I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1122 
To authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to carry 
out a housing choice voucher mobility demonstration to encourage fami-
lies receiving such voucher assistance to move to lower-poverty areas 
and expand access to opportunity areas. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 8, 2019 
Mr. CLEAVER (for himself and Mr. DUFFY) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop-
ment to carry out a housing choice voucher mobility 
demonstration to encourage families receiving such 
voucher assistance to move to lower-poverty areas and 
expand access to opportunity areas. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Housing Choice Vouch-
er Mobility Demonstration Act of 2019’’. 
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SEC. 2. HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHER MOBILITY DEMON-
STRATION. 
(a) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of Housing and 
Urban Development (in this section referred to as the 
‘‘Secretary’’) may carry out a mobility demonstration pro-
gram to enable public housing agencies to administer 
housing choice voucher assistance under section 8(o) of 
the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 
1437f(o)) in a manner designed to encourage families re-
ceiving such voucher assistance to move to lower-poverty 
areas and expand access to opportunity areas. 
(b) SELECTION OF PHAS.— 
(1) REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary shall es-
tablish requirements for public housing agencies to 
participate in the demonstration program under this 
section, which shall provide that the following public 
housing agencies may participate: 
(A) Public housing agencies that to-
gether— 
(i) serve areas with high concentra-
tions of holders of rental assistance vouch-
ers under section 8(o) of the United States 
Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)) 
in poor, low-opportunity neighborhoods; 
and 
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(ii) have an adequate number of mod-
erately priced rental units in higher-oppor-
tunity areas. 
(B) Planned consortia or partial consortia 
of public housing agencies that— 
(i) include at least one agency with a 
high-performing Family Self-Sufficiency 
(FSS) program; and 
(ii) will enable participating families 
to continue in such program if they relo-
cate to the jurisdiction served by any other 
agency of the consortium. 
(C) Planned consortia or partial consortia 
of public housing agencies that— 
(i) serve jurisdictions within a single 
region; 
(ii) include one or more small agen-
cies; and 
(iii) will consolidate mobility focused 
operations. 
(D) Such other public housing agencies as 
the Secretary considers appropriate. 
(2) SELECTION CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall 
establish competitive selection criteria for public 
housing agencies eligible under paragraph (1) to 
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participate in the demonstration program under this 
section. 
(3) RANDOM
SELECTION
OF
FAMILIES.—The 
Secretary may require participating agencies to use 
a randomized selection process to select among the 
families eligible to receive mobility assistance under 
the demonstration program. 
(c) REGIONAL HOUSING MOBILITY PLAN.—The Sec-
retary shall require each public housing agency applying 
to participate in the demonstration program under this 
section to submit a Regional Housing Mobility Plan (in 
this section referred to as a ‘‘Plan’’), which shall— 
(1) identify the public housing agencies that 
will participate under the Plan and the number of 
vouchers each participating agency will make avail-
able out of their existing programs in connection 
with the demonstration; 
(2) identify any community-based organizations, 
nonprofit organizations, businesses, and other enti-
ties that will participate under the Plan and describe 
the commitments for such participation made by 
each such entity; 
(3) identify any waivers or alternative require-
ments requested for the execution of the Plan; 
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(4) identify any specific actions that the public 
housing agencies and other entities will undertake to 
accomplish the goals of the demonstration, which 
shall include a comprehensive approach to enable a 
successful transition to opportunity areas and may 
include counseling and continued support for fami-
lies; 
(5) specify the criteria that the public housing 
agencies would use to identify opportunity areas 
under the plan; 
(6) provide for establishment of priority and 
preferences for participating families, including a 
preference for families with young children, as such 
term is defined by the Secretary, based on regional 
housing needs and priorities; and 
(7) comply with any other requirements estab-
lished by the Secretary. 
(d) FUNDING FOR MOBILITY-RELATED SERVICES.— 
(1) USE
OF
ADMINISTRATIVE
FEES.—Public 
housing agencies participating in the demonstration 
program under this section may use administrative 
fees under section 8(q) of the United States Housing 
Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(q)), their administra-
tive fee reserves, and funding from private entities 
to provide mobility-related services in connection 
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with the demonstration program, including services 
such as counseling, portability coordination, landlord 
outreach, security deposits, and administrative ac-
tivities associated with establishing and operating re-
gional mobility programs. 
(2) USE
OF
HOUSING
ASSISTANCE
FUNDS.— 
Public housing agencies participating in the dem-
onstration under this section may use housing as-
sistance payments funds under section 8(o) of the 
United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 
1437f(o)) for security deposits if necessary to enable 
families to lease units with vouchers in designated 
opportunity areas. 
(e) WAIVERS; ALTERNATIVE REQUIREMENTS.— 
(1) WAIVERS.—To allow for public housing 
agencies to implement and administer their Regional 
Housing Mobility Plans, the Secretary may waive or 
specify alternative requirements for the following 
provisions of the United States Housing Act of 
1937: 
(A) Sections 8(o)(7)(A) and 8(o)(13)(E)(i) 
(relating to the term of a lease and mobility re-
quirements). 
(B) Section 8(o)(13)(C)(i) (relating to the 
public housing plan for an agency). 
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(C) Section 8(r)(2) (relating to the respon-
sibility of a public housing agency to administer 
ported assistance). 
(2) ALTERNATIVE REQUIREMENTS.—The Sec-
retary shall provide additional authority for public 
housing agencies in a selected region to form a con-
sortium that has a single housing choice voucher 
funding contract, or to enter into a partial consor-
tium to operate all or portions of the Regional Hous-
ing Mobility Plan, including agencies participating in 
the Moving To Work Demonstration program. 
(3) EFFECTIVE
DATE.—Any waiver or alter-
native requirements pursuant to this subsection shall 
not take effect before the expiration of the 10-day 
period beginning upon publication of notice of such 
waiver or alternative requirement in the Federal 
Register. 
(f) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary may imple-
ment the demonstration, including its terms, procedures, 
requirements, and conditions, by notice. 
(g) EVALUATION.—Not later than 5 years after im-
plementation of the regional housing mobility programs 
under the demonstration program under this section, the 
Secretary shall submit to the Congress and publish in the 
Federal Register a report evaluating the effectiveness of 
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