Title: SHELTER Act of 2020
Policy area: Housing and Community Development

Summary:
COVID-19 Serving the Homeless by Expanding the List of Tenant Eligible Residences Act of 2020 or the SHELTER Act of 2020
This bill expands the housing choice voucher program for low-income families and authorizes additional vouchers.
Specifically, the bill authorizes incremental housing vouchers for families that were unsheltered or living in shelters as of the March 13, 2020, presidential emergency declaration relating to COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019). Such vouchers may be used to rent an eligible housing unit under the existing program or to rent other types of housing, including recreation vehicles, hotel or motel rooms, and short-term rental units. Further, the bill waives certain requirements for receiving such assistance, such as requirements related to income verification and lease duration.
The bill also authorizes additional incremental vouchers under the existing housing choice voucher program.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6823 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6823

   To expand the housing choice voucher program of the Department of 
 Housing and Urban Development to provide temporary housing during the 
            COVID-19 health crisis, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 12, 2020

   Mr. Huffman (for himself, Ms. Johnson of Texas, and Mr. Hastings) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                           Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To expand the housing choice voucher program of the Department of 
 Housing and Urban Development to provide temporary housing during the 
            COVID-19 health crisis, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``COVID-19 Serving the Homeless by 
Expanding the List of Tenant Eligible Residences Act of 2020'' or the 
``SHELTER Act of 2020''.

SEC. 2. COVID-EMERGENCY HOUSING VOUCHER PROGRAM.

