[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2707 Introduced in Senate (IS)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2707

  To amend the United States Housing Act of 1937 to exempt qualified 
  public housing agencies from the requirement of preparing an annual 
                      public housing agency plan.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 3, 2006

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the United States Housing Act of 1937 to exempt qualified 
  public housing agencies from the requirement of preparing an annual 
                      public housing agency plan.

    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 ``Small Public Housing Authorities 
Paperwork Reduction Act''.

SEC. 2. PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCY PLANS FOR CERTAIN QUALIFIED PUBLIC 
              HOUSING AGENCIES.

    (a) In General.--Section 5A(b) of the United States Housing Act of 
1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437c-1(b)) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
            ``(3) Exemption of certain phas from filing requirement.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1) or 
                any other provision of this Act--
                            ``(i) the requirement under paragraph (1) 
                        shall not apply to any qualified public housing 
                        agency; and
                            ``(ii) except as provided in subsection 
                        (e)(4)(B), any reference in this section or any 
                        other provision of law to a `public housing 
                        agency' shall not be considered to refer to any 
                        qualified public housing agency, to the extent 
                        such reference applies to the requirement to 
                        submit an annual public housing agency plan 
                        under this subsection.
                    ``(B) Civil rights certification.--Notwithstanding 
                that qualified public housing agencies are exempt under 
                subparagraph (A) from the requirement under this 
                section to prepare and submit an annual public housing 
                plan, each qualified public housing agency shall, on an 
                annual basis, make the certification described in 
                paragraph (16) of subsection (d), except that for 
                purposes of such qualified public housing agencies, 
                such paragraph shall be applied by substituting `the 
                public housing program of the agency' for `the public 
                housing agency plan'.
                    ``(C) Definition.--For purposes of this section, 
                the term `qualified public housing agency' means a 
                public housing agency that--
                            ``(i) administers--
                                    ``(I) 500 or fewer public housing 
                                dwelling units; or
                                    ``(II) any number of vouchers under 
                                section 8(o) of the United States 
                                Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 
                                1437f(o)); and
                            ``(ii) is not designated under section 
                        6(j)(2) as a troubled public housing agency.''.
    (b) Resident Participation.--Section 5A of the United States 
Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437c-1) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (e), by inserting after paragraph (3) the 
        following:
            ``(4) Qualified public housing agencies.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Except as provided in 
                subparagraph (B), nothing in this section may be 
                construed to exempt a qualified public housing agency 
                from the requirement under paragraph (1) to establish 1 
                or more resident advisory boards. Notwithstanding that 
                qualified public housing agencies are exempt under 
                subsection (b)(3)(A) from the requirement under this 
                section to prepare and submit an annual public housing 
                plan, each qualified public housing agency shall 
                consult with, and consider the recommendations of the 
                resident advisory boards for the agency, at the annual 
                public hearing required under subsection (f)(5), 
                regarding any changes to the goals, objectives, and 
                policies of that agency.
                    ``(B) Applicability of waiver authority.--Paragraph 
                (3) shall apply to qualified public housing agencies, 
                except that for purposes of such qualified public 
                housing agencies, subparagraph (B) of such paragraph 
                shall be applied by substituting `the functions 
                described in the second sentence of paragraph (4)(A)' 
                for `the functions described in paragraph (2)'.
    ``(f) Public Hearings.--''; and
            (2) in subsection (f) (as so designated by the amendment 
        made by paragraph (1)), by adding at the end the following:
            ``(5) Qualified public housing agencies.--
                    ``(A) Requirement.--Notwithstanding that qualified 
                public housing agencies are exempt under subsection 
                (b)(3)(A) from the requirement under this section to 
                conduct a public hearing regarding the annual public 
                housing plan of the agency, each qualified public 
                housing agency shall annually conduct a public 
                hearing--
                            ``(i) to discuss any changes to the goals, 
                        objectives, and policies of the agency; and
                            ``(ii) to invite public comment regarding 
                        such changes.
                    ``(B) Availability of information and notice.--Not 
                later than 45 days before the date of any hearing 
                described in subparagraph (A), a qualified public 
                housing agency shall--
                            ``(i) make all information relevant to the 
                        hearing and any determinations of the agency 
                        regarding changes to the goals, objectives, and 
                        policies of the agency to be considered at the 
                        hearing available for inspection by the public 
                        at the principal office of the public housing 
                        agency during normal business hours; and
                            ``(ii) publish a notice informing the 
                        public that--
                                    ``(I) the information is available 
                                as required under clause (i); and
                                    ``(II) a public hearing under 
                                subparagraph (A) will be conducted.''
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