Date: 1984-09-11
Speaker: ST GERMAIN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Speaker. the amendments to the Housing and UrbanRural Recovery Act of 1983. Public Law 98181. contain important technical corrections and policy clarifications to that act. These are necessary because in passing Public Law 98181. the usual procedure of a conference meeting. a conference report. and floor action was bypassed. Important omissions and technical defects which resulted must be corrected. This amendment provides those corrections and also includes clarifications of congressional intent that have been brought to our attention. Title I of this amendment contains technical corrections to the community development block grant and the assisted housing progras admninistered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Farmers Home Administrations rural housing programs. A provision is included that will clear up the issue involving the principally benefit tests where areawide activities are undertaken in communities that have few or no areas with high concentrations of low- and moderateincome people. This amendment would permit community development block grant activities to be considered to benefit low- and moderateincome families if they are located among the top 25 percent of all areas within the community having the highest concentration of low- and moderateincome people. We clarify that an urban county that contained newly identified metropolitan cities can be considered an urban county entitlement community if the city defers its metropolitan classification for Community Development Block Grant Program purposes. Among the assisted housing provisions included in this amendment the use of section 235 homeownership subsidy funds that the Congress approved will be facilitated by correcting a technical omission. Handicapped employed residents of federally assisted housing would be allowed their income attendant care costs. the HUD Secretary would be authorized to increase moderate rehabilitation section 8 assistance to assure that lowincome residents can continue to live in apartments sold from the HUD In. antory. And the HUD Secretarys authority to provide section 8 existing contracts on a project basis in the Loan Management and Property Disposition Program would be preserved. Both of these amendments will help in the effort to utilize to the greatest extent possible the existing housing stock in meeting our lowincome housing needs. A provision adds 12 more cities that could be eligible for grants under the Rental Housing Development Program. Title II contains other necessary technical and conforming amendments to the housing and community development Ilws and makes other corrections of a technical nature. In addition several provisions are included to the Farmers Home Administrations rural housing programs. Beginning in fiscal year 1985. the transfer of rural housing loan authority to any other program would be prohibited. The unfortunate section.502 homeownership targeting issue is resolved by a provision which allows separate setasides of section 502 authority among very lowincome borrowers and lowincome horrowers so that loans for one needy group of borrowers are not withheld because a loan cannot be made to a borrower from the other group. A provision would make clear that States and localities that provide rental assistance payments for lowincome rural rental projects in order to obtain Gepitcniber 11. 1984 a section 515 rental housing loan not be required to. meet otlger feasibility rbquirenents than already .ate reillired by the Farmers Hom& Admiistrations Renta Assistance Payment Program. A provision of the amendment requires the HUD Secretary to issue regulations by October 31. 1984. to implement section 436 of the 1983 amendments. which makes FHA hospital mortgage insurance available for the first time to the public hospitals. I also am concerned about the Departments persistent effort to change the performance funding system that provides operating subsidies. I am advised that an August 31. 1984. memorandum indicates that the Department decided not to retroactively change the procedures used for calculating the rental income estimate used in the performance funding system. But I must express my real disappointment to find that HUD reneged on an agreement it made when we negotiat-. ed the 1983 Act. At that time we agreed that nonprofit section 202 elderly housing sponsors to select contractors on a negotiated basis so long as costs were lowif they where high HUD was permitted to step into the selection process. However. to my dismay HUD went ahead and proposed administrative procedures that made a mockery of its agreement. It would not back off and. therefore. we have included a provision preventing the imposition of requirements merely designed to apply because of the method of contractor selection in a nonprofit section 202 project. I thank the subcommittee chairman.