Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Reauthorization Act of 2015

Bill: 114-hr-360
Sponsor: Rep. Pearce, Stevan [R-NM-2]
Introduced: 2015-01-14 in the House
Policy area: Native Americans
Subjects: Advisory bodies
Alaska Natives and Hawaiians
Congressional oversight
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Environmental assessment, monitoring, research
Executive agency funding and structure
Government lending and loan guarantees
Homelessness and emergency shelter
Housing and community development funding
Housing finance and home ownership
Housing supply and affordability
Indian lands and resources rights
Indian social and development programs
Low- and moderate-income housing
Public housing
Residential rehabilitation and home repair
Veterans' loans, housing, homeless programs

Summary:
action_date: 2015-01-14
text: 

Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Reauthorization Act of 2015

 
 Amends the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (NAHASDA) to revise and reauthorize the block grant program through FY2019 with respect to Native Americans and housing. 
 
 
Makes low-income training and employment requirements under the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 inapplicable to tribal housing activities under the Act. 
 
Revises a program for affordable housing for low-income Native American families by changing maximum rent requirements and lease notice requirements. 
Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to authorize Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to implement a supportive housing and rental assistance program for the benefit of Native American veterans who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. 
 
Extends from 50 years to 99 years the limit on the lease of trust or Indian restricted lands for housing purposes.
 
 
Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 to authorize HUD through FY2019 to guarantee Indian housing loans. 
 
Amends the American Homeownership and Economic Opportunity Act of 2000 to require the appointment of members to the Lands Title Report Commission no later than 90 days after this Act's enactment, without the current condition that sums be appropriated for that purpose in advance. 
 
Amends the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Reauthorization Act of 2008 to prohibit the use of funds under that Act for the benefit of the Cherokee Nation unless the Order issued on September 21, 2011, by the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia remains in effect or there is a settlement agreement which ends litigation among the adverse parties. 
 
Establishes a demonstration program that requires a participating Indian tribe to select an investor partner and, with that partner, to develop and implement a HUD-approved plan to address the tribe's housing needs.
 
Amends NAHASDA to reauthorize through FY2019 the block grant program providing certain Native Hawaiians with block grants for affordable housing activities. 
 
Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 to authorize HUD through FY2019 to guarantee Native Hawaiian housing loans.

action_date: 2015-03-23
text: 

Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Reauthorization Act of 2015

 
TITLE I--BLOCK GRANTS AND GRANT REQUIREMENTS 
 
 (Sec. 101) Amends the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 (NAHASDA) to require the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to act within 60 days upon a request by an Indian tribe for a waiver of certain local cooperation requirements and an exemption from taxation requirements under the program providing tribes with block grants for affordable and self-determined housing activities. 
 
(Sec. 102) Requires HUD to recommend to Congress standards and procedures for: (1) the waiver of the requirement for an Indian tribe to submit Indian housing plans (IHPs); or (2) alternative IHP requirements, which may include multi-year housing plans. Requires recommendations to describe any legislative and regulatory changes necessary to implement them.
 
(Sec. 103) Requires HUD to grant a waiver of environmental review requirements if certain conditions are met (currently, the granting of a waiver is discretionary) and to act within 60 days upon a request of an Indian tribe to waive such requirements. 
 
Deems an Indian tribe that is receiving a block grant for an affordable housing project, and is using additional funding from other federal sources that does not exceed 49% of the total project cost, to have satisfied any environmental review requirements attached to those sources if the tribe has assumed environmental review, decision-making, and action responsibilities under NAHASDA and complied with its environmental review requirements.
 
(Sec. 104) Gives HUD 60 days to approve or deny a request to exceed the maximum total development cost for an affordable housing project.
 
TITLE II--AFFORDABLE HOUSING ACTIVITIES
 
(Sec. 201) Makes low-income training and employment requirements under the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 inapplicable to tribal housing activities under the Act. 
 
(Sec. 202) Makes maximum rent and homebuyer payment requirements for housing assisted under NAHASDA inapplicable if the grant recipient has a written policy that includes maximum rent and homebuyer payment requirements. 
 
(Sec. 203) Treats rental housing as affordable housing if it is made available only to a current rental family for purchase as a homebuyer or lease-purchase unit and that family was a low-income family at the time of their original occupancy.
 
Makes the requirement that housing assisted under NAHASDA remain affordable throughout the remaining life of the property inapplicable to improvements of a privately-owned home if the cost of those improvements do not exceed 10% of the maximum total development cost for such home.
 
(Sec. 204) Requires the owner or manager of rental housing assisted under NAHASDA and one or more other federal funding sources to only use leases that require a pre-lease termination notice period.
 
(Sec. 205) Allows recipients of funding under NAHASDA to use funding from the Indian Health Service (IHS) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for the construction of sanitation facilities for housing construction and renovation projects funded under the Act.
 
TITLE III--ALLOCATION OF GRANT AMOUNTS
 
(Sec. 301) Reauthorizes appropriations for the NAHASDA block grant program through FY2019. 
 
