[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1719 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1719
To provide homelessness and supportive services assistance for Native
Americans to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 9, 2021
Mr. Vargas (for himself and Ms. Waters) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Appropriations
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide homelessness and supportive services assistance for Native
Americans to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, 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 Tribal Housing Assistance
Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. HOMELESSNESS ASSISTANCE AND SUPPORTIVE SERVICES PROGRAMS FOR
NATIVE AMERICANS.
(a) Appropriation.--In addition to amounts otherwise made
available, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated,
there are appropriated for fiscal year 2021, $750,000,000, to remain
available until September 30, 2025, to prevent, prepare for, and
respond to coronavirus, for activities and assistance authorized under
title I of the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-
Determination Act of 1996 (NAHASDA) (25 U.S.C. 4111 et seq.), under
title VIII of NAHASDA (25 U.S.C. 4221 et seq.), and under title I of
the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 with respect to
Indian tribes (42 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.), which amounts shall be made
available as follows:
(1) Housing block grants.--$455,000,000 shall be available
for the Native American Housing Block Grants and Native
Hawaiian Housing Block Grant programs, as authorized under
titles I and VIII of NAHASDA, subject to the following terms
and conditions:
(A) Formula.--Of the amounts made available under
this paragraph, $450,000,000 shall be for grants under
title I of NAHASDA and shall be distributed according
to the same funding formula used in fiscal year 2021.
(B) Native hawaiians.--Of the amounts made
available under this paragraph, $5,000,000 shall be for
grants under title VIII of NAHASDA.
(C) Use.--Amounts made available under this
paragraph shall be used by recipients to prevent,
prepare for, and respond to coronavirus, including to
maintain normal operations and fund eligible affordable
housing activities under NAHASDA during the period that
the program is impacted by coronavirus. In addition,
amounts made available under subparagraph (B) shall be
used to provide rental assistance to eligible Native
Hawaiian families both on and off the Hawaiian Home
Lands.
(D) Timing of obligations.--Amounts made available
under this paragraph shall be used, as necessary, to
cover or reimburse allowable costs to prevent, prepare
for, and respond to coronavirus that are incurred by a
recipient, including for costs incurred as of January
21, 2020.
(E) Waivers.--Any provision of statute or
regulation used to administer amounts made available
under this paragraph (except for requirements related
to fair housing, nondiscrimination, labor standards,
and the environment), shall be waived upon a finding
that any such waivers or alternative requirements are
necessary to expedite or facilitate the use of amounts
made available under this paragraph.
(F) Unobligated amounts.--Amounts made available
under this paragraph which are not accepted, are
voluntarily returned, or otherwise recaptured for any
reason shall be used to fund grants under paragraph
(2).
(2) Indian community development block grants.--
$280,000,000 shall be available for grants under title I of the
Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, subject to the
following terms and conditions:
(A) Use.--Amounts made available under this
paragraph shall be used, without competition, for
emergencies that constitute imminent threats to health
and safety and are designed to prevent, prepare for,
and respond to coronavirus.
(B) Planning.--Not to exceed 20 percent of any
grant made with funds made available under this
paragraph shall be expended for planning and management
development and administration.
(C) Timing of obligations.--Amounts made available
under this paragraph shall be used, as necessary, to
cover or reimburse allowable costs to prevent, prepare
for, and respond to coronavirus incurred by a
recipient, including for costs incurred as of January
21, 2020.
(D) Inapplicability of public services cap.--
Notwithstanding section 105(a)(8) of the Housing and
Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C.
5305(a)(8)), there shall be no per centum limitation
for the use of funds made available under this
paragraph for public services activities to prevent,
prepare for, and respond to coronavirus.
(E) Waivers.--Any provision of any statute or
regulation used to administer amounts made available
under this paragraph (except for requirements related
to fair housing, nondiscrimination, labor standards,
and the environment), shall be waived upon a finding
that any such waivers or alternative requirements are
necessary to expedite or facilitate the use of amounts
made available under this paragraph.
(3) Technical assistance.--$10,000,000 shall be used,
without competition, to make new awards or increase prior
awards to existing technical assistance providers to provide an
immediate increase in training and technical assistance to
Indian tribes, Indian housing authorities, and tribally
designated housing entities for activities under this section.
(4) Other costs.--$5,000,000 shall be used for the
administrative costs to oversee and administer the
implementation of this section, and pay for associated
information technology, financial reporting, and other costs.
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