[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1986 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1986

   To amend the Fair Housing Act to prohibit discrimination based on 
         source of income, veteran status, or military status.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 26, 2019

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Fair Housing Act to prohibit discrimination based on 
         source of income, veteran status, or military status.

    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 ``Fair Housing Improvement Act of 
2019''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITING HOUSING DISCRIMINATION BASED ON SOURCE OF INCOME, 
              VETERAN STATUS, OR MILITARY STATUS.

    (a) In General.--The Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.) is 
amended--
            (1) in section 802 (42 U.S.C. 3602), by adding at the end 
        the following:
    ``(p) `Military status' means a member of the uniformed services, 
as defined in section 101 of title 10, United States Code.
    ``(q) `Source of income' includes--
            ``(1) a housing voucher under section 8 of the United 
        States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f) and any form of 
        Federal, State, or local housing assistance provided to a 
        person or family or provided to a housing owner on behalf of a 
        person or family, including rental vouchers, rental assistance, 
        and rental subsidies from nongovernmental organizations;
            ``(2) income received as a monthly benefit under title II 
        of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 401 et seq.), as a 
        supplemental security income benefit under title XVI of the 
        Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.), or as a benefit 
        under the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 (45 U.S.C. 231 et 
        seq.);
            ``(3) income received by court order, including spousal 
        support and child support;
            ``(4) any payment from a trust, guardian, conservator, or 
        other relative; and
            ``(5) any other lawful source of income or funds, including 
        savings accounts and investments.
    ``(r) `Veteran status' means a veteran, as defined in section 101 
of title 38, United States Code.'';
            (2) in section 804 (42 U.S.C. 3604)--
                    (A) by inserting ``source of income, veteran 
                status, military status,'' after ``familial status,'' 
                each place that term appears; and
                    (B) in subsection (c)--
                            (i) by inserting ``(1)'' before ``To 
                        make''; and
                            (ii) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(2) Nothing in this title shall be construed to--
            ``(A) prohibit a lender from implementing a loan program 
        for veterans or based upon veteran status or military status; 
        or
            ``(B) prohibit an entity from providing housing assistance 
        under section 8(o)(19) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 
        (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(19)), the Homeless Providers Grant and Per 
        Diem program of the Department of Veterans Affairs, or any 
        other Federal housing assistance program for veterans or based 
        upon veteran status or military status.'';
            (3) in section 805 (42 U.S.C. 3605)--
                    (A) in subsection (a), by inserting ``source of 
                income, veteran status, military status,'' after 
                ``familial status,''; and
                    (B) in subsection (c), by inserting ``source of 
                income, veteran status, military status,'' after 
                ``handicap,'';
            (4) in section 806 (42 U.S.C. 3606), by inserting ``source 
        of income, veteran status, military status,'' after ``familial 
        status,'';
            (5) in section 808(e)(6) (42 U.S.C. 3608(e)(6)), by 
        inserting ``source of income, veteran status, military 
        status,'' after ``handicap,''; and
            (6) in section 810(f) (42 U.S.C. 3610(f)), by striking 
        paragraph (4) and inserting the following:
    ``(4) During the period beginning on the date of enactment of the 
Fair Housing Improvement Act of 2019 and ending on the date that is 40 
months after such date of enactment, each agency certified for purposes 
of this title on the day before such date of enactment shall, for 
purposes of this subsection, be considered certified under this 
subsection with respect to those matters for which the agency was 
certified on that date. If the Secretary determines in an individual 
case that an agency has not been able to meet the certification 
requirements within this 40-month period due to exceptional 
circumstances, such as the infrequency of legislative sessions in that 
jurisdiction, the Secretary may extend such period by not more than 6 
months.''.
    (b) Prevention of Intimidation in Fair Housing Cases.--Section 901 
of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3631) is amended by 
inserting ``source of income (as defined in section 802), veteran 
status (as defined in section 802), military status (as defined in 
section 802),'' before ``or national origin'' each place that term 
appears.
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