I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1624
To improve the quality of housing for elderly individuals and families, and
for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 29, 1999
Mr. LAFALCE (for himself, Mr. VENTO, Mr. KANJORSKI, Mr. FRANK of Mas-
sachusetts, Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon, Ms. LEE, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mrs.
MEEK of Florida, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. FILNER, Mr. BROWN
of California, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. OLVER, Mr. MEEHAN, and Mr. BRADY
of Pennsylvania) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Banking and Financial Services
A BILL
To improve the quality of housing for elderly individuals
and families, 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 ‘‘Elderly Housing Qual-
ity Improvement Act’’.
SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR ELDERLY HOUSING CAPITAL REPAIR
AND CONVERSION TO ASSISTED LIVING FA-
CILITIES.
Title II of the Housing Act of 1959 is amended by
inserting after section 202a (12 U.S.C. 1701q–1) the fol-
lowing new section:
‘‘SEC. 202b. GRANTS FOR ELDERLY HOUSING CAPITAL RE-
PAIR AND CONVERSION TO ASSISTED LIVING
FACILITIES.
‘‘(a) GENERAL AUTHORITY.—The Secretary may
make grants to eligible grantees described in subsection
(b) for one or both of the following activities:
‘‘(1) REPAIRS.—Substantial capital repairs to a
project that are needed to rehabilitate, modernize, or
retrofit aging structures, common areas, or indi-
vidual dwelling units.
‘‘(2) CONVERSION.—Activities designed to con-
vert dwelling units in the project to assisted living
facilities for elderly persons.
‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE
GRANTEES.—The Secretary may
make grants to owners of housing projects that are—
‘‘(1) described in subparagraphs (B), (C), (D),
(E), (F), or (G) of section 683(2) of the Housing
and Community Development Act of 1992 (42
U.S.C. 13641(2)); and
‘‘(2) designated primarily for occupancy by el-
derly persons.
‘‘(c) APPLICATIONS.—Applications for grants under
this section shall be submitted to the Secretary in accord-
ance with such procedures as the Secretary shall establish.
Such applications shall contain—
‘‘(1) a description of the substantial capital re-
pairs or the proposed conversion activities for which
a grant under this section is requested;
‘‘(2) the amount of the grant requested to com-
plete the substantial capital repairs or conversion ac-
tivities;
‘‘(3) a description of the resources that are ex-
pected to be made available, if any, in conjunction
with the grant under this section; and
‘‘(4) such other information or certifications
that the Secretary determines to be necessary or ap-
propriate.
‘‘(d) SELECTION CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall es-
tablish selection criteria for grants under this section,
which shall include—
‘‘(1) in the case of a grant for substantial cap-
ital repairs, the extent to which the project to be re-
paired is in need of such repair, including such fac-
tors as the age of improvements to be repaired, and
the impact on the health and safety of residents of
failure to make such repairs;
‘‘(2) in the case of a grant for conversion activi-
ties, the extent to which the conversion is likely to
provide assisted living facilities that are needed or
are expected to be needed by the categories of elder-
ly persons that the assisted living facility is intended
to serve, with a special emphasis on very low-income
elderly persons who need assistance with activities of
daily living;
‘‘(3) the inability of the applicant to fund the
repairs or conversion activities from existing finan-
cial resources, as evidenced by the applicant’s finan-
cial records, including assets in the applicant’s resid-
ual receipts account and reserves for replacement ac-
count;
‘‘(4) the extent to which the applicant has evi-
denced community support for the repairs or conver-
sion, by such indicators as letters of support from
the local community for the repairs or conversion
and financial contributions from public and private
sources;
‘‘(5) in the case of a grant for conversion activi-
ties, the extent to which the applicant demonstrates
a strong commitment to promoting the autonomy
and independence of the elderly persons that the as-
sisted living facility is intended to serve;
‘‘(6) in the case of a grant for conversion activi-
ties, the quality, completeness, and managerial capa-
bility of providing the services which the assisted liv-
ing facility intends to provide to elderly residents,
especially in such areas as meals, 24-hour staffing,
and on-site health care; and
‘‘(7) such other criteria as the Secretary deter-
mines to be appropriate to ensure that funds made
available under this section are used effectively.
‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—For the purposes of this
section—
‘‘(1) the term ‘assisted living facility’ has the
meaning given that term in section 232(b) of the
National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1715w(b)); and
‘‘(2) the definitions in section 202(k) shall
apply.
‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There
is authorized to be appropriated for providing grants
under this section $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2000 and
such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years
2001 and 2002.’’.
SEC. 3. REHABILITATION AND MAINTENANCE OF FEDER-
ALLY ASSISTED HOUSING UNITS.
(a) 
SECTION
202 
PREPAYMENT
AND
REFI-
NANCING.—
(1) APPROVAL
OF
PREPAYMENT
OF
DEBT.—
Upon request of the project sponsor, the Secretary
shall approve the prepayment of any indebtedness to
the Secretary relating to any remaining principal
and interest under any loan for a project made
under section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959 as
part of a refinancing plan in which—
(A) the project sponsor agrees to operate
the project until the maturity date of the origi-
nal loan under terms at least as advantageous
to existing and future tenants as the terms re-
quired by the original loan agreement or any
section 8 rental assistance payments contract
relating to the project; and
(B) results in a lower interest rate on the
principal of the loan for the project and in re-
ductions in debt service related to such loan.
(2) SOURCES
OF
REFINANCING.—The project
sponsor may refinance a project under this section
through refinancing by any third party source, in-
cluding financing by State and local housing finance
agencies, use of tax-exempt bonds, multi-family
mortgage insurance under the National Housing
Act, reinsurance, or other credit enhancements, in-
cluding risk sharing as provided under section 542
of the Housing and Community Development Act of
1992. For purposes of underwriting a loan insured
under the National Housing Act, the Secretary may
assume that any section 8 assistance contract relat-
ing to a project will be renewed for the term of such
loan.
(3) USE
OF
UNEXPENDED
AMOUNTS.—Upon
execution of the refinancing, the Secretary shall
make available at least 50 percent of the annual sav-
ings resulting from reduced section 8 assistance con-
tracts in a manner that is advantageous to the ten-
ants, including—
(A) not more than 15 percent of the cost
of increasing the availability or provision of
supportive services;
(B) rehabilitation, modernization, or ret-
rofit of structures, common areas, or individual
dwelling units;
(C) construction of an addition or other fa-
cility in the project, including assisted living fa-
cilities (or, upon the approval of the Secretary,
facilities located in the community where the
project sponsor refinances a project under this
section or pools shared resources from more
than one such project); or
(D) rent reduction of unassisted tenants
residing in the project according to a pro rata
allocation of shared savings resulting from the
refinancing.
(4) USE OF CERTAIN PROJECT FUNDS.—The
Secretary shall allow a project sponsor that is pre-
paying and refinancing a project under this
section—
(A) to use any residual receipts held for
that project in excess of $500 per individual
dwelling unit for not more than 15 percent of
the cost of activities designed to increase the
availability or provision of supportive services;
and
(B) to use any reserves for replacement in
excess of $1,000 per individual dwelling unit for
activities described in subparagraphs (B) and
(C) of paragraph (3).
