I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4441

To reform and improve the rental housing voucher program under section 

8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 20, 2004

Mr. GERLACH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL

To reform and improve the rental housing voucher program 

under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937.

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 ‘‘Revitalizing Older 

5 Communities Through Housing Improvements Act of 

6 2004’’. 

7 SEC. 2. IMPROVING UTILIZATION AND SUCCESS RATES. 

8 (a) INCREASED PAYMENT STANDARD.—Section 

9 8(o)(1)(D) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 

10 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(1)(D)) is amended—
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1 (1) by striking ‘‘(D) APPROVAL.—The’’ and in2 serting the following: 

3 ‘‘(D) EXCEPTION PAYMENT STANDARDS.—

4 ‘‘(i) APPROVAL.—The’’; and 

5 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(ii) INCREASED PAYMENT STAND7 ARD.—A public housing agency may estab8 lish a payment standard for the same size 

9 dwelling unit in a market area or portion 

10 of a market area between 110 and 150 

11 percent of the fair market rent, if the pay12 ment standard for the market area or por13 tion of a market area has been set at 110 

14 percent or above for the 6 months prior to 

15 the establishment of the new payment 

16 standard and the public housing agency 

17 determines that it has—

18 ‘‘(I) a voucher success rate (the 

19 proportion of families that are issued 

20 a voucher that succeed in leasing a 

21 unit within the timeframe provided by 

22 the public housing agency to search 

23 for housing) of not more than 80 per24 cent or has provided an extended 

25 search time of not less than 90 days 
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1 to a significant number of voucher re2 cipients; or 

3 ‘‘(II) problems with concentration 

4 of the voucher holders in high-poverty 

5 areas. 

6 ‘‘(iii) DISABILITY ACCOMMODATION.—

7 A public housing agency may establish a 

8 payment standard of not more than 150 

9 percent of the fair market rent where nec10 essary as a reasonable accommodation for 

11 a person with a disability, without approval 

12 of the Secretary. A public housing agency 

13 may seek approval of the Secretary to use 

14 a payment standard greater than 150 per15 cent of the fair market rent as a reason16 able accommodation for a person with a 

17 disability. 

18 ‘‘(iv) SECRETARY APPROVAL.—A pub19 lic housing agency may establish a pay20 ment standard in accordance with clause 

21 (ii) without approval of the Secretary, if 

22 the public housing agency includes in its 

23 annual plan that is submitted to the Sec24 retary pursuant to section 5A(b)—
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1 ‘‘(I) the reasons for the increase 

2 in the payment standard; 

3 ‘‘(II) a description of how and 

4 why the public housing agency has de5 termined that it meets the require6 ments of clause (ii); and 

7 ‘‘(III) a description of other steps 

8 the public housing agency is taking, in 

9 addition to increasing the payment 

10 standard, to address the problems of 

11 voucher utilization, voucher success 

12 rates (the proportion of families that 

13 are issued a voucher that succeed in 

14 leasing a unit within the timeframe 

15 provided by the public housing agency 

16 to search for housing), and concentra17 tion of voucher holders. 

18 ‘‘(v) APPLICABILITY.—Clauses (ii) 

19 through (iv) shall apply with respect only 

20 to amounts made available for rental as21 sistance under this subsection for fiscal 

22 year 2005 and fiscal years thereafter.’’. 

23 (b) TIGHT RENTAL MARKETS.—The Secretary of 

24 Housing and Urban Development shall, not later than the 

25 expiration of the 12-month period beginning on the date 
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1 of the enactment of this Act, issue regulations to imple2 ment the recommendations made by the Millenial Housing 

3 Commission in the report entitled ‘‘Meeting Our Nation’s 

4 Challenges’’, dated May 30, 2002, regarding improving 

5 the housing choice voucher program under section 8(o) of 

6 the United States Housing Act of 1937. Such regulations 

7 shall provide that—

8 (1) the Secretary shall expand the resources de9 voted to rent surveys to ensure that published fair 

