I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6806 
To suspend certain requirements under the public housing and housing choice 
voucher programs during the COVID-19 emergency, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 12, 2020 
Mr. CLEAVER (for himself and Ms. WATERS) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To suspend certain requirements under the public housing 
and housing choice voucher programs during the COVID- 
19 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 ‘‘COVID-19 Emergency 
Housing Relief Act of 2020’’. 
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SEC. 2. SUSPENSION OF COMMUNITY SERVICE, WORK, 
PRESENCE IN UNIT, AND MINIMUM RENT RE-
QUIREMENTS AND TIME LIMITS ON ASSIST-
ANCE. 
(a) SUSPENSION.—Notwithstanding any other provi-
sion of law, during the period that begins upon the date 
of the enactment of this Act and ends 6 months after the 
end of the incident period for the emergency declared on 
March 13, 2020, by the President under section 501 of 
the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency As-
sistance Act (42 U.S.C. 4121 et seq.) relating to the 
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the fol-
lowing provisions of law and requirements shall not apply: 
(1) Section 12(c) of the United States Housing 
Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437j(c); relating to com-
munity service). 
(2) Any work requirement or time limitation on 
assistance established by a public housing agency 
participating in the Moving to Work demonstration 
program authorized under section 204 of the De-
partments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and 
Urban Development and Independent Agencies Ap-
propriations Act, 1996 (Public Law 104–134; 110 
Stat. 1321). 
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(3) Paragraph (3) of section 3(a) of the United 
States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(a)(3); 
relating to minimum rental amount). 
(4) Section 982.312 of the regulations of the 
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (24 
C.F.R. 982.312); relating to absence from unit). 
(b) PROHIBITION.—No penalty may be imposed nor 
any adverse action taken for failure on the part of any 
tenant of public housing or a dwelling unit assisted under 
section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 
U.S.C. 1437f) to comply with the laws and requirements 
specified in subsection (a) during the period specified in 
subsection (a). 
SEC. 3. HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHERS. 
(a) SECTION 8 VOUCHERS.—Notwithstanding any 
other provision of law, the Secretary of Housing and 
Urban Development shall provide that— 
(1) during the COVID-19 emergency period, a 
public housing agency may not terminate the avail-
ability to an eligible household of a housing choice 
voucher under section 8(o) of the United States 
Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)) for fail-
ure to enter into a lease for an assisted dwelling 
unit; and 
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(2) in the case of any eligible household on 
whose behalf such a housing choice voucher has been 
made available, if as of the termination of the 
COVID-19 emergency period such availability has 
not terminated (including by reason of paragraph 
(1) of this subsection) and such voucher has not 
been used to enter into a lease for an assisted dwell-
ing unit, the public housing agency making such 
voucher available may not terminate such availability 
until the expiration of the 60-day period beginning 
upon the termination of the COVID-19 emergency 
period. 
(b) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, the 
term ‘‘COVID-19 emergency period’’ means the period 
that begins upon the date of the enactment of this Act 
and ends upon the end of the incident period for the emer-
gency declared on March 13, 2020, by the President under 
section 501 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 
Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5191) relating to 
the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. 
Æ 
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