(b) REHABILITATION LOANS FROM RECAPTURED
IRP AMOUNTS.—Section 236(s) of the National Housing
Act (12 U.S.C. 1715z–1) is amended—
(1) by striking the subsection designation and
heading and inserting the following:
‘‘(s) GRANTS AND LOANS FOR REHABILITATION OF
MULTIFAMILY PROJECTS.—’’;
(2) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘and loans’’
after ‘‘grants’’;
(3) in paragraph (2)—
(A) in the matter preceding subparagraph
(A), by striking ‘‘capital grant assistance under
this subsection’’ and inserting ‘‘capital assist-
ance under this subsection under a grant or
loan only’’; and
(B) in subparagraph (D)(i), by striking
‘‘capital grant assistance’’ and inserting ‘‘cap-
ital assistance under this subsection from a
grant or loan (as appropriate)’’;
(4) in paragraph (3), by striking all of the mat-
ter that precedes subparagraph (A) and inserting
the following:
‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE USES.—Amounts from a grant
or loan under this subsection may be used only for
projects eligible under paragraph (2) for the pur-
poses of—’’;
(5) in paragraph (4)—
(A) by striking the paragraph heading and
inserting ‘‘GRANT
AND
LOAN
AGREEMENTS’’;
and
(B) by inserting ‘‘or loan’’ after ‘‘grant’’,
each place it appears;
(6) in paragraph (5), by inserting ‘‘or loan’’
after ‘‘grant’’, each place it appears;
(7) in paragraph (6), by adding at the end the
following new subparagraph:
‘‘(D) LOANS.—In making loans under this
subsection using the amounts that the Sec-
retary has recaptured from contracts for inter-
est reduction payments pursuant to clause (i)
or (ii) of paragraph (7)(A)—
‘‘(i) the Secretary may use such re-
captured amounts for costs (as such term
is defined in section 502 of the Congres-
sional Budget Act of 1974) of such loans;
‘‘(ii) the Secretary may make loans in
any fiscal year only to the extent or in
such amounts that amounts are used
under clause (i) to cover costs of such
loans.
‘‘(iii) the authority of the Secretary to
enter into commitments to make such
loans shall be effective for any fiscal year
only to the extent that (I) there is enacted
in advance, in an appropriations Act, a
maximum limitation on the aggregate prin-
cipal amount of such commitments for
such fiscal year, and (II) the aggregate
principal amount of such commitments en-
tered into by the Secretary does not exceed
such maximum amount.’’;
(8) by redesignating paragraphs (5) and (6) (as
amended by the preceding provisions of this sub-
section) as paragraphs (6) and (7); and
(9) by inserting after paragraph (4) the fol-
lowing new paragraph:
‘‘(5) 
LOAN
TERMS.—A 
loan 
under 
this
subsection—
‘‘(A) shall provide amounts for the eligible
uses under paragraph (3) in a single loan dis-
bursement of loan principal;
‘‘(B) shall be repaid, as to principal and
interest, on behalf of the borrower using
amounts recaptured from contracts for interest
reduction payments pursuant to clause (i) or
(ii) of paragraph (7)(A);
‘‘(C) shall have a term to maturity of the
same duration as the remaining period for
which the interest reduction payments for the
insured mortgage that funds repayment of the
loan would have continued after extinguishment
or writedown of the mortgage (in accordance
with the terms of such mortgage in effect im-
mediately 
before 
such 
extinguishment 
or
writedown);
‘‘(D) shall bear interest at a rate, as deter-
mined by the Secretary of the Treasury, that is
based upon the current market yields on out-
standing marketable obligations of the United
States having comparable maturities; and
‘‘(E) shall involve a principal obligation of
an amount not exceeding the amount that can
be repaid using amounts described in subpara-
graph (B) over the term determined in accord-
ance with subparagraph (C), with interest at
the rate determined under subparagraph (D).’’.
(c) ELIGIBILITY
OF NONINSURED PROJECTS
FOR
IRP CAPITAL GRANTS.—Section 236(s)(2) of the Na-
tional Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1715z–1(s)(2)(A)) is
amended by striking subparagraph (A) and inserting the
following new subparagraph:
‘‘(A) if the project is federally assisted
housing described in subparagraph (B), (C),
(D), (E), (F) or (G) of section 683(2) of the
Housing and Community Development Act of
1992 (42 U.S.C. 13641(2));’’.
(d) EXCESS INCOME OF NONINSURED SECTION 236
PROJECTS.—Section 236 of the National Housing Act (12
U.S.C. 1715z–1) is amended by striking the matter that
follows the period at the end of paragraph (7) of sub-
section (f) and precedes subsection (h) and inserting the
following new subsection:
‘‘(g) EXCESS RENTAL CHARGES.—The project owner
shall, as required by the Secretary, accumulate, safeguard,
and periodically pay the Secretary or such other entity as
determined by the Secretary and upon such terms and
conditions as the Secretary deems appropriate, all rental
charges collected on a unit-by-unit basis in excess of the
basic rental charges. Unless otherwise directed by the Sec-
retary, such excess charges shall be credited to a reserve
used by the Secretary to make additional assistance pay-
ments as provided in paragraph (3) of subsection (f ). Not-
withstanding any other requirements of this subsection,
the project owner may retain some or all of such excess
charges for project use if authorized by the Secretary and
upon such terms and conditions as established by the Sec-
retary.’’.
