[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 6 (Wednesday, January 10, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S168]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          AMENDMENTS SUBMITTED

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         THE PUBLIC HOUSING REFORM AND EMPOWERMENT ACT OF 1995

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                        MACK AMENDMENT NO. 3117

  Mr. DOLE (for Mr. Mack) proposed an amendment to the bill (S. 1260) 
to reform and consolidate the public and assisted housing programs of 
the United States, and to redirect primary responsibility for these 
programs from the Federal Government to States and localities, and for 
other purposes; as follows:

       On page 190, beginning on line 14, strike ``Certain Public 
     and Assisted Housing'' and replace with ``Public Housing''.
       On page 190, beginning on line 17, strike ``dwelling units 
     receiