I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1856 
To provide a path to end homelessness in the United States, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 25, 2019 
Ms. WATERS (for herself, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. GREEN of Texas, 
Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Ms. ADAMS, Ms. ESHOO, 
Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. FOSTER, Mrs. CARO-
LYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. CRIST, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Geor-
gia, Mr. HECK, Mr. CASE, Ms. NORTON, Mr. CUMMINGS, Ms. MENG, 
Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. ROUDA, Ms. OMAR, Mr. HIMES, Ms. 
SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. LEWIS, Mr. 
VARGAS, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Ms. HILL of California, Ms. DEAN, Ms. 
KAPTUR, Mrs. TORRES of California, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. WELCH, Ms. 
TLAIB, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. COHEN, Ms. 
BONAMICI, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Ms. GABBARD, Mr. GONZALEZ of 
Texas, Mr. CLAY, and Ms. CLARKE of New York) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, 
and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, for a period to be subse-
quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To provide a path to end homelessness in the United States, 
and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Ending Homelessness 
Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds that— 
(1) although the United States has experienced 
a reduction in veteran homelessness after a surge of 
new Federal funding targeted to homeless veterans 
starting in fiscal year 2008, major progress towards 
the national goals for ending homelessness in our 
Nation has virtually stalled in the absence of in-
creased funding; 
(2) according to the Department of Housing 
and Urban Development’s 2018 point-in-time count, 
there were 552,830 people experiencing homeless-
ness in the United States on any given night, includ-
ing nearly 160,000 children and youth; 
(3) homelessness in many communities has 
reached crisis proportions and some cities have de-
clared that homelessness has reached a state of 
emergency; and 
(4) the Federal Government must renew its 
commitment to the national goals to end homeless-
ness. 
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SEC. 3. EMERGENCY RELIEF FUNDING. 
Title IV of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance 
Act (42 U.S.C. 11360 et seq.) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating section 491 (42 U.S.C. 
11408; relating to rural housing stability grant pro-
gram) as section 441; 
(2) by redesignating section 592 (42 U.S.C. 
11408a; relating to use of FMHA inventory for 
transitional housing for homeless persons and for 
turnkey housing) as section 442; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-
title: 
‘‘Subtitle E—5-Year Path To End 
Homelessness 
‘‘SEC. 451. EMERGENCY RELIEF FUNDING. 
‘‘(a) DIRECT APPROPRIATIONS.—There is appro-
priated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise 
appropriated for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024, 
$1,000,000,000, to remain available until expended, for 
emergency relief grants under this section to address the 
unmet needs of homeless populations in jurisdictions with 
the highest need. 
‘‘(b) FORMULA GRANTS.— 
‘‘(1) 
ALLOCATION.—Amounts 
appropriated 
under subsection (a) for a fiscal year shall be allo-
cated among collaborative applicants that comply 
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with section 402, in accordance with the funding for-
mula established under paragraph (2) of this sub-
section. 
‘‘(2) FORMULA.—The Secretary shall, in con-
sultation with the United States Interagency Council 
on Homeless, establish a formula for allocating 
grant amounts under this section to address the 
unmet needs of homeless populations in jurisdictions 
with the highest need, using the best currently avail-
able data that targets need based on key structural 
determinants of homelessness in the geographic area 
represented by a collaborative applicant, which shall 
include data providing accurate counts of— 
‘‘(A) the poverty rate in the geographic 
area represented by the collaborative applicant; 
‘‘(B) shortages of affordable housing for 
low-, very low-, and extremely low-income 
households in the geographic area represented 
by the collaborative applicant; 
‘‘(C) the number of overcrowded housing 
units in the geographic area represented by the 
collaborative applicant; 
‘‘(D) the number of unsheltered homeless 
individuals and the number of chronically home-
less individuals; and 
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‘‘(E) any other factors that the Secretary 
considers appropriate. 
‘‘(3) GRANTS.—For each fiscal year for which 
amounts are made available under subsection (a), 
the Secretary shall make a grant to each collabo-
rative applicant for which an amount is allocated 
pursuant to application of the formula established 
pursuant to paragraph (2) of this subsection in an 
amount that is equal to the formula amount deter-
mined for such collaborative applicant. 
‘‘(4) TIMING.— 
‘‘(A) FORMULA
TO
BE
DEVISED
SWIFT-
LY.—The funding formula required under para-
graph (2) shall be established not later than 60 
days after the date of enactment of this section. 
‘‘(B) 
DISTRIBUTION.—Amounts 
appro-
priated or otherwise made available under this 
section shall be distributed according to the 
funding formula established pursuant to para-
graph (2) not later than 30 days after the es-
tablishment of such formula. 
‘‘(c) USE OF GRANTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraphs (2) 
through (4), a collaborative applicant that receives a 
grant under this section may use such grant 
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amounts only for eligible activities under section 
415, 423, or 441(b). 
‘‘(2) PERMANENT
SUPPORTIVE
HOUSING
RE-
QUIREMENT.— 
‘‘(A) REQUIREMENT.—Except as provided 
in subparagraph (B), each collaborative appli-
cant that receives a grant under this section 
shall use not less than 75 percent of such grant 
amount for permanent supportive housing, in-
cluding capital costs, rental subsidies, and serv-
ices. 
‘‘(B) EXEMPTION.—The Secretary shall 
exempt a collaborative applicant from the appli-
cability of the requirement under subparagraph 
(A) if the applicant demonstrates, in accordance 
with such standards and procedures as the Sec-
retary shall establish, that— 
‘‘(i) chronic homelessness has been 
functionally eliminated in the geographic 
area served by the applicant; or 
‘‘(ii) the permanent supportive hous-
ing under development in the geographic 
area served by the applicant is sufficient to 
functionally eliminate chronic homelessness 
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once such units are available for occu-
pancy. 