10 market rentals established under section 8(c) of such 

11 Act do not lag actual rents; and 

12 (2) exception payment standards under section 

13 8(o)(1)(D) of such Act (as amended by subsection 

14 (a) of this section) are more quickly approved when 

15 census data demonstrate that average area rents are 

16 at the level of the exception sought (subject to ap17 propriate maximum limitations, as the Secretary of 

18 Housing and Urban Development shall provide). 

19 SEC. 3. TERMINATION OF HOUSING ASSISTANCE PAYMENTS 

20 CONTRACT. 

21 Section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 

22 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)) is amended by adding at the 

23 end the following new paragraph: 

24 ‘‘(20) BREACH OF HAP CONTRACT.—Each 

25 housing assistance payment contract for assistance 
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1 under this subsection shall provide that it shall be 

2 breach of such contract for the owner to fail to pay 

3 State or local real estate taxes, fines, or assessments 

4 relating to a dwelling unit assisted under the con5 tract or the building in which the unit is located.’’. 

6 SEC. 4. COMMISSION TO STUDY PUBLIC AND SECTION 8 

7 HOUSING. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is hereby established a 

9 commission to be known as the Commission to Revitalize 

10 Older Communities Through Housing Improvements (in 

11 this section referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 

12 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—

13 (1) APPOINTMENT.—The Commission shall be 

14 composed of 9 members, appointed not later than 90 

15 days after amounts are appropriated pursuant to 

16 subsection (g) or are otherwise made available from 

17 non-Federal sources to carry out this section. Each 

18 member shall be appointed for the life of the Com19 mission. The members shall be as follows: 

20 (A) 3 members appointed by the President. 

21 (B) 2 members appointed by the Speaker 

22 of the House of Representatives. 

23 (C) 1 member appointed by the minority 

24 leader of the House of Representatives. 
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1 (D) 2 members appointed by the majority 

2 leader of the Senate. 

3 (E) 1 member appointed by the minority 

4 leader of the Senate. 

5 (2) CHAIRPERSON.—The Commission shall elect 

6 a chairperson from among the members of the Com7 mission. 

8 (3) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of 

9 the Commission shall constitute a quorum for the 

10 transaction of business. 

11 (4) VACANCIES.—Any vacancy on the Commis12 sion shall not affect its powers, but shall be filled in 

13 the manner in which the original appointment was 

14 made. 

15 (5) PROHIBITION OF ADDITIONAL PAY.—Mem16 bers of the Commission who are full-time officers or 

17 employees of the United States may not receive ad18 ditional pay, allowances, or benefits by reason of 

19 their service on the Commission. 

20 (6) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—Each member of the 

21 Commission shall receive travel expenses, including 

22 per diem in lieu of subsistence, in accordance with 

23 sections 5702 and 5703 of title 5, United States 

24 Code. 

25 (c) FUNCTIONS.—
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1 (1) STUDY.—The Commission shall conduct a 

2 study regarding the following topics: 

3 (A) PUBLIC HOUSING COMMUNITY SERVICE

4 REQUIREMENT.—The Commission shall study 

5 the community service requirement under sec6 tion 12(c) of the United States Housing Act of 

7 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437j(c)) to determine—

8 (i) the effectiveness of such require9 ment in producing community service con10 tributions by residents of public housing, 

11 taking into consideration exemptions under 

12 law for certain individuals and the tem13 porary suspension of the requirement and 

14 of funding for carrying out the require15 ment; 

16 (ii) the best means of determining 

17 compliance with, and enforcing, the com18 munity service requirement; 

19 (iii) the actual level of compliance 

20 with the community service requirement; 

21 and 

22 (iv) whether applying the community 

23 service requirement to recipients of rental 

24 housing voucher assistance under section 

25 8(o) of such Act would be feasible and ef-
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1 fective, taking into consideration the large 

2 proportion of recipients of such assistance 

3 that are employed and the significant ad4 ministrative burdens and costs public hous5 ing agencies would incur in implementing, 

6 administrating, and enforcing such require7 ment. 

8 (B) VOUCHER CONCENTRATION REDUC9 TION.—The Commission shall study—

10 (i) the effectiveness and feasibility, for 

11 purposes of reducing concentration of pov12 erty, of authorizing public housing agencies 

13 to establish a limitation on the number of 

14 rental housing assistance vouchers under 

15 section 8 of the United States Housing Act 

16 of 1937 that may be used for rental of 

17 dwelling units located within any single 

18 municipality or area, which limitation shall 

19 be based on the percentage of recipients of 

20 such assistance to the total population; 

21 (ii) the consistency of such a limita22 tion with, and effects on, the portability re23 quirements under section 8(r) of such Act; 

24 and 
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1 (iii) various solutions to avoiding con2 centration of voucher recipients, including 

3 requiring, in a case where a limitation re4 ferred to in clause (i) prevents use of 

5 vouchers in a municipality or area, that 

6 the relevant public housing agency increase 

7 the amount of monthly assistance provided 

8 under a voucher to permit such voucher re9 cipients to obtain housing in other areas 

10 having higher housing costs. 

11 (2) REPORT.—The Commission shall submit a 

12 report to the Congress and the Secretary of Housing 

13 and Urban Development regarding the results of the 

14 study not later than 180 days after the completion 

15 of the appointment of the members of the Commis16 sion pursuant to subsection (b)(1). 

17 (d) POWERS.—

18 (1) HEARINGS.—The Commission may, for the 

19 purpose of carrying out this section, hold such hear20 ings, sit and act at times and places, take testimony, 

21 and receive evidence as the Commission considers 

22 appropriate. 

23 (2) RULES AND REGULATIONS.—The Commis24 sion may adopt such rules and regulations as may 

25 be necessary to establish its procedures and to gov-
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1 ern the manner of its operations, organization, and 

2 personnel. 

3 (3) OBTAINING OFFICIAL DATA.—The Commis4 sion may secure directly from any department or 

5 agency of the United States information necessary 

6 to enable it to carry out this section. Upon request 

7 of the Chairperson of the Commission, the head of 

8 that department or agency shall furnish that infor9 mation to the Commission. The Commission may re10 quire information directly from any public housing 

11 agency (as such term is defined in section 3(b) of 

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

13 1437a(b))) to the same extent that the Secretary of 

14 Housing and Urban Development may require such 

15 information. 

16 (4) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES.—

17 Upon the request of the Commission, the Adminis18 trator of General Services shall provide to the Com19 mission, on a reimbursable basis, the administrative 

20 support services necessary for the Commission to 

21 carry out its responsibilities under this section. 

22 (5) STAFF OF HUD.—Upon request of the 

23 Chairperson of the Commission, the Secretary of 

24 Housing and Urban Development shall, to the extent 

25 possible and subject to the discretion of the Sec-
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1 retary, detail, on a reimbursable basis, any of the 

2 personnel of the Department to the Commission to 

3 assist it in carrying out its duties under this section. 

4 (6) MAILS.—The Commission may use the 

5 United States mails in the same manner and under 

6 the same conditions as other departments and agen7 cies of the United States. 

8 (7) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.—The Commission 

9 shall have a Director who shall be appointed by the 

10 Commission. To the extent or in the amounts pro11 vided in advance in appropriation Acts, the Director 

12 shall be paid at a rate fixed by the Commission, but 

13 not to exceed the rate of basic pay for level V of the 

14 Executive Schedule. 

15 (8) STAFF.—The Commission may appoint and 

16 fix the pay of such personnel as it considers appro17 priate, in accordance with the provisions of title 5, 

18 United States Code, governing appointments in the 

19 competitive service, and the provisions of chapter 51 

20 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of that title relat21 ing to classification and General Schedule pay rates. 

22 (e) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—The Commission shall 

23 be considered an advisory committee within the meaning 

24 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.). 
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1 (f) SUNSET.—The Commission shall terminate 30 

2 days after submitting the report pursuant to subsection 

3 (c)(2). 

4 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

5 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

6 necessary to carry out this section.

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