    (a) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2020 to fund 
500,000 incremental vouchers for tenant-based assistance under the 
housing choice voucher program under section 8(o) of the United States 
Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)), to be made available in 
accordance with such section 8(o) except to the extent otherwise 
provided in this section.
    (b) Eligible Families.--Housing voucher assistance under this 
section may be provided on behalf only of low-income families who, as 
of the creating a disaster recovery voucher recovery program for 
individuals who were unsheltered or living in shelters as of the 
declaration on March 13, 2020, by the President under the Robert T. 
Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 4121 
et seq.) of the emergency relating to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 
(COVID-19) pandemic.
    (c) Eligible Dwelling Units.--In addition to dwelling units 
eligible to be rented using assistance under section 8(o) of the United 
States Housing Act of 1937, rental assistance under this section may be 
used to rent dwelling units that meet the following requirements:
            (1) Types of housing.--The dwelling unit is of one of the 
        following types:
                    (A) Special housing types.--All special housing 
                types identified in section 982.601 of the Secretary's 
                regulations (24 C.F.R. 982.601).
                    (B) Junior accessory dwelling units.--A dwelling 
                unit that--
                            (i) does not exceed 500 square feet in 
                        size; and
                            (ii) is contained entirely within an 
                        existing single-family structure.
                Such a unit may include separate sanitation facilities 
                and or may share sanitation facilities with the 
                existing structure.
                    (C) Recreational vehicles.--Recreational vehicles 
                that are equipped with a bathroom and cooking facility.
                    (D) Hotel and motel rooms.--Vacant rooms in hotels 
                and motels, except that in the case of a hotel or motel 
                that has an existing contract with a public housing 
                agency providing rental assistance with respect to any 
                rooms occupied by eligible families under subsection 
                (b)--
                            (i) the hotel or motel may, at its 
                        discretion, extend its existing contract with 
                        the applicable public housing agency to allow 
                        the families residing in the rooms to extend 
                        their occupancies under such contract using 
                        such voucher; or
                            (ii) in the case of a hotel or motel that 
                        elects not to extend such contract, at the 
                        discretion of the hotel or motel, the eligible 
                        family may use such a voucher to continue 
                        occupying such room.
                    (E) Short-term rental units.--A dwelling unit made 
                available for short-term rental by the owner of the 
                dwelling unit, including by an online marketplace such 
                as Airbnb or HomeAway.
                    (F) Temporary emergency shelter.--A temporary 
                emergency shelter that under the 10th proviso under the 
                heading ``Department of Housing and Urban Development--
                Community Planning and Development--Homeless Assistance 
                Grants'' in title XII of subtitle B of the CARES Act 
                (Public Law 116-136) is eligible to be assisted with 
                amounts made available under such heading.
            (2) Owner agreement.--The owner of the dwelling unit is an 
        individual and voluntarily agrees to rent the dwelling unit in 
        connection with assistance under this section.
            (3) Kitchen.--The dwelling unit--
                    (A)(i) contains a kitchen or cooking facility; or
                    (ii) has access to a communal kitchen or cooking 
                facility; or
                    (B) is exempted from the requirement under 
                subparagraph (A) on a case-by-case basis by the State 
                or local government agency, public housing agency, or 
                other entity administering such assistance.
    (d) Waiver of Eligibility Requirements.--In providing assistance 
under this section, the Secretary shall waive the requirements under 
the following provisions of section 8 of the United States Housing Act 
of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f)--
            (1) Tenant rent contribution.--Subsection (o)(2) of such 
        section, relating to tenant contributions towards rent, except 
        that any such waiver shall expire on an individual's return to 
        work.
            (2) Eligible families.--Subsection (o)(4) of such section, 
        relating to the eligibility of individuals and families to 
        receive assistance.
            (3) Verification of income.--Subsections (k) and (o)(5), 
        relating to verification of income.
            (4) Lease term.--Subsection (o)(7)(A), relating to the 
        requirement that leases shall be for a term of 1 year.
            (5) Portability.--Subsection (r)(1)(B), relating to 
        restrictions on portability.
    (e) Use of Funds.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
funds available for assistance under this section--
            (1) shall be available to cover the cost of--
                    (A) rent;
                    (B) security and utility deposits;
                    (C) relocation expenses, including expenses 
                incurred in relocating back to an assisted family's 
                original area of residence; and
                    (D) such additional expenses as the Secretary 
                determines necessary; and
            (2) shall be used by the Secretary--
                    (A) for payments to public housing agencies, State 
                or local government agencies, or other voucher 
                administrators for voucher assistance under this 
                section; and
    (f) Payment Standard.--For purposes of assistance under this 
section, the payment standard for each size of dwelling unit in a 
market area may not exceed 150 percent, or such higher percentage that 
the Secretary may approve, of the fair market rental established under 
section 8(c) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 for the same size 
dwelling unit in the same market area, and shall be not less than 70 
percent of such fair market rental.
    (g) Authority To Contract With PHAS and Others.--The Secretary may 
contract with any State or local government agency or public housing 
agency, or in consultation with any State or local government agency, 
with any other entity, to administer assistance payments under this 
section and ensure that such payments are provided in an efficient and 
expeditious manner.
    (h) Nondiscrimination.--In selecting individuals or families for 
tenancy, a landlord or owner may not exclude or penalize an individual 
or family solely because any portion of the rental payment of that 
individual or family is provided under this section.
    (i) Duration.--A voucher under this subsection for rental 
assistance shall provide such assistance for a period of 24 months, 
except that such period may be extended if the Secretary considers 
necessary to respond to the public health emergency relating to 
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) or for other reasons.
    (j) Allocation.--Amounts made available for assistance under this 
section shall be allocated to public housing agencies based on the 
Secretary's most recent point-in-time count of the extent of 
homelessness in the area served by such public housing agencies.
    (k) Direct Administration by Secretary.--If the Secretary 
determines that a State or local government agency, public housing 
agency, or other entity is unable to implement this section due to the 
effects of the public health emergency relating to COVID-19, the 
Secretary may--
            (1) directly administer a voucher program under this 
        section for the area affected; and
            (2) perform the functions in connection with such 
        administration that are assigned by this subsection to a State 
        or local agency, public housing agency, or other entity.
    (l) Study.--The Secretary shall conduct a study to determine the 
feasibility of permanently authorizing the types described in 
subparagraphs (B) through (D) of subsection (c)(1) as special housing 
types for purposes of the housing choice voucher program under section 
8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)) and 
identify permanent housing opportunities for families and individuals 
assisted under this section. Not later than the expiration of the 12-
month period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary shall submit a report to the Congress specifying the results 
of and recommendations from the study pursuant to this subsection.
    (m) Notice of Availability of Assistance.--The Secretary shall 
establish procedures for State and local agencies, public housing 
agencies, and other entities administering assistance under this 
section to provide notice of the availability of assistance under this 
section to individuals or families that may be eligible for such 
assistance.
    (n) Definitions.--For purposes of this Act, the following 
definitions shall apply:
            (1) COVID-19 emergency period.--The term`` COVID-19 
        emergency period'' means the period beginning on the date of 
        the enactment of this Act and ending upon the date of the 
        expiration of the 18-month period that begins upon the 
        termination by the Federal Emergency Management Agency of the 
        emergency declared on March 13, 2020, by the President under 
        the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 
        Act (42 U.S.C. 4121 et seq.) relating to the Coronavirus 
        Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
            (2) Public housing agency.--The term ``public housing 
        agency'' has the meaning given such term in section 3(b) of the 
        United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)).
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Housing and Urban Development.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHERS.

    In addition to amounts authorized to be appropriated under section 
2(a), there is authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary for fiscal year 2020 to fund 200,000 incremental vouchers for 
tenant-based assistance under the housing choice voucher program under 
section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 
1437f(o)).
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