I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 271 
To reauthorize the Assets for Independence Act, to provide for the approval 
of applications to operate new demonstration programs and to renew 
existing programs, to enhance program flexibility, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 4, 2017 
Mr. LEWIS of Georgia introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To reauthorize the Assets for Independence Act, to provide 
for the approval of applications to operate new dem-
onstration programs and to renew existing programs, 
to enhance program flexibility, 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; REFERENCE; TABLE OF CON-
TENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Stephanie Tubbs Jones Assets for Independence Reau-
thorization Act of 2017’’. 
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(b) REFERENCE.—Except as otherwise expressly pro-
vided, wherever in this Act an amendment is expressed 
in terms of an amendment to a section or other provision, 
the reference shall be considered to be made to that sec-
tion or other provision of the Assets for Independence Act 
(42 U.S.C. 604 note). 
(c) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; reference; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Findings. 
Sec. 3. Sense of Congress. 
Sec. 4. Definitions. 
Sec. 5. Applications. 
Sec. 6. Demonstration authority; annual grants. 
Sec. 7. Reserve Fund. 
Sec. 8. Eligibility for participation. 
Sec. 9. Deposits by qualified entities. 
Sec. 10. Regulations. 
Sec. 11. Annual progress reports. 
Sec. 12. Sanctions. 
Sec. 13. Evaluations. 
Sec. 14. Costs of training qualified entities. 
Sec. 15. Waiver authority. 
Sec. 16. Authorization of appropriations. 
Sec. 17. Conforming amendments. 
Sec. 18. General effective date. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Section 402 is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘Fully 1⁄2’’ 
and inserting ‘‘Almost 1⁄4’’; and 
(2) in paragraph (4), by striking the first sen-
tence and inserting the following: ‘‘Traditional pub-
lic assistance programs concentrate on income and 
consumption and have lacked an asset-building com-
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ponent to promote and support the transition to in-
creased economic self-sufficiency.’’. 
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 
It is the sense of Congress that a qualified entity con-
ducting a demonstration project under the Assets for 
Independence Act (42 U.S.C. 604 note) should, to the 
maximum extent practicable, increase— 
(1) the rate at which the entity matches con-
tributions by individuals participating in the project 
under section 410(a)(1) of such Act; or 
(2) the number of individuals participating in 
the project. 
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 
Section 404 is amended— 
(1) by amending paragraph (4) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(4) 
HOUSEHOLD.—The 
term 
‘household’ 
means an individual or group of individuals who live 
in a single residence. Multiple households may share 
a single residence.’’; 
(2) in paragraph (5)(A)— 
(A) by striking clause (iii); 
(B) by redesignating clauses (iv) through 
(vi) as clauses (iii) through (v), respectively; 
and 
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(C) in clause (iv), as redesignated by sub-
paragraph (B), by striking ‘‘clause (vi)’’ and in-
serting ‘‘clause (v)’’; 
(3) in paragraph (7)(A)— 
(A) by amending clause (ii) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(ii) a State or local government 
agency (or a public housing agency, as de-
fined in section 3(b)(6) of the United 
States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 
1437a(b)(6))) or a tribal government (or a 
tribally designated housing entity, as de-
fined in section 4(22) of the Native Amer-
ican Housing Assistance and Self-Deter-
mination 
Act 
of 
1996 
(25 
U.S.C. 
4103(22)));’’; and 
(B) by striking clause (iii) and inserting 
the following: 
‘‘(iii) a credit union designated as a 
low-income credit union by the National 
Credit Union Administration (NCUA); or 
‘‘(iv) an organization designated as a 
community development financial institu-
tion by the Secretary of the Treasury (or 
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the Community Development Financial In-
stitutions Fund).’’; and 
(4) in paragraph (8)— 
(A) in subparagraph (A)— 
(i) in the first sentence— 
(I) by inserting ‘‘of an eligible in-
dividual or the dependent of an eligi-
ble individual (as such term is used in 
subparagraph (E)(ii))’’ after ‘‘ex-
penses’’; and 
(II) by inserting ‘‘, or to a vendor 
pursuant to an education purchase 
plan approved by a qualified entity’’ 
before the period; 
(ii) in clause (i)— 
(I) in subclause (II), by inserting 
‘‘or for courses described in subclause 
(III)’’ after ‘‘eligible educational insti-
tution’’; and 
(II) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new subclauses: 
‘‘(III) 
PREPARATORY 
COURSES.—Preparatory courses for 
an examination required for admission 
to an eligible educational institution, 
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for successful performance at an eligi-
ble educational institution, or for a 
professional licensing or certification 
examination. 