SEC. 4. SERVICE COORDINATORS AND CONGREGATE SERV-
ICES FOR ELDERLY AND DISABLED HOUSING.
(a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR FED-
ERALLY ASSISTED HOUSING.—There is authorized to be
appropriated to the Secretary of Housing and Urban De-
velopment $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2000, and such
sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2001
and 2002, for the following purposes:
(1) GRANTS FOR SERVICE COORDINATORS FOR
CERTAIN FEDERALLY ASSISTED MULTIFAMILY HOUS-
ING.—For grants under section 676 of the Housing
and Community Development Act of 1992 (42
U.S.C. 13632) for providing service coordinators.
(2) CONGREGATE
SERVICES
FOR
FEDERALLY
ASSISTED
HOUSING.—For contracts under section
802 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable
Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8011) to provide congregate
services programs for eligible residents of eligible
housing projects under subparagraphs (B) through
(D) of subsection (k)(6) of such section.
(b) FUNDING
FOR RENEWALS
AND ADDITIONAL
GRANTS FOR PUBLIC HOUSING.—
(1) RENEWAL
OF
ALL
CONTRACTS
NOT
RE-
NEWED IN FISCAL YEAR 1998.—There is authorized
to be appropriated to the Secretary of Housing and
Urban Development for fiscal year 1999, in addition
to any amounts appropriated by the Departments of
Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Develop-
ment, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act,
1999 (Public Law 105–276), such sums as may be
necessary to renew each grant for providing service
coordinators and congregate services for the elderly
and disabled in public housing that was made from
amounts that were appropriated for fiscal year 1995,
1996, or 1997 that was not renewed using amounts
appropriated for fiscal year 1998.
(2) FULL RENEWALS IN FISCAL YEAR 1999.—Of
the amounts appropriated for fiscal year 1999 under
the heading ‘‘COMMUNITY PLANNING AND DEVEL-
OPMENT—COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT
BLOCK
GRANTS’’ in the Departments of Veterans Affairs
and Housing and Urban Development, and Inde-
pendent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1999 (Public
Law 105–276; 112 Stat. 2477) and made available
for grants for service coordinators and congregate
services for the elderly and disabled in public hous-
ing, the Secretary shall use such sums as may be
necessary to renew all grants made for fiscal year
1998 for such activities (including grants renewed
with amounts made available pursuant to paragraph
(1) of this subsection).
(3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR
FISCAL YEAR 2000.—There is authorized to be ap-
propriated to the Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development for fiscal year 2000 for grants for use
only for activities described in paragraph (2) of sec-
tion 34(b) of the United States Housing Act of 1937
(42 U.S.C. 1437z–6(b)(2))—
(A) such sums as may be necessary for re-
newal of all grants described in paragraphs (1)
and (2) of this subsection; and
(B) $11,000,000 for grants in addition to
such renewal grants.
(c) INCREASED FLEXIBILITY FOR USE OF SERVICE
COORDINATORS
IN
CERTAIN
FEDERALLY
ASSISTED
HOUSING.—Section 676 of the Housing and Community
Development Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 13632) is
amended—
(1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘MUL-
TIFAMILY HOUSING ASSISTED UNDER
THE NATIONAL HOUSING ACT’’ and in-
serting ‘‘CERTAIN FEDERALLY ASSISTED
HOUSING’’;
(2) in subsection (a)—
(A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘(E)
and (F)’’ and inserting ‘‘(B), (C), (D), (E),
(F), and (G)’’; and
(B) in the last sentence—
(i) by striking ‘‘section 661’’ and in-
serting ‘‘section 671’’; and
(ii) by adding after the period at the
end the following new sentence: ‘‘A service
coordinator funded with a grant under this
section for a project may provide services
to low-income elderly or disabled families
living in the vicinity of such project.’’;
(3) in subsection (d)—
(A) by striking ‘‘(E) or (F)’’ and inserting
‘‘(B), (C), (D), (E), (F), or (G)’’; and
(B) by striking ‘‘section 661’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘section 671’’; and
(4) by striking subsection (c) and redesignating
subsection (d) (as amended by paragraph (3) of this
subsection) as subsection (c).
