[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3228 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3228

  To promote the development of affordable, quality rental housing in 
                 rural areas for low-income households.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

            October 24 (legislative day, September 22), 2000

 Mr. Edwards (for himself, Mr. Jeffords, and Mr. Leahy) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                  Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To promote the development of affordable, quality rental housing in 
                 rural areas for low-income households.

    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 ``Rural Rental Housing Act of 2000''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

     Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) There is a pressing and increasing need for rental 
        housing for rural families and senior citizens:
                    (A) Two thirds of extremely low-income and very 
                low-income rural households do not have access to 
                affordable rental housing units.
                    (B) More than 900,000 rural rental households (10.4 
                percent) live in either severely or moderately 
                inadequate housing.
                    (C) Substandard housing is a problem for 547,000 
                rural renters, and approximately 165,000 rural rental 
                units are overcrowded.
            (2) Many rural United States households live with serious 
        housing problems, including a lack of basic water and 
        wastewater services, structural insufficiencies, and 
        overcrowding:
                    (A) 28 percent, or 10,400,000, rural households in 
                the United States live with some kind of serious 
                housing problem.
                    (B) Approximately 1,000,000 rural renters have 
                multiple housing problems.
                    (C) An estimated 2,600,000 rural households live in 
                substandard housing with severe structural damage or 
                without indoor plumbing, heat, or electricity.
            (3) One third of all renters in rural America pay more than 
        30 percent of their income for housing:
                    (A) 20 percent of rural renters pay more than 50 
                percent of their income for housing.
                    (C) 92 percent of all rural renters with 
                significant housing problems pay more than 50 percent 
                of their income for housing costs, and 60 percent 
                paying more than 70 percent of their income for 
                housing.
            (4) Rural economies are often less diverse, and therefore, 
        jobs and economic opportunity are limited:
                    (A) Factors existing in rural environments, such as 
                remoteness and low population destiny, lead to limited 
                access to many forces driving the economy, such as 
                technology, lending, and investment.
                    (B) Local expertise is often limited in rural areas 
                where the economies are focused on farming and/or 
                natural resource-based industries.
            (5) Rural areas have less access to credit than 
        metropolitan areas:
                    (A) Banks and other investors, looking for larger 
                projects with lower risk, seek metropolitan areas for 
                loans and investment.
                    (B) Often, credit that is available is 
                insufficient, leading to the need for interim or bridge 
                financing.
                    (C) Credit in rural areas is often more expensive 
                and available at less favorable terms than in 
                metropolitan areas.
            (6) The Federal Government investment in rural rental 
        housing has dropped during the last 10 years, as--
                    (A) Federal spending for rural rental housing has 
                been cut by 73 percent since 1994; and
                    (B) Rural rental housing unit production financed 
                by the Federal Government has been reduced by 88 
                percent since 1990.
            (7) To address the scarcity of rural rental housing, the 
        Federal Government must work in partnership with State and 
        local governments, private financial institutions, private 
        philanthropic institutions, and the private sector, including 
        nonprofit organizations.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Eligible rural area.--The term ``eligible rural area'' 
        means a rural area with a population of not more than 25,000, 
        as determined by the most recent decennial census of the United 
        States, and located outside an urbanized area.
            (2) Eligible project.--The term ``eligible project'' means 
        a project for the acquisition, rehabilitation, or construction 
        of rental housing and related facilities in an eligible rural 
        area for occupancy by low-income families.
            (3) Eligible sponsor.--The term ``eligible sponsor'' means 
        a public agency, an Indian tribe, a for-profit corporation, or 
        a private nonprofit corporation--
                    (A) a purpose of which is planning, developing, or 
                managing housing or community development projects in 
                rural areas; and
                    (B) that has a record of accomplishment in housing 
                or community development and meets other criteria 
                established by the Secretary by regulation.
            (4) Low-income families.--The term ``low-income families'' 
        has the meaning given the term in section 3(b) of the United 
        States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)).
            (5) Qualified intermediary.--The term ``qualified 
        intermediary'' means a State, a State agency designated by the 
        Governor of the State, a private nonprofit community 
        development corporation, a nonprofit housing corporation, a 
        community development loan fund, or a community development 
        credit union, that--
                    (A) has a record of providing technical and 
                financial assistance for housing and community 
                development activities in rural areas; and
                    (B) has a demonstrated technical and financial 
                capacity to administer assistance made available under 
                this Act.
            (7) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Agriculture.
            (8) State.--The term ``State'' means the States of the 
        United States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of 
        Columbia, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 
        Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Trust Territories 
        of the Pacific, and any other possession of the United States.

SEC. 4. RURAL RENTAL HOUSING ASSISTANCE.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary may, directly or through 1 or more 
qualified intermediaries in accordance with section 5, make assistance 
available to eligible sponsors in the form of loans, grants, interest 
subsidies, annuities, and other forms of financing assistance, to 
finance the eligible projects.
    (b) Applications.--
            (1) In general.--To be eligible to receive assistance under 
        this section, an eligible sponsor shall submit to the 
        Secretary, or a qualified intermediary, an application in such 
        form and containing such information as the Secretary shall 
        require by regulation.
            (2) Affordability restriction.--Each application under this 
        subsection shall include a certification by the applicant that 
        the housing to be acquired, rehabilitated, or constructed with 
        assistance under this section will remain affordable for low-
        income families for not less than 30 years.
    (c) Priority for Assistance.--In selecting among applicants for 
assistance under this section, the Secretary, or a qualified 
intermediary, shall give priority to providing assistance to eligible 
projects--
            (1) for very low-income families (as defined in section 
        3(b) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 
        1437a(b)); and
            (2) in low-income communities or in communities with a 
        severe lack of affordable rental housing, in eligible rural 
        areas, as determined by the Secretary; or
            (3) applications submitted by public agencies, Indian 
        tribes, private nonprofit corporations or limited dividend 
        corporations in which the general partner is a non-profit 
        entity whose principal purposes include planning, developing 
        and managing low-income housing and community development 
        projects.
    (d) Allocation of Assistance.--In carrying out this section, the 
Secretary shall allocate assistance among the States, taking into 
account the incidence of rural substandard housing and rural poverty in 
each State and the State's share of the national total of such indices.
    (e) Limitations on Amount of Assistance.--
            (1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), 
        assistance made available under this Act may not exceed 50 
        percent of the total cost of the eligible project.
            (2) Exception.--Assistance authorized under this Act shall 
        not exceed 75 percent of the total cost of the eligible 
        project, if the project is for the acquisition, rehabilitation, 
        or construction of not more than 20 rental housing units for 
        use by very low-income families.

SEC. 5. DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary may delegate authority for 
distribution of assistance to one or more qualified intermediaries in 
the State. Such delegation shall be for a period of not more than 3 
years, and shall be subject to renewal, in the discretion of the 
Secretary, for 1 or more additional periods of not to exceed 3 years.
    (b) Solicitation.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary may, in the discretion of 
        the Secretary, solicit applications from qualified 
        intermediaries for a delegation of authority under this 
        section.
            (2) Contents of application.--Each application under this 
        subsection shall include--
                    (A) a certification that the applicant will--
                            (i) provide matching funds from sources 
                        other than this Act in an amount that is not 
                        less than the amount of assistance provided to 
                        the applicant under this section; and
                            (ii) distribute assistance to eligible 
                        sponsors in the State in accordance with 
                        section 4; and
                    (B) a description of--
                            (i) the State or the area within a State to 
                        be served;
                            (ii) in the incidence of poverty and 
                        substandard housing in the State or area to be 
                        served;
                            (iii) the technical and financial 
                        qualifications of the applicant; and
                            (iv) the assistance sought and a proposed 
                        plan for the distribution of such assistance in 
                        accordance with section 4.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act 
$250,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2001 through 2005.
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