq.)

8 is amended by striking ‘‘30’’ and inserting ‘‘25’’ each

9 place it appears in each of the following sections:

10 (1) Section 521(a).

11 (2) Section 530.

12 (3) Section 542(a).

13 (s) FEDERAL HOME LOAN BANK ACT.—The Federal

14 Home Loan Bank Act is amended by striking ‘‘30’’ and

15 inserting ‘‘25’’ in each of the following sections:

16 (1) Section 10(j)(13)(D) (12 U.S.C.

17 140(j)(13)(D)).

18 (2) Section 21A(c) (12 U.S.C. 1441a(c))—

19 (A) in paragraph (4)(A); and

20 (B) in paragraph (14)(G).

21 (t) FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE ACT.—Section 40

22 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1831q)

23 is amended by striking ‘‘30’’ and inserting ‘‘25’’ in each

24 of the following subsections:

25 (1) Subsection (e)(1).
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1 (2) Subsection (n)(7).

2 (u) COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANTS.—

3 Section 104(d)(2)(A)(iii)(I) of the Housing and Commu4 nity Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C.

5 5304(d)(2)(A)(iii)(I)) is amended by striking ‘‘30’’ and in6 serting ‘‘25’’.

7 (v) NEW TOWNS EMERGENCY RELIEF DEMONSTRA8 TION.—Sections 1103(c)(4) and 1106(d)(1)(A)(iii)(I) of

9 the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992

10 (42 U.S.C. 5318 note) are each amended by striking ‘‘30’’

11 and inserting ‘‘25’’.

12 (w) EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN INCOME.—Notwith13 standing any other provision of law, for purposes of deter14 mining the monthly contribution to be made by a family

15 under the provisions amended by this section, the adjusted

16 income of a family shall exclude any income attributable

17 to any cost-of-living adjustment made after the effective

18 date of this section in—

19 (1) any welfare assistance received by such fam20 ily from a public agency; or

21 (2) any benefits received by such family under

22 the Social Security Act.

23 (x) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The provisions of, and

24 amendments made by, this section shall take effect on Oc25 tober 1, 1997.
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1 SEC. 7. REPORT REGARDING FEDERAL HOUSING ASSIST2 ANCE.

3 The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development,

4 following consultation with public housing agencies, shall

5 prepare and submit to the Congress a comprehensive re6 port setting forth a proposal to limit Federal housing as7 sistance to assistance for public housing in order to ensure

8 that all funds for housing assistance provided by the Fed9 eral Government benefit lower income families.

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