(d) REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE SERVICE COORDINA-
TORS.—Section 671 of the Housing and Community De-
velopment Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 13631) is amended—
(1) in the first sentence of subsection (a), by
striking ‘‘to carry out this subtitle pursuant to the
amendments made by this subtitle’’ and inserting
the following: ‘‘for providing service coordinators
under this section’’;
(2) in subsection (d), by inserting ‘‘)’’ after
‘‘section 683(2)’’; and
(3) by adding at the end following new sub-
section:
‘‘(e) SERVICES FOR LOW-INCOME ELDERLY OR DIS-
ABLED FAMILIES RESIDING IN VICINITY OF CERTAIN
PROJECTS.—To the extent only that this section applies
to service coordinators for covered federally assisted hous-
ing described in subparagraphs (B), (C), (D), (E), (F),
and (G) of section 683(2), any reference in this section
to elderly or disabled residents of a project shall be con-
strued to include low-income elderly or disabled families
living in the vicinity of such project.’’.
SEC. 5. USE OF SECTION 8 ASSISTANCE FOR ASSISTED LIV-
ING FACILITIES.
(a) VOUCHER ASSISTANCE.—Section 8(o) of the
United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o))
is amended by adding at the end the following new para-
graph:
‘‘(18) RENTAL ASSISTANCE FOR ASSISTED LIV-
ING FACILITIES.—
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—A public housing
agency may make assistance payments on be-
half of a family that uses an assisted living fa-
cility as a principal place of residence. Such
payments may be made only for covering costs
of rental of the dwelling unit in the assisted liv-
ing facility and not for covering any portion of
the cost of residing in the assisted living facility
that is attributable to service relating to as-
sisted living.
‘‘(B) RENT CALCULATION.—
‘‘(i) CHARGES
INCLUDED.—For as-
sistance pursuant to this paragraph, the
rent of the dwelling unit that is an assisted
living facility with respect to which assist-
ance payments are made shall include
maintenance and management charges re-
lated to the dwelling unit and tenant-paid
utilities. Such rent shall not include any
charges attributable to services relating to
assisted living.
‘‘(ii) PAYMENT STANDARD.—The pub-
lic housing agency shall establish a pay-
ment standard for the purpose of deter-
mining the monthly assistance that may be
paid under this paragraph on behalf of any
family. The payment standard may not ex-
ceed an amount approved or established by
the Secretary and shall be based on upon
the applicable payment standard estab-
lished under paragraph (1) for the market
area in which the assisted living facility is
located.
‘‘(iii) MONTHLY
ASSISTANCE
PAY-
MENT.—The monthly assistance payment
for a family assisted under this paragraph
shall be determined in accordance with
paragraph (2) (using the rent and payment
standard for the dwelling unit as deter-
mined in accordance with this subsection).
‘‘(C) DEFINITION OF ASSISTED LIVING FA-
CILITY.—For the purposes of this paragraph,
the term ‘assisted living facility’ has the mean-
ing given that term in section 232(b) of the Na-
tional Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1715w(b)).’’.
(b) PROJECT-BASED ASSISTANCE.—Section 202b of
the Housing Act of 1959, as added by section 2 of this
Act, is amended by inserting after subsection (d) the fol-
lowing new subsection:
‘‘(e) SECTION 8 PROJECT-BASED ASSISTANCE.—
‘‘(1) ELIGIBILITY.—Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, a multifamily project which in-
cludes one or more dwelling units that have been
converted to assisted living facilities using grants
made under this section shall be eligible for project-
based assistance under section 8 of the United
States Housing Act of 1937, in the same manner in
which the project would be eligible for such assist-
ance but for the assisted living facilities in the
project.
‘‘(2) CALCULATION OF RENT.—For assistance
pursuant to this subsection, the maximum monthly
rent of a dwelling unit that is an assisted living fa-
cility with respect to which assistance payments are
made shall not include charges attributable to serv-
ices relating to assisted living.’’.
