[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 291 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 291

 To authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to carry 
   out a housing choice voucher mobility demonstration to encourage 
  families receiving the voucher assistance to move to lower-poverty 
             areas and expand access to opportunity areas.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 31, 2019

 Mr. Young (for himself, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Rubio, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. 
 Blunt, and Ms. Hassan) introduced the following bill; which was read 
  twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to carry 
   out a housing choice voucher mobility demonstration to encourage 
  families receiving the voucher assistance to move to lower-poverty 
             areas and expand access to opportunity areas.

    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 ``Housing Choice Voucher Mobility 
Demonstration Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHER MOBILITY DEMONSTRATION.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Families; public housing agency.--The terms 
        ``families'' and ``public housing agency'' have the meanings 
        given those terms in section 3(b) of the United States Housing 
        Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a(b)).
            (2) Housing choice voucher assistance.--The term ``housing 
        choice voucher assistance'' means voucher assistance provided 
        under section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 
        U.S.C. 1437f(o)).
            (3) Plan.--The term ``Plan'' means a Regional Housing 
        Mobility Plan submitted under subsection (d).
            (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Housing and Urban Development.
    (b) Authority.--The Secretary may carry out a mobility 
demonstration program to enable public housing agencies to administer 
housing choice voucher assistance in a manner designed to encourage 
families receiving that assistance to move to lower-poverty areas and 
expand access to opportunity areas.
    (c) Selection of PHAs.--
            (1) Requirements.--The Secretary shall establish 
        requirements for public housing agencies to participate in the 
        demonstration program under this section, which shall provide 
        that the following public housing agencies may participate:
                    (A) Public housing agencies that together--
                            (i) serve areas with high concentrations of 
                        families receiving housing choice voucher 
                        assistance in poor, low-opportunity 
                        neighborhoods; and
                            (ii) have an adequate number of moderately 
                        priced rental units in higher-opportunity 
                        areas.
                    (B) Planned consortia or partial consortia of 
                public housing agencies that--
                            (i) include not less than 1 public housing 
                        agency with a high-performing Family Self-
                        Sufficiency program carried out under section 
                        23 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 
                        U.S.C. 1437u); and
                            (ii) will enable participating families to 
                        continue in the Family Self-Sufficiency program 
                        if the family relocates to the jurisdiction 
                        served by any other public housing agency of 
                        the consortium.
                    (C) Planned consortia or partial consortia of 
                public housing agencies that--
                            (i) serve jurisdictions within a single 
                        region;
                            (ii) include not less than 1 small public 
                        housing agency; and
                            (iii) will consolidate mobility-focused 
                        operations.
                    (D) Such other public housing agencies as the 
                Secretary considers appropriate.
            (2) Selection criteria.--The Secretary shall establish 
        competitive selection criteria for public housing agencies 
        eligible under paragraph (1) to participate in the 
        demonstration program under this section.
            (3) Random selection of families.--The Secretary may 
        require public housing agencies participating in the 
        demonstration program under this section to use a randomized 
        selection process to select among the families eligible to 
        receive assistance under the demonstration program.
    (d) Regional Housing Mobility Plan.--The Secretary shall require 
each public housing agency applying to participate in the demonstration 
program under this section to submit a Regional Housing Mobility Plan, 
which shall--
            (1) identify the public housing agencies that will 
        participate under the Plan and the number of vouchers each 
        participating public housing agency will make available out of 
        their existing programs in connection with the demonstration 
        program;
            (2) identify any community-based organizations, nonprofit 
        organizations, businesses, and other entities that will 
        participate under the Plan and describe the commitments for the 
        participation made by each such entity;
            (3) identify any waivers or alternative requirements 
        requested for the execution of the Plan;
            (4) identify any specific actions that the public housing 
        agencies and other entities will undertake to accomplish the 
        goals of the demonstration program, which shall include a 
        comprehensive approach to enable a successful transition to 
        opportunity areas and may include counseling and continued 
        support for families;
            (5) specify the criteria that the public housing agencies 
        would use to identify opportunity areas under the Plan;
            (6) provide for the establishment of priority and 
        preferences for families receiving assistance under the 
        demonstration program, including a preference for families with 
        young children, as such term is defined by the Secretary, based 
        on regional housing needs and priorities; and
            (7) comply with any other requirements established by the 
        Secretary.
    (e) Funding for Mobility-Related Services.--
            (1) Use of administrative fees.--Each public housing agency 
        participating in the demonstration program under this section 
        may use administrative fees under section 8(q) of the United 
        States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(q)), any 
        administrative fee reserves of the public housing agency, and 
        funding from private entities to provide mobility-related 
        services in connection with the demonstration program, 
        including services such as counseling, portability 
        coordination, landlord outreach, security deposits, and 
        administrative activities associated with establishing and 
        operating regional mobility programs.
            (2) Use of housing assistance funds.--Each public housing 
        agency participating in the demonstration program under this 
        section may use housing assistance payment contract funds under 
        section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 
        U.S.C. 1437f(o)) for security deposits if necessary to enable 
        families to lease units with housing choice voucher assistance 
        in designated opportunity areas.
    (f) Waivers; Alternative Requirements.--
            (1) Waivers.--To allow for public housing agencies to 
        implement and administer the Plan of the public housing agency 
        under the demonstration program under this section, the 
        Secretary may waive or specify alternative requirements for the 
        following provisions of the United States Housing Act of 1937 
        (42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.):
                    (A) Paragraphs (7)(A) and (13)(E)(i) of section 
                8(o) (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)) (relating to the term of a 
                lease and mobility requirements).
                    (B) Section 8(o)(13)(C)(i) (42 U.S.C. 
                1437f(o)(13)(C)(i)) (relating to the public housing 
                agency plan).
                    (C) Section 8(r)(2) (42 U.S.C. 1437f(r)(2)) 
                (relating to the responsibility of a public housing 
                agency to administer portable assistance).
            (2) Alternative requirements.--The Secretary shall provide 
        additional authority for public housing agencies in a selected 
        region to form a consortium that has a single housing 
        assistance payment contract, or to enter into a partial 
        consortium to operate all or portions of the Plan, including 
        public housing agencies participating in the Moving To Work 
        demonstration program established under section 204 of the 
        Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban 
        Development, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 1996 
        (Public Law 104-134; 110 Stat. 1321-281).
            (3) Effective date.--Any waiver or alternative requirements 
        pursuant to this subsection shall not take effect before the 
        date that is 10 days after the date on which the date on which 
        the Secretary publishes a notice of the waiver or alternative 
        requirement in the Federal Register.
    (g) Implementation.--The Secretary may implement the demonstration 
program under this section, including the terms, procedures, 
requirements, and conditions of the demonstration, by notice.
    (h) Evaluation.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 5 years after the 
        implementation of the regional housing mobility programs by 
        public housing agencies participating in the demonstration 
        program under this section, the Secretary shall submit to 
        Congress and publish in the Federal Register a report 
        evaluating the effectiveness of the strategies pursued under 
        the demonstration program, subject to the availability of 
        funding to conduct the evaluation.
            (2) Dissemination of findings.--The Secretary shall--
                    (A) through internet websites and other means, 
                disseminate interim findings relating to the 
                demonstration program under this section as they become 
                available; and
                    (B) if promising strategies are identified through 
                the findings described in subparagraph (A), notify 
                Congress of the amount of funds that would be required 
                to expand the testing of these strategies in additional 
                types of public housing agencies and housing markets.
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