(Sec. 302) Sets forth notice requirements when an Indian tribe has undisbursed block grants under the Act. Directs HUD to require a justification from any block grant recipient whose total amount of undisbursed block grants in the HUD line of credit control system is more than three times the formula allocation the recipient would otherwise receive, if that formula amount is $5 million or more. Requires HUD to allocate to the recipient, in this case, the initially calculated amount minus the difference between the total undisbursed amount and three times the initial formula amount.
 
Requires the reallocation of unused grants proportionately to all other Indian tribes not subject to such an adjustment. 
 
TITLE IV--AUDITS AND REPORTS
 
(Sec. 401) Requires HUD to: (1) issue a final report on an audit or review of Indian tribe housing entities within 60 days of receiving comments from a grant recipient, and (2) make its annual report to Congress on Native American housing assistance publicly available to grant recipients. 
 
TITLE V--OTHER HOUSING ASSISTANCE FOR NATIVE AMERICANS
 
(Sec. 501) Amends the United States Housing Act of 1937 to require HUD to set aside certain funds to implement a supportive housing and rental assistance voucher program, in conjunction with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), for the benefit of Native American veterans who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Authorizes HUD to waive, or specify alternative requirements, for statutory provision that HUD administers if HUD determines that such waiver is necessary to promote administrative efficiency.
 
(Sec. 502) Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 to authorize HUD to guarantee Indian housing loans through FY2019. 
 
TITLE VI--MISCELLANEOUS
 
 (Sec. 601) Amends the American Homeownership and Economic Opportunity Act of 2000 to repeal the requirement that sums be appropriated in advance before the Lands Title Report Commission is appointed.
 
(Sec. 602) Amends the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Reauthorization Act of 2008 to prohibit the use of funds under that Act for the benefit of the Cherokee Nation unless the Order issued on September 21, 2011, by the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia remains in effect or there is a settlement agreement which ends litigation among the adverse parties.
 
(Sec. 603) Amends NAHASDA to extend from 50 years to 99 years the limit on the lease of trust or Indian restricted lands for housing purposes.
 
TITLE VII--DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM FOR ALTERNATIVE PRIVATIZATION AUTHORITY FOR NATIVE AMERICAN HOUSING
 
 (Sec. 701) Amends NAHASDA to establish a demonstration program that requires a participating Indian tribe to select an investor partner and, with that partner, to develop and implement a HUD-approved plan to address the tribe's housing needs. Requires each participating tribe to obtain assistance from a qualified entity in assessing its housing needs.
 
Prohibits HUD from approving more than 20 tribes for participation in the demonstration program. 
 
Makes the block grant amounts that would otherwise have been allocated to a participating tribe under NAHASDA available under the demonstration program to: (1) provide investor partners or other investors with a full return on their investment in the tribe's housing needs, (2) cover a tribe's administrative costs, and (3) cover housing infrastructure costs associated with providing affordable housing for the tribe. 
 
Permits a participating tribe, in accordance with the tribe's final plan, to resell any affordable housing developed with assistance under NAHASDA for use other than as affordable housing, but only if the tribe makes certain assurances with respect to those needs. Allows a participating tribe to terminate its participation in the demonstration program at any time.
 
Requires HUD to report to Congress on the effectiveness of the demonstration program. 
 
TITLE VIII--HOUSING FOR NATIVE HAWAIIANS 
 
(Sec. 801) Amends the Native Hawaiian Homeownership Act to reauthorize the block grant program for affordable housing for Native Hawaiians through FY2019.
 
(Sec. 802) Amends the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 to guarantee Native Hawaiian housing loans through FY2019. Authorizes appropriations to the Hawaiian Housing Loan Guarantee Fund for the costs of such guarantees. Sets the maximum aggregate outstanding principal amount of such loans for each of the fiscal years 2015 through 2019 at $41.504 million.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2015-03-24
text: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Indian Affairs.
action_date: 2015-03-23
text: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 297 - 98 (Roll no. 130). (text: CR H1814-1818)
action_date: 2015-03-23
text: Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
action_date: 2015-03-23
text: Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 297 - 98 (Roll no. 130).(text: CR H1814-1818)
action_date: 2015-03-23
text: Considered as unfinished business. (consideration CR: H1833)
action_date: 2015-03-23
text: At the conclusion of debate, the Yeas and Nays were demanded and ordered. Pursuant to the provisions of clause 8, rule XX, the Chair announced that further proceedings on the motion would be postponed.
action_date: 2015-03-23
text: DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on H.R. 360.
action_date: 2015-03-23
text: Considered under suspension of the rules. (consideration CR: H1814-1822)
action_date: 2015-03-23
text: Mr. Pearce moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended.
action_date: 2015-01-14
text: Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services.
action_date: 2015-01-14
text: Introduced in House
action_date: 2015-01-14
text: Introduced in House