[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2938 Introduced in House (IH)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2938

To amend the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to authorize 
  the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to carry out a loan 
   repayment program for certain architects, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 25, 2015

   Mr. Perlmutter (for himself, Mr. Ross, Ms. Moore, Mr. Sires, Mr. 
   Ashford, and Mr. Nolan) introduced the following bill; which was 
            referred to the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to authorize 
  the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to carry out a loan 
   repayment program for certain architects, 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 ``National Design Services Act of 
2015''.

SEC. 2. ARCHITECT LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM.

    Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 
U.S.C. 5301 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
section:

``SEC. 5322. ARCHITECT LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Authorization.--The Secretary may establish and carry out a 
loan repayment program for eligible architects (in this section 
referred to as the `loan repayment program') who provide eligible 
design services on behalf of a Community Design Center.
    ``(b) Contract.--To be eligible to participate in the loan 
repayment program, an eligible architect shall enter into a written 
contract with the Secretary that contains--
            ``(1) an agreement under which--
                    ``(A) the eligible architect agrees to provide 
                eligible design services on behalf of a Community 
                Design Center for a period of not shorter than 1 year; 
                and
                    ``(B) the Secretary agrees to make payments on the 
                principal and interest of qualifying educational loans 
                of the eligible architect in an amount to be determined 
                by the Secretary for the period of time the eligible 
                architect provides such eligible design services;
            ``(2) a provision that any financial obligation of the 
        United States arising out of a contract entered into under this 
        subsection and any obligation of the eligible architect which 
        is conditioned thereon, is contingent upon funds being 
        appropriated for the loan repayment program under this section; 
        and
            ``(3) a statement of the damages to which the United States 
        is entitled under subsection (f) if the eligible architect 
        breaches the contract.
    ``(c) Eligible Design Services.--The term `eligible design 
services' means research or design services as follows:
            ``(1) The design, including the preparation of construction 
        documents, of housing facilities, schools, health clinics, 
        libraries, community centers, and other public facilities 
        (except for buildings used for the general conduct of 
        government).
            ``(2) The development of comprehensive long-range community 
        development plans.
            ``(3) The development of plans for neighborhoods that are 
        appropriate for rehabilitation or conservation activities, 
        including neighborhoods that are blighted, deteriorated, or 
        deteriorating.
            ``(4) The preservation or rehabilitation of historic sites.
            ``(5) The design, including the preparation of construction 
        documents, of building retrofits for energy and water 
        efficiency and conservation improvements.
            ``(6) Assessment of the safety of structures that are in 
        disrepair or have been damaged as the result of natural or 
        manmade disasters.
            ``(7) The design of improvements that remove architectural 
        barriers which restrict the mobility of elderly individuals and 
        individuals with disabilities.
            ``(8) Plans for the redevelopment of traditional main 
        streets and business districts.
            ``(9) Other activities as the Secretary may determine.
    ``(d) Application.--The Secretary shall provide for an eligible 
architect to submit an application to participate in the loan repayment 
program to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing 
such information as the Secretary may require which shall include--
            ``(1) proof of employment by a Community Design Center for 
        a period of not less than 1 year;
            ``(2) a statement of the amount of compensation the 
        eligible architect will receive from the Community Design 
        Center; and
            ``(3) a contract entered into pursuant to subsection (b).
    ``(e) Selection.--The Secretary shall select, from applications 
submitted under subsection (d), eligible architects to participate in 
the loan repayment program.
    ``(f) Administration.--
            ``(1) Contracting authority.--The Secretary may enter into 
        a contract with another Federal agency to assist in the 
        administration of this program.
            ``(2) Breach.--
                    ``(A) In general.--A contract described in 
                subsection (b) shall provide remedies for any breach of 
                such contract by an eligible architect, including 
                repayment or partial repayment of financial assistance 
                received with interest.
                    ``(B) Amounts recovered.--Funds recovered under 
                this paragraph shall be credited to the account 
                available to carry out this section and shall remain 
                available until expended.
                    ``(C) Waiver.--The Secretary may grant a waiver of 
                any repayment obligation for breach of contract in the 
                event of extreme hardship or extreme need, as 
                determined by the Secretary.
            ``(3) Amount.--The Secretary shall develop regulations to 
        determine the amount of loan repayment for 1 year of service by 
        an eligible architect. In making the determination, the 
        Secretary shall maximize the number of contracts that can be 
        provided under the program from the amounts appropriated for 
        such contracts.
            ``(4) Qualifying educational loans.--Loan repayments 
        provided under this section may consist of payments on behalf 
        of eligible architects of the principal and interest on 
        government and commercial loans received by the eligible 
        architect for attendance at an accredited masters program in 
        architecture, which loans were made for--
                    ``(A) tuition expenses;
                    ``(B) all other reasonable educational expenses, 
                including fees, books, technology, and studio expenses 
                incurred by the eligible architect; or
                    ``(C) reasonable living expenses as determined by 
                the Secretary.
            ``(5) Repayment schedule.--The Secretary may contract with 
        an eligible architect's loan provider for the payment to the 
        loan provider, on behalf of the eligible architect, of the 
        amount of a loan repayment described in paragraph (3).
    ``(g) Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be construed to 
allow a Community Design Center to prepare building plans or 
construction documents that do not comply with applicable State and 
local laws and regulations related to building codes and permits.
    ``(h) Definitions.--In this section the following definitions shall 
apply:
            ``(1) Community design center.--The term `Community Design 
        Center' means a non-profit organization operated and managed by 
        a licensed architect that conducts research and provides 
        eligible design services for community development projects.
            ``(2) Eligible architect.--The term `eligible architect' 
        means an individual who--
                    ``(A) has completed an accredited masters program 
                in architecture; or
                    ``(B) is an intern architect who has completed an 
                accredited masters program in architecture and is 
                enrolled in the Intern Development Program of the 
                National Council of Architectural Registration Boards.
            ``(3) State.--The term `State' means each of the several 
        States, the District of Columbia, and any territory or 
        possession of the United States.
    ``(i) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated for carrying out this section such sums as may be 
necessary, to remain available until expended.''.
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