[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2298 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2298

To amend section 3 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 to 
   ensure improved access to employment opportunities for low-income 
                                people.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 2, 2003

Ms. Velazquez introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend section 3 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 to 
   ensure improved access to employment opportunities for low-income 
                                people.

    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 ``Earning and Living Opportunities 
Act''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS.

     Section 3 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 (12 
U.S.C. 1701u) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsections (e), (f), and (g) as 
        subsections (g), (h), and (i), respectively;
            (2) in subsection (g), as so redesignated--
                    (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting at the end 
                ``Provided, however, that any resident of a public or 
                Indian housing development or any other person who 
                qualifies as a low- or very low-income person under the 
                preference categories set forth in section (c)(1)(B) 
                shall, for purposes of this statute, continue to 
                qualify, as initially verified, as a low- or very low-
                income person for a period of five years, irrespective 
                of any increase in the person's income during that 
                period.''; and
                    (B) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following 
                new paragraph:
            ``(3) One-stop delivery system.--The term `one-stop 
        delivery system' has the meaning given that term in section 
        134(c) of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 
        2864(c)).''; and
            (3) by inserting after subsection (d) the following new 
        subsections:
    ``(e) Requirement for Employing Low- and Very Low-Income Persons.--
            ``(1) Twenty percent requirement.--
                    ``(A) Condition of assistance.--It shall be a 
                condition of any assistance provided to a public or 
                Indian housing agency or contract awarded by a public 
                or Indian housing agency for work to be performed in 
                connection with development assistance provided from 
                the capital fund under section 9(d) of the United 
                States Housing Act of 1937, the operating fund under 
                section 9(e) of such Act, or any other Federal 
                assistance for housing and community development that, 
                except as provided in paragraph 2(B), a minimum of 20 
                percent of all hours worked by employees of the public 
                or Indian housing agency or of a contractor in 
                connection with such contract shall be performed by 
                low- or very low-income persons hired in accordance 
                with subsection (c)(1)(B)
                    ``(B) Requirement.--Recipients of Federal housing 
                and community development assistance for housing 
                rehabilitation, housing construction, or other public 
                construction projects and their contractors shall 
                provide that a minimum of 20 percent of all hours 
                worked by new employees of the recipient or its 
                contractors shall be performed by low- or very low-
                income persons hired in accordance with subsection 
                (c)(2)(B).
            ``(2) Compliance.--As a condition of any contract awarded 
        for the work described in paragraph (1), any contractor awarded 
        such a contract shall--
                    ``(A)(i) immediately before beginning work under 
                such contract, submit evidence to the satisfaction of 
                the public or Indian housing agency, and the tenant 
                association (or tenant delegate where a tenant 
                association does not exist) at the development where 
                the contracted work is to be done, showing that a 
                minimum of 20 percent of all hours worked in connection 
                with such contract shall be performed by low- or very 
                low-income persons hired in accordance with subsection 
                (c)(1)(B); and
                    ``(ii) submit evidence to the satisfaction of the 
                public or Indian housing agency showing that a minimum 
                of 20 percent of all hours actually worked in 
                connection with such contract were in fact performed by 
                low- or very low-income persons hired in accordance 
                with subsection (c)(1)(B); or
                    ``(B) if such contractor cannot meet the 
                requirement imposed by paragraph (1)--
                            ``(i) submit evidence to the satisfaction 
                        of the public or Indian housing agency and the 
                        tenant association (or tenant delegate where a 
                        tenant association does not exist) at the 
                        development where the contracted work is to be 
                        done, that such contractor made a best effort 
                        to hire low- and very low-income persons in 
                        conformance with subsection (c)(1)(B) by taking 
                        steps which include--
                                    ``(I) recruiting and conducting job 
                                interviews at the affected development 
                                and in the affected community;
                                    ``(II) working with the public and 
                                Indian housing agency to advertise and 
                                recruit low- and very low-income 
                                persons; and
                                    ``(III) giving notice of such 
                                contract to the one-stop delivery 
                                system for the area which the housing 
                                subject to the contract is located, 
                                including the particular skills, 
                                knowledge, and abilities needed by 
                                potential employees for work under such 
                                contract; and
                            ``(ii) provide to the public or Indian 
                        housing agency and the tenant association (or 
                        tenant delegate where a tenant association does 
                        not exist) at the development where the 
                        contracted work is to be done, evidence, as the 
                        Secretary shall by regulation require, 
                        sufficient to show why low- or very low-income 
                        persons who were provided by either the public 
                        or Indian housing agency or by the one-stop 
                        delivery system, or who otherwise made 
                        themselves available did not have the skills, 
                        knowledge, or abilities to perform the work.
            ``(3) Training.--Any contractor awarded a contract for the 
        work described in paragraph (1) shall provide on-the-job 
        training to any employee who is a low- or very low-income 
        person and hired in conformance with subsection (c)(1)(B). Such 
        training may be provided through an approved apprenticeship 
        program.
    ``(f) Recruitment, Referral, and Training Requirements.--Public and 
Indian housing agencies shall--
            ``(1) maintain a registry of eligible low- and very low-
        income persons who reside in the public housing which is the 
        site of a contract referred to in this section;
            ``(2) provide to any contractor and the tenant association 
        (or tenant delegate where a tenant association does not exist) 
        at the development where the contracted work is to be done, 
        awarded such a contract names and applications from low- and 
        very low-income persons;
            ``(3) refer any low- or very low-income persons seeking 
        qualifying skills to the one-stop delivery system for the area 
        in which the housing subject to a contract is located;
            ``(4) consult with contractors to ensure that with the 
        skills, knowledge, and abilities, and in the priority 
        categories of subsections (c)(1)(B) and (c)(2)(B) low- and very 
        low-income persons are not passed over in hiring;
            ``(5) provide to the one-stop delivery system for the area 
        in which the housing subject to a contract is located a 
        detailed description of the work to be done on all projects for 
        which it is accepting, or will be accepting, bids, and a list 
        of the priority categories, so that eligible low- and very low-
        income persons may be appropriately trained; and
            ``(6) make any other effort that may be necessary to 
        increase the number of low- and very low-income persons hired 
        in accordance with subsection (c)(1)(B).''.
                                 <all>