[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7084 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7084
To authorize emergency rental voucher assistance, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 1, 2020
Ms. Waters introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Financial Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize emergency rental voucher assistance, 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 ``Emergency Housing Voucher Act of
2020''.
SEC. 2. EMERGENCY RENTAL ASSISTANCE VOUCHER PROGRAM.
(a) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (in this
section referred to as the ``Secretary''), $10,000,000,000 for fiscal
year 2020, to remain available until expended, for--
(1) 200,000 incremental emergency vouchers under subsection
(b);
(2) renewals of the vouchers under subsection (b); and
(3) fees for the costs of administering vouchers under
subsection (b).
(b) Emergency Vouchers.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary shall provide emergency
rental assistance vouchers under this subsection, which shall
be tenant-based rental assistance under section 8(o) of the
United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)).
(2) Selection of families.--
(A) Mandatory preferences.--Each public housing
agency administering assistance under this section
shall provide preference for such assistance to
eligible families that are--
(i) homeless (as such term is defined in
section 103(a) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless
Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11302(a));
(ii) at risk of homelessness (as such term
is defined in section 401 of the McKinney-Vento
Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11360)); or
(iii) fleeing, or attempting to flee,
domestic violence, dating violence, sexual
assault, or stalking.
(B) Allocation.--In allocating amounts made
available under this section, the Secretary shall--
(i) not later than 60 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, allocate at least
50 percent of such amounts to public housing
agencies in accordance with a formula that
considers--
(I) the capability of public
housing agencies to promptly use
emergency vouchers provided under this
section; and
(II) the need for emergency
vouchers provided under this section in
the geographical area, based on factors
determined by the Secretary, including
risk of transmission of coronavirus,
high numbers or rates of sheltered and
unsheltered homelessness, and economic
and housing market conditions;
(ii) allocate remaining amounts in
accordance with a formula that considers--
(I) the criteria under clause (i)
and the success of a public housing
agency in promptly utilizing vouchers
awarded under clause (i); and
(II) the capability of the public
housing agency to create and manage
structured partnerships with service
providers for the delivery of
appropriate community-based services;
and
(iii) designate the number of vouchers
under this section that each public housing
agency that is awarded funds under this section
is authorized to administer.
(C) Election not to administer.--If a public
housing agency elects not to administer amounts under
this section, the Secretary shall award such amounts to
other public housing agencies according to the criteria
in subparagraph (B).
(D) Failure to use vouchers promptly.--If a public
housing agency fails to issue all of its authorized
vouchers under this section on behalf of eligible
families within a reasonable period of time as
determined by the Secretary, the Secretary shall
reallocate any unissued vouchers and associated funds
to others public housing agencies according to the
criteria under subparagraph (B)(ii).
(3) Waivers and alternative requirements.--Any waiver or
alternative requirement that the Secretary makes available to
all public housing agencies in connection with assistance made
available under the heading ``Tenant-Based Rental Assistance''
in title XII of division B of the CARES Act (Public Law 116-
136; 134 Stat. 601) shall apply to assistance under this
section until the expiration of such waiver or alternative
requirement.
(4) Termination of vouchers upon turnover.--
(A) In general.--A public housing agency may not
reissue any vouchers made available under this section
when assistance for the family initially assisted is
terminated.
(B) Reallocation.--Upon termination of assistance
for one or more families assisted by a public housing
agency under this section, the Secretary shall
reallocate amounts that are no longer needed by such
public housing agency for assistance under this section
to another public housing agency for the renewal of
vouchers previously authorized under this section.
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