I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5609 
To authorize the President to declare a homelessness emergency, and for 
other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 15, 2020 
Mr. HARDER of California introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on the Budget, and in addition to the Committees on 
Financial Services, and Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period 
to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
A BILL 
To authorize the President to declare a homelessness 
emergency, and for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Homelessness Emer-
gency Declaration Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Homelessness in the Central Valley and 
across the country is a threat to public health and 
safety. 
(2) One-third of people in the United States ex-
periencing homelessness are families with children. 
(3) 1.2 million children under age 6 experience 
homelessness. 
(4) Sixty-nine percent of California’s homeless 
population is unsheltered. 
(5) There are 12,396 homeless children and 
11,000 homeless veterans in California. 
(6) One in 5 California Community College stu-
dents is homeless. 
(7) The rate of increase in homelessness is 
cause for national concern and action. 
(8) Incidences of homelessness grew 14 percent 
in California between 2014 and 2018. 
(9) On a given day, 40,000 U.S. military vet-
erans experience some form of homelessness. 
(10) The experience of homelessness is dam-
aging to a child’s mental health and development, as 
evidenced by the fact that 40 percent of homeless 
children experience mental health challenges. 
(11) Homelessness is a deadly condition, de-
creasing life expectancy by up to 36 years. 
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SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE FOR HOMELESSNESS EMERGENCY 
DECLARATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Upon the request of a Governor, 
or other appropriate agency, of a State under subsection 
(b), the President may declare a homelessness emergency. 
(b) REQUEST FROM GOVERNOR.—The Governor, or 
other appropriate agency, of a State that is or will be af-
fected by a significant number of or increase in the num-
ber of homeless individuals may request a declaration 
under subsection (a). 
(c) ASSISTANCE.—If the President declares a home-
lessness emergency under subsection (a), the President, 
acting through the Federal Emergency Management 
Agency and other appropriate Federal agencies, may pro-
vide homelessness emergency assistance, including housing 
vouchers and increases in fair market rents under section 
8 of the United States Housing Assistance Act of 1937 
(42 U.S.C. 1437f), to States and local communities that 
are or will be affected by the homelessness emergency, in-
cluding resources for establishing temporary or permanent 
homeless shelters, emergency food assistance, transpor-
tation, access to physical and behavioral healthcare, and 
access to Federal employment and job training programs. 
(d) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary to carry out this Act. 
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SEC. 4. BUDGET ADJUSTMENT FOR HOMELESS EMER-
GENCY ASSISTANCE. 
Section 251(b)(2) of the Balanced Budget and Emer-
gency Deficit Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 901(b)(2)) 
is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(H) 
HOMELESS
EMERGENCY
ASSIST-
ANCE.— 
‘‘(i) If, for any fiscal year, appropria-
tions for discretionary accounts are en-
acted that Congress designates as being 
for homelessness emergency assistance in 
statute, the adjustment for a fiscal year 
shall be the total of such appropriations 
for the fiscal year in discretionary accounts 
designated as being for homelessness emer-
gency assistance. 
‘‘(ii) For purposes of this subpara-
graph, the term ‘homelessness emergency 
assistance’ 
means 
assistance 
provided 
under a determination under section 2 of 
the Homelessness Emergency Declaration 
Act. 
‘‘(iii) Appropriations considered home-
lessness emergency assistance under this 
subparagraph in a fiscal year shall not be 
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eligible for adjustments under subpara-
graph (A) for the fiscal year.’’. 
Æ 
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