A bill to require certain public housing agencies to absorb port-in housing choice vouchers, and for other purposes.

Bill: 116-s-912
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Ernst, Joni [R-IA]
Introduced: 2019-03-27
Policy area: Housing and Community Development
Subjects: Low- and moderate-income housing

Public housing
Latest action: action_date: 2019-03-27
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

Summaries:
action_date: 2019-03-27
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p>This bill requires a public housing agency that uses less than 95% of its budget authority in a given year to accept a housing choice voucher from a family that received the voucher from an agency in a different jurisdiction.<br /></p>

tv_txt: II 116th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 912 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES March 27, 2019 Ms. Ernst introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To require certain public housing agencies to absorb port-in housing choice vouchers, and for other purposes.

1. Requiring certain public housing agencies to absorb port-in vouchers 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: (21) Portability of vouchers (A) Definitions In this paragraph— (i) the term covered public housing agency means a public housing agency that, in a given fiscal year, utilizes less than 95 percent of the budget authority available to the public housing agency; (ii) the term initial public housing agency has the meaning given the term initial PHA in section 982.4 of title 24, Code of Federal Regulations, or any successor regulation; and (iii) the term portable family means a family holding a voucher under this subsection that seeks to rent a dwelling unit outside of the jurisdiction of the initial public housing agency. (B) Requirement A covered public housing agency that has jurisdiction over the area in which a portable family is seeking to use the voucher received from an initial public housing agency— (i) shall be required to absorb and receive the portable family by the end of the calendar year in which the portable family seeks to use the voucher; (ii) shall make assistance payments to the portable family under an annual contributions contract entered into between the covered public housing agency and the Secretary; and (iii) may not bill the initial public housing agency for those assistance payments. .