[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5177 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5177
To amend the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 to expand
certain service coordinator programs, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
August 8, 2023
Mr. Smith of Washington (for himself, Ms. Bonamici, and Mrs. Beatty)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on Education and
the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 to expand
certain service coordinator programs, 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 ``Expanding Service Coordinators
Act''.
SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF COVERED SERVICE COORDINATOR PROGRAMS.
(a) In General.--Section 671 of the Housing and Community
Development Act of 1992 (42 U.S.C. 13631) is amended by adding at the
end the following:
``(g) Prohibition on Additional Requirements.--Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, if a covered federally assisted housing project
is eligible to receive amounts under this title to employ or retain a
service coordinator, the Secretary may not subject such covered
federally assisted housing project to any additional requirements in
exchange for such amounts.''.
(b) Additional Requirements for Service Coordinators.--Subtitle E
of title VI of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 (42
U.S.C. 13631 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``SEC. 678. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.
``(a) Funding for Service Coordinator Training.--An owner of a
federally assisted housing project shall, each year, reserve not less
than $2,500 of amounts received to carry out a covered service
coordinator program for use by a service coordinator to access training
in areas described in section 802(d)(4) of the Cranston-Gonzalez
National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8011(d)(4)).
``(b) Service Coordinator Training Reporting Requirement.--A
service coordinator operating pursuant to a covered service coordinator
program shall, on an annual basis, submit to the Secretary information,
as determined appropriate by the Secretary, with respect to training
completed by the service coordinator in the preceding year.
``(c) Grant Applications.--The Secretary may not require an
applicant for a grant under a covered service coordinator program to
use all of the amounts available to the applicant prior to submitting
an application for such grant.
``(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated to the Secretary for the operation of covered service
coordinator programs and the continuation of existing congregate
service grants for residents of federally assisted housing projects
$225,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028.
``(e) Covered Service Coordinator Program Defined.--The term
`covered service coordinator program' means the service coordinator
programs established pursuant to--
``(1) this subtitle;
``(2) section 802 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National
Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8011);
``(3) section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C.
1701q); and
``(4) section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937
(42 U.S.C. 1437f).''.
(c) Provision of Services.--Section 202(g)(3) of the Housing Act of
1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q(g)(3)) is amended by inserting ``, including with
respect to the calculation of initial rents'' after ``eligible cost
under subsection (c)(2)''.
SEC. 3. PUBLIC SERVICE LOAN FORGIVENESS ELIGIBILITY.
Section 455(m)(3)(B)(i) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 1087e(m)(3)(B)(i)) is amended by inserting ``public service as a
service coordinator,'' after ``school-based services,''.
SEC. 4. EXPANSION OF FUNDING FOR SERVICES FOR PUBLIC AND INDIAN HOUSING
RESIDENTS.
Section 34 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C.
1437z-6) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(f) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section $45,000,000 for
each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028.''.
SEC. 5. STUDY ON RURAL SERVICE COORDINATION.
(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this section, the Comptroller General of the United States
shall conduct a study regarding the coordination of the provision of
supportive services (in this section referred to as ``service
coordination'') by one or more individuals (in this section referred to
as a ``service coordinator'') in rural covered federally assisted
housing projects, which shall include the following:
(1) An identification of the number of service coordinators
that work in rural covered federally assisted housing projects.
(2) An identification of the number of rural covered
federally assisted housing projects that do not employ a
service coordinator.
(3) A description of the effect of service coordinators on
the well-being of residents of rural covered federally assisted
housing projects.
(4) A comparison of the met and unmet needs of residents of
rural covered federally assisted housing projects--
(A) that employ a service coordinator; and
(B) that do not employ a service coordinator.
(5) A description of models of service coordination that
are used in programs other than rural covered federally
assisted housing projects.
(6) A description of barriers, if any, to the operation of
service coordinators in rural covered federally assisted
housing projects.
(7) A description of promising service coordination
practices that should be explored for use by service
coordinators in rural covered federally assisted housing
projects, including the following:
(A) Multi-site service coordination.
(B) Part-time service coordination.
(C) Remote service coordination.
(b) Report.--Upon completion of the study required under subsection
(a), the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to the
appropriate congressional committees a report regarding the results of
such study.
(c) Covered Federally Assisted Housing Defined.--In this section,
the term ``covered federally assisted housing'' means--
(1) federally assisted housing, as such term is defined in
section 683(2) of the Housing and Community Development Act of
1992 (42 U.S.C. 13641(2)); and
(2) housing that is assisted under section 514, 515, 516,
or 538 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1484, 1485, 1486,
or 1490p-2).
SEC. 6. HRSA GRANTS FOR SERVICE COORDINATORS.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting
through the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services
Administration, shall establish a program to award 150 grants to
eligible properties to fund service coordinators.
(b) Grant Period.--A grant awarded under this section shall be for
a period of 3 years, and may be renewed.
(c) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Eligible property.--The term ``eligible property''
means a housing project with respect to which a person has
claimed a credit under section 42(a) of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986.
(2) Service coordinator.--The term ``service coordinator''
has the meaning given the term in section 671 of the Housing
and Community Development Act of 1992.
(d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated in fiscal year 2024 to carry out this section $37,000,000.
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