‘‘(IV) ROOM
AND
BOARD
AND 
TRANSPORTATION.—Room and board 
and transportation, including com-
muting expenses, necessary to enable 
attendance at courses of instruction at 
an eligible educational institution or 
attendance at courses described in 
subclause (III).’’; 
(iii) by amending clause (ii) to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(ii) ELIGIBLE EDUCATIONAL INSTI-
TUTION.—The term ‘eligible educational 
institution’ means— 
‘‘(I) an institution described in 
section 101 or 102 of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1001, 1002); or 
‘‘(II) an area career and tech-
nical education school, as defined in 
section 3(3) of the Carl D. Perkins 
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Career and Technical Education Act 
of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2302(3)).’’; and 
(iv) by adding at the end the following 
new clause: 
‘‘(iii) EDUCATION PURCHASE PLAN.— 
The term ‘education purchase plan’ means 
a plan— 
‘‘(I) for the purchase of items or 
services described in subclauses (II) 
through (IV) of clause (i) from enti-
ties other than eligible educational in-
stitutions; 
‘‘(II) that includes a description 
of the items or services to be pur-
chased; and 
‘‘(III) that includes such infor-
mation as a qualified entity may re-
quest from the eligible individual in-
volved regarding the necessity of the 
items or services to a course of study 
at an eligible educational institution 
or a course described in clause 
(i)(III).’’; 
(B) in subparagraph (B)— 
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(i) by amending clause (i) to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(i) 
PRINCIPAL
RESIDENCE.—The 
term ‘principal residence’ means a main 
residence the qualified acquisition costs of 
which do not exceed 120 percent of the 
median house price in the area, as deter-
mined by the Secretary of Housing and 
Urban Development for purposes of section 
203(b) of the National Housing Act (12 
U.S.C. 1709(b)) for a residence occupied 
by a number of families that corresponds 
to the number of households occupying the 
residence involved.’’; and 
(ii) in clause (iii)— 
(I) by amending subclause (I) to 
read as follows: 
‘‘(I) IN
GENERAL.—Subject to 
subclause (II), the term ‘qualified 
first-time homebuyer’ means an indi-
vidual participating in the project in-
volved who— 
‘‘(aa) has no sole present 
ownership interest in a principal 
residence during the 3-year pe-
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riod ending on the date of acqui-
sition of the principal residence 
to which this subparagraph ap-
plies (except for an interest in 
such principal residence); and 
‘‘(bb) has no co-ownership 
interest in a principal residence 
on the date of acquisition of the 
principal residence to which this 
subparagraph applies (except for 
an interest in such principal resi-
dence).’’; 
(II) by redesignating subclause 
(II) as subclause (III); and 
(III) by inserting after subclause 
(I) the following new subclause: 
‘‘(II) EXCEPTION
FOR
VICTIMS 
OF
DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE.—An indi-
vidual participating in the project in-
volved who is a recent or current vic-
tim of domestic violence (as defined in 
section 40002(a)(8) of the Violence 
Against Women Act of 1994 (42 
U.S.C. 13925(a)(8))) shall not be con-
sidered to fail to be a qualified first- 
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time homebuyer by reason of having a 
co-ownership interest in a principal 
residence with a person who com-
mitted domestic violence against the 
victim.’’; 
(C) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) 
and (D) as subparagraphs (D) and (E), respec-
tively; 
(D) by inserting after subparagraph (B) 
the following new subparagraph: 
‘‘(C) HOME
REPLACEMENT, REPAIR, OR 
IMPROVEMENT.—Qualified replacement costs or 
qualified repair or improvement costs with re-
spect to a principal residence, if paid from an 
individual development account directly to the 
persons to whom the amounts are due. In this 
subparagraph: 
‘‘(i) 
PRINCIPAL
RESIDENCE.—The 
term ‘principal residence’ means— 
‘‘(I) with respect to payment of 
qualified replacement costs, a main 
residence the qualified replacement 
costs of which do not exceed 120 per-
cent of the median house price in the 
area, as determined by the Secretary 
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of Housing and Urban Development 
for purposes of section 203(b) of the 
National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 
1709(b)) for a residence occupied by a 
number of families that corresponds 
to the number of households occu-
pying the residence involved; or 
‘‘(II) with respect to qualified re-
pair or improvement costs, a main 
residence the value of which does not 
exceed, on the day before the com-
mencement of the repairs or improve-
ments, 120 percent of such median 
house price. 
‘‘(ii) 
QUALIFIED
REPLACEMENT 
COSTS.—The term ‘qualified replacement 
costs’ means the costs (including any usual 
or reasonable settlement, financing, or 
other closing costs) of replacing— 
‘‘(I) a manufactured home that 
was manufactured, assembled, or im-
ported for resale before the initial ef-
fectiveness of any Federal manufac-
tured home construction and safety 
standards established pursuant to sec-
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