[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 705 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 705

To establish the Interagency Council on Meeting the Housing and Service 
               Needs of Seniors, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 5, 2005

 Mr. Sarbanes introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
    referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To establish the Interagency Council on Meeting the Housing and Service 
               Needs of Seniors, 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 ``Meeting the Housing and Service 
Needs of Seniors Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The senior population (persons 65 or older) in this 
        country is rapidly growing, and is expected to increase from 
        34,700,000 in 2000 to nearly 40,000,000 by 2010, and then will 
        dramatically increase to over 50,000,000 by 2020.
            (2) By 2020, the population of ``older'' seniors, those 
        over age 85, is expected to double to 7,000,000, and then 
        double again to 14,000,000 by 2040.
            (3) As the senior population increases, so does the need 
        for additional safe, decent, affordable, and suitable housing 
        that meets their unique needs.
            (4) Due to the health care, transportation, and service 
        needs of seniors, issues of providing suitable and affordable 
        housing opportunities differ significantly from the housing 
        needs of other families.
            (5) Seniors need access to a wide array of housing options, 
        such as affordable assisted living, in-home care, supportive or 
        service-enriched housing, and retrofitted homes and apartments 
        to allow seniors to age in place and to avoid premature 
        placement in institutional settings.
            (6) While there are many programs in place to assist 
        seniors in finding and affording suitable housing and accessing 
        needed services, these programs are fragmented and spread 
        across many agencies, making it difficult for seniors to access 
        assistance or to receive comprehensive information.
            (7) Better coordination among Federal agencies is needed, 
        as is better coordination at State and local levels, to ensure 
        that seniors can access government activities, programs, 
        services, and benefits in an effective and efficient manner.
            (8) Up to date, accurate, and accessible statistics on key 
        characteristics of seniors, including conditions, behaviors, 
        and needs, are required to accurately identify the housing and 
        service needs of seniors.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) The term ``housing'' means any form of residence, 
        including rental housing, homeownership, assisted living, group 
        home, supportive housing arrangement, nursing facility, or any 
        other physical location where a person can live.
            (2) The term ``service'' includes transportation, health 
        care, nursing assistance, meal, personal care and chore 
        services, assistance with daily activities, mental health care, 
        physical therapy, case management, and any other services 
        needed by seniors to allow them to stay in their housing or 
        find alternative housing that meets their needs.
            (3) The term ``program'' includes any Federal or State 
        program providing income support, health benefits or other 
        benefits to seniors, housing assistance, mortgages, mortgage or 
        loan insurance or guarantees, housing counseling, supportive 
        services, assistance with daily activities, or other assistance 
        for seniors.
            (4) The term ``Council'' means the Interagency Council on 
        Meeting the Housing and Service Needs of Seniors.
            (5) The term ``senior'' means any individual 65 years of 
        age or older.