SEC. 6. INCREMENTAL VOUCHERS FOR ASSISTED LIVING
FACILITIES.
(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to es-
tablish a demonstration program to test the effectiveness
of providing vouchers for use in connection with assisted
living facilities—
(1) to assist elderly families who need assist-
ance with activities of daily living;
(2) to provide incentives for the conversion,
substantial rehabilitation, or new construction of as-
sisted living facilities for the elderly; and
(3) to reduce medicaid expenditures by pro-
viding enhanced assisted living alternatives to nurs-
ing home care for low-income elderly families.
(b) HOUSING ASSISTANCE.—In connection with this
demonstration, the Secretary of Housing and Urban De-
velopment may, to the extent amounts are provided by ap-
propriations Acts, enter into contracts with 10 public
housing agencies or State housing finance agencies to pro-
vide not more than 15,000 incremental vouchers with re-
spect to fiscal year 1999 for assistance under section 8
of the United States Housing Act of 1937.
(c) USES.—
(1) LOW-INCOME ELDERLY FAMILIES.—Vouch-
ers provided under this section may only be used by
low-income elderly families who need assistance with
activities of daily living.
(2) ASSISTED LIVING FACILITIES.—
(A) EXISTING FACILITIES.—Vouchers pro-
vided under this section for use in connection
with an assisted living facility that is not a new
assisted living facility may be used only by a
family eligible under paragraph (1) who, at the
time such family is initially approved for such
voucher assistance, is residing in a dwelling
unit assisted with project-based assistance (as
defined in section 16(c) of the United States
Housing Act of 1937 or section 683 of the
Housing and Community Development Act of
1992).
(B) NEW FACILITIES.—
(i) IN GENERAL.—Vouchers provided
under this section for use in connection
with a new assisted living facility may be
used by any family eligible under para-
graph (1).
(ii) VERY
LOW
INCOME
ELDERLY
FAMILIES.—To the maximum extent finan-
cially practicable, vouchers shall be made
available to very low-income elderly fami-
lies who are eligible for medicaid.
(iii) RESERVATION OF VOUCHERS—In
making assistance available under this sub-
paragraph, for each fiscal year for which
funds are available for vouchers under this
section, a public housing agency or State
housing finance agency shall reserve a spe-
cific number of vouchers for use in certain
assisted living facilities which shall in turn
agree to reserve an equal number of dwell-
ing units for use in conjunction with such
vouchers.
(d) APPLICATIONS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—In order to request assist-
ance under this section, a public housing agency or
a State housing finance agency shall submit an ap-
plication to the Secretary in such form and in ac-
cordance with such procedures as the Secretary shall
establish.
(2) CONTENTS.—The Secretary shall require
that an application for assistance under this section
contain, at a minimum—
(A) an application for housing assistance
under section 8 of the United States Housing
Act of 1937, if necessary;
(B) the number of vouchers requested for
use under each of subparagraphs (A) and (B)
of subsection (c)(2);
(C) in an application requesting vouchers
for use under subsection (c)(2)(A), the number
of elderly families residing in dwelling units as-
sisted with project-based assistance and an esti-
mate of the number of elderly families likely to
become eligible in fiscal years 2000 and 2001
for voucher assistance under this subsection in
the jurisdiction which the public housing agency
or State housing finance agency serves; and
(D) in an application requesting vouchers
for use under subsection (c)(2)(B)—
(i) an analysis of the need for new as-
sisted living facilities for use by low-income
elderly families in the jurisdiction which
the public housing agency or State housing
finance agency serves;
(ii) information sufficient to dem-
onstrate that voucher assistance under
subsection (c)(2)(B) is necessary to make
new assisted living facilities for which such
assistance will be used financially viable
and affordable for low-income elderly fami-
lies;
(iii) an explanation of the criteria that
the public housing agency or State housing
finance agency plans to use to determine
for which new assisted living facilities the
voucher assistance will be used; and
(iv) the extent to which the assisted
living facilities for which such assistance
will be used are likely to use medicaid
waivers to provide on-site health care serv-
ices; and
(E) plans, if any, to allow other qualified
administrative agencies to use some or all of the
vouchers requested.
(e) SELECTION CRITERIA.—The Secretary shall es-
tablish selection criteria for a national competition for as-
sistance under this section, which shall include—
(1) the ability of the public housing agency or
State housing finance agency to implement the pro-
gram;
(2) the need for assisted living facilities for el-
derly families eligible for assistance requested under
this section in the area to be served;
(3) the level of public or private financial assist-
ance, if any, toward the cost of developing or oper-
ating the assisted living facility;
(4) the extent to which the assistance requested
would meet the needs of the elderly families pro-
posed to be served by the program; and
(5) such other factors as the Secretary con-
siders to be appropriate for purposes of carrying out
the demonstration program established by this sec-
tion.
(f) RENT CALCULATION.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in this
subsection, monthly assistance payments for voucher
assistance under this section shall be provided in the
same manner as such payments are provided under
section 8(o)(18) of the United States Housing Act
of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(18)).
(2) PAYMENT STANDARD.—The public housing
agency or State housing finance agency shall estab-
lish a payment standard for the purpose of deter-
mining the monthly assistance that may be paid
under this section on behalf of a family. The pay-
ment standard for a market area shall be the same
as any payment standard established under section
8(o)(18)(B)(ii) of the United States Housing Act of
1937 for the market area, unless the Secretary de-
termines that an amount greater than such standard
is necessary to make a new assisted living facility fi-
nancially viable and affordable for low-income elderly
families.
(g) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section:
(1) The term ‘‘assisted living facility’’ has the
meaning given that term in section 232(b) of the
National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1715w(b)).
(2) The term ‘‘elderly family’’ has the meaning
given that term in section 3(b) of the United States
Housing Act of 1937.
(3) The term ‘‘low-income’’ means having an
income that meets the requirement for a low-income
family under section 3(b) of the United States
Housing Act of 1937.
(4) The term ‘‘very low-income’’ means having
an income that meets the requirement for a very
low-income family under section 3(b) of the United
States Housing Act of 1937.
(5) The term ‘‘new assisted living facility’’
means an assisted living facility—
(A) construction of which has been com-
pleted for not more than 1 year prior to the
date of approval of an application for assistance
under this section; or
(B) which required conversion or substan-
tial rehabilitation activities to convert the facil-
ity to an assisted living facility and such activi-
ties have been completed not more than 1 year
prior to the date of approval of an application
for assistance under this section.
(6) The term ‘‘public housing agency’’ has the
meaning given that term in section 3(b) of the
United States Housing Act of 1937. The term in-
cludes an Indian Housing Authority, as defined in
section 3(b) of such Act.
(7) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary
of Housing and Urban Development.
(8) The term ‘‘State housing finance agency’’
has the meaning given the term under section
802(b)(2)(A) of the Housing and Community Devel-
opment Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 1440(b)(2)(A)).
(h) REPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the Sec-
retary provides the 15,000 vouchers under this section, the
Secretary, in coordination with the Secretary of Health
and Human Services, shall submit to Congress an annual
report evaluating—
(1) the degree of success in making assisted liv-
ing facilities available to low-income elderly families
who would otherwise not be able to afford to live in
assisted living facilities; and
(2) the extent to which the provision of vouch-
ers under this section reduced medicaid expenditures
through a reduction in the need for nursing home
care.
(i) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There
are authorized to be appropriated for providing 15,000 in-
cremental vouchers for housing assistance under section
8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937, for fiscal
years 2000 and such sums as are necessary to renew such
vouchers for each fiscal year thereafter.
SEC. 7. NEW CONSTRUCTION OF ELDERLY AFFORDABLE
HOUSING UNITS.
Section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C.
1701q) is amended by adding at the end the following new
subsection:
‘‘(m) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be
appropriated for providing assistance under this sec-
tion $710,000,000 for fiscal year 2000 and such
sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years
2001 and 2002.
‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL
FUNDS.—In addition to
amounts appropriated under paragraph (1), there is
authorized to be appropriated additional funds for
fiscal year 2000 for use under this section under ad-
ditional criteria which encourage or give preference
to the leveraging of funds from other sources or the
development of additional individual dwelling units
affordable for moderate-income elderly families.’’.
Æ