The Secretary shall consider and make a deter-
mination regarding each request for an exemp-
tion under this subparagraph not later than 60 
days after receipt of such request. 
‘‘(3) LIMITATION ON USE FOR ADMINISTRATIVE 
EXPENSES.—Not more than 5 percent of the total 
amount of any grant under this section to a collabo-
rative applicant may be used for costs of administra-
tion. 
‘‘(4) HOUSING FIRST REQUIREMENT.—The Sec-
retary shall ensure that each collaborative applicant 
that receives a grant under this section is imple-
menting, to the extent possible, and will use such 
grant amounts in accordance with, a Housing First 
model for assistance for homeless persons. 
‘‘(d) RENEWAL FUNDING.—Expiring contracts for 
leasing, rental assistance, or permanent housing shall be 
treated, for purposes of section 429, as expiring contracts 
referred to in subsection (a) of such section. 
‘‘(e) REPORTING TO CONGRESS.— 
‘‘(1) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than the expi-
ration of the 6-month period beginning on the date 
of the enactment of this subtitle, the Secretary and 
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the United States Interagency Council on Homeless-
ness shall submit a report to the Committees on Fi-
nancial Services and Appropriations of the House of 
Representatives and the Committees on Banking, 
Housing, and Urban Affairs and Appropriations of 
the Senate describing the design and implementation 
of the grant program under this section, which shall 
include the formula required by subsection (b)(2). 
‘‘(2) SEMIANNUAL STATUS REPORTS.— 
‘‘(A) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—The Sec-
retary and the United States Interagency Coun-
cil on Homelessness shall submit reports to the 
Committees specified in paragraph (1) semi-
annually describing the operation of the grant 
program under this section during the pre-
ceding 6 months, including identification of the 
grants made and a description of the activities 
funded with grant amounts. 
‘‘(B) COLLECTION
OF
INFORMATION
BY 
SECRETARY.—The Secretary shall require each 
collaborative applicant that receives a grant 
under this section to submit such information 
to the Secretary as may be necessary for the 
Secretary to comply with the reporting require-
ment under subparagraph (A). 
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‘‘SEC. 452. SPECIAL PURPOSE VOUCHERS. 
‘‘(a) DIRECT
APPROPRIATION.—There is appro-
priated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise 
appropriated for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024, 
$500,000,000, to remain available until expended, which 
shall be used as follows: 
‘‘(1) RENTAL ASSISTANCE.—Except as provided 
in paragraph (2), such amount shall be used for in-
cremental assistance for rental assistance under sec-
tion 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 
(42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)) for persons and households 
who are homeless (as such term is defined in section 
103 (42 U.S.C. 11302)), which assistance shall be in 
addition to such assistance provided pursuant to re-
newal of expiring contracts for such assistance. 
‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATIVE
FEES.—The Secretary 
may use not more than 10 percent of such amounts 
provided for each fiscal year for administrative fees 
under 8(q) of the United States Housing Act of 
1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(q)). The Secretary shall es-
tablish policies and procedures to provide such fees 
to the extent necessary to assist homeless persons 
and families on whose behalf rental assistance is 
provided to find and maintain suitable housing. 
‘‘(b) ALLOCATION.—The Secretary shall make assist-
ance provided under this section available to public hous-
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ing agencies based on geographical need for such assist-
ance by homeless persons and households, as identified by 
the Secretary, public housing agency administrative per-
formance, and other factors as specified by the Secretary. 
‘‘(c) 
AVAILABILITY.—Assistance 
made 
available 
under this section shall continue to remain available only 
for homeless persons and households upon turn-over. 
‘‘(d) RENEWAL FUNDING.—Renewal of expiring con-
tracts for rental assistance provided under subsection (a) 
and for administrative fees under such subsection shall, 
to the extent provided in appropriation Acts, be funded 
under the section 8 tenant-based rental assistance ac-
count. 
‘‘(e) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—Upon a finding by the 
Secretary that a waiver or alternative requirement pursu-
ant to this subsection is necessary to ensure that homeless 
persons and households can obtain housing using rental 
assistance made available under this section, the Secretary 
may waive, or specify alternative requirements for, any 
provision of any statute or regulation that the Secretary 
administers in connection with the use of funds made 
available under this section (except for requirements re-
lated to fair housing, nondiscrimination, labor standards, 
and the environment) that relates to screening of appli-
cants for assistance, admission of applicants, and selection 
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of tenants. The Secretary shall require public housing 
agencies receiving rental assistance funding made avail-
able under this section to take all reasonable actions to 
help assisted persons and families avoid subsequent home-
lessness. 
‘‘SEC. 453. OUTREACH FUNDING. 
‘‘(a) DIRECT
APPROPRIATION.—There is appro-
priated out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise 
appropriated for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024, 
$100,000,000, to remain available until expended, to the 
Secretary for grants under this section to provide outreach 
and coordinate services for persons and households who 
are homeless or formerly homeless. 
‘‘(b) GRANTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make 
grants under this section on a competitive basis only 
to collaborative applicants who comply with section 
402. 
‘‘(2) PRIORITY.—The competition for grants 
under this section shall provide priority to collabo-
rative applicants who submit plans to make innova-
tive and effective use of staff funded with grant 
amounts pursuant to subsection (c). 
‘‘(c) USE
OF GRANTS.—A collaborative applicant 
that receives a grant under this section may use such 
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