SEC. 4. INTERAGENCY COUNCIL ON MEETING THE HOUSING AND SERVICE NEEDS OF 
              SENIORS.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established in the executive branch an 
independent council to be known as the Interagency Council on Meeting 
the Housing and Service Needs of Seniors.
    (b) Objectives.--The objectives of the Council are as follows:
            (1) To promote coordination and collaboration among the 
        Federal departments and agencies involved with housing, health 
        care, and service needs of seniors in order to better meet the 
        needs of senior citizens.
            (2) To identify the unique housing and service needs faced 
        by seniors around the country and to recommend ways that the 
        Federal Government, States, State and local governments, and 
        others can better meet those needs, including how to ensure 
        that seniors can find and afford housing that allows them to 
        access health care, transportation, nursing assistance, and 
        assistance with daily activities where they live or in their 
        communities.
            (3) To facilitate the aging in place of seniors, by 
        identifying and making available the programs and services 
        necessary to enable seniors to remain in their homes as they 
        age.
            (4) To improve coordination among the housing and service 
        related programs and services of Federal agencies for seniors 
        and to make recommendations about needed changes with an 
        emphasis on--
                    (A) maximizing the impact of existing programs and 
                services;
                    (B) reducing or eliminating areas of overlap and 
                duplication in the provision and accessibility of such 
                programs and services; and
                    (C) making access to programs and services easier 
                for seniors around the country.
            (5) To increase the efficiency and effectiveness of 
        existing housing and service related programs and services 
        which serve seniors.
            (6) To establish an ongoing system of coordination among 
        and within such agencies or organizations so that the housing 
        and service needs of seniors are met in a more efficient 
        manner.
    (c) Membership.--The Council shall be composed of the following:
            (1) The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development or a 
        designee of the Secretary.
            (2) The Secretary of Health and Human Services or a 
        designee of the Secretary.
            (3) The Secretary of Agriculture or a designee of the 
        Secretary.
            (4) The Secretary of Transportation or a designee of the 
        Secretary.
            (5) The Secretary of Labor or a designee of the Secretary.
            (6) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs or a designee of the 
        Secretary.
            (7) The Secretary of the Treasury or a designee of the 
        Secretary.
            (8) The Commissioner of the Social Security Administration 
        or a designee of the Commissioner.
            (9) The Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and 
        Medicaid Services or a designee of the Administrator.
            (10) The Administrator of the Administration on Aging or a 
        designee of the Administrator.
            (11) The head (or designee) of any other Federal agency as 
        the Council considers appropriate.
            (12) State and local representatives knowledgeable about 
        the needs of seniors as chosen by the Council members described 
        in paragraphs (1) through (11).
    (d) Chairperson.--The Chairperson of the Council shall alternate 
between the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and the 
Secretary of Health and Human Services on an annual basis.
    (e) Vice Chair.--Each year, the Council shall elect a Vice Chair 
from among its members.
    (f) Meetings.--The Council shall meet at the call of its 
Chairperson or a majority of its members at any time, and no less often 
than quarterly. The Council shall hold meetings with stakeholders and 
other interested parties at least twice a year, so that the opinions of 
such parties can be taken into account and so that outside groups can 
learn of the Council's activities and plans.

SEC. 5. FUNCTIONS OF THE COUNCIL.

    (a) Relevant Activities.--In carrying out its objectives, the 
Council shall--
            (1) review all Federal programs and services that assist 
        seniors in finding, affording, and rehabilitating housing, 
        including those that assist seniors in accessing health care, 
        transportation, supportive services, and assistance with daily 
        activities, where or close to where seniors live;
            (2) monitor, evaluate, and recommend improvements in 
        existing programs and services administered, funded, or 
        financed by Federal, State, and local agencies to assist 
        seniors in meeting their housing and service needs and make any 
        recommendations about how agencies can better work to house and 
        serve seniors; and
            (3) recommend ways--
                    (A) to reduce duplication among programs and 
                services by Federal agencies that assist seniors in 
                meeting their housing and service needs;
                    (B) to ensure collaboration among and within 
                agencies in the provision and availability of programs 
                and services so that seniors are able to easily access 
                needed programs and services;
                    (C) to work with States to better provide housing 
                and services to seniors by--
                            (i) holding individual meetings with State 
                        representatives;
                            (ii) providing ongoing technical assistance 
                        to States in better meeting the needs of 
                        seniors; and
                            (iii) working with States to designate 
                        State liaisons to the Council;
                    (D) to identify best practices for programs and 
                services that assist seniors in meeting their housing 
                and service needs, including model--
                            (i) programs linking housing and services;
                            (ii) financing products offered by 
                        government, quasi-government, and private 
                        sector entities;
                            (iii) land use, zoning, and regulatory 
                        practices; and
                            (iv) innovations in technology applications 
                        that give seniors access to information on 
                        available services;
                    (E) to collect and disseminate information about 
                seniors and the programs and services available to them 
                to ensure that seniors can access comprehensive 
                information;
                    (F) to hold biannual meetings with stakeholders and 
                other interested parties (or to hold open Council 
                meetings) to receive input and ideas about how to best 
                meet the housing and service needs of seniors;
                    (G) to maintain an updated website of policies, 
                meetings, best practices, programs, services, and any 
                other helpful information to keep people informed of 
                the Council's activities; and
                    (H) to work with the Federal Interagency Forum on 
                Aging Statistics, the Census Bureau, and member 
                agencies to collect and maintain data relating to the 
                housing and service needs of seniors so that all data 
                can be accessed in one place and to identify and 
                address unmet data needs.
    (b) Reports.--
            (1) By members.--Each year, the head of each agency that is 
        a member of the Council shall prepare and transmit to the 
        Council a report that describes--
                    (A) each program and service administered by the 
                agency that serves seniors and the number of seniors 
                served by each program or service, the resources 
                available in each, as well as a breakdown of where each 
                program and service can be accessed;
                    (B) the barriers and impediments, including 
                statutory or regulatory, to the access and use of such 
                programs and services by seniors;
                    (C) the efforts made by each agency to increase 
                opportunities for seniors to find and afford housing 
                that meet their needs, including how the agency is 
                working with other agencies to better coordinate 
                programs and services; and
                    (D) any new data collected by each agency relating 
                to the housing and service needs of seniors.
            (2) By the council.--Each year, the Council shall prepare 
        and transmit to the President, the Senate Committee on Banking, 
        Housing, and Urban Affairs, the Senate Committee on Health, 
        Education, Labor, and Pensions, the House Financial Services 
        Committee, and the House Committee on Education and the 
        Workforce a report that--
                    (A) summarizes the reports required in paragraph 
                (1);
                    (B) utilizes recent data to assess the nature of 
                the problems faced by seniors in meeting their unique 
                housing and service needs;
                    (C) provides a comprehensive and detailed 
                description of the programs and services of the Federal 
                Government in meeting the needs and problems described 
                in subparagraph (B);
                    (D) describes the activities and accomplishments of 
                the Council in working with Federal, State, and local 
                governments, and private organizations in coordinating 
                programs and services to meet the needs described in 
                subparagraph (B) and the resources available to meet 
                those needs;
                    (E) assesses the level of Federal assistance 
                required to meet the needs described in subparagraph 
                (B); and
                    (F) makes recommendations for appropriate 
                legislative and administrative actions to meet the 
                needs described in subparagraph (B) and for 
                coordinating programs and services designed to meet 
                those needs.

SEC. 6. POWERS OF THE COUNCIL.

    (a) Hearings.--The Council may hold such hearings, sit and act at 
such times and places, take such testimony, and receive such evidence 
as the Council considers advisable to carry out the purposes of this 
Act.
    (b) Information From Agencies.--Agencies which are members of the 
Council shall provide all requested information and data to the Council 
as requested.
    (c) Postal Services.--The Council may use the United States mails 
in the same manner and under the same conditions as other departments 
and agencies of the Federal Government.
    (d) Gifts.--The Council may accept, use, and dispose of gifts or 
donations of services or property.

SEC. 7. COUNCIL PERSONNEL MATTERS.

    (a) Compensation of Members.--All members of the Council who are 
officers or employees of the United States shall serve without 
compensation in addition to that received for their services as 
officers or employees of the United States.
    (b) Travel Expenses.--The members of the Council shall be allowed 
travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates 
authorized for employees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 
of title 5, United States Code, while away from their homes or regular 
places of business in the performance of services for the Council.
    (c) Staff.--
            (1) In general.--The Council shall, without regard to civil 
        service laws and regulations, appoint and terminate an 
        Executive Director and such other additional personnel as may 
        be necessary to enable the Council to perform its duties.
            (2) Executive director.--The Council shall appoint an 
        Executive Director at its initial meeting. The Executive 
        Director shall be compensated at a rate not to exceed the rate 
        of pay payable for level V of the Executive Schedule under 
        section 5316 of title 5, United States Code.
            (3) Compensation.--With the approval of the Council, the 
        Executive Director may appoint and fix the compensation of such 
        additional personnel as necessary to carry out the duties of 
        the Council. The rate of compensation may be set without regard 
        to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter II of chapter 53 
        of title 5, United States Code, relating to classification of 
        positions and General Schedule pay rates, except that the rate 
        of pay may not exceed the rate payable for level V of the 
        Executive Schedule under section 5316 of such title.
    (d) Temporary and Intermittent Services.--In carrying out its 
objectives, the Council may procure temporary and intermittent services 
of consultants and experts under section 3109(b) of title 5, United 
States Code, at rates for individuals which do not exceed the daily 
equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay prescribed for level V of 
the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of such title.
    (e) Detail of Government Employees.--Upon request of the Council, 
any Federal Government employee may be detailed to the Council without 
reimbursement, and such detail shall be without interruption or loss of 
civil service status or privilege.
    (f) Administrative Support.--The Secretary of Housing Urban 
Development and the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall 
provide the Council with such administrative and supportive services as 
are necessary to ensure that the Council can carry out its functions.

SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act, 
$1,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2005 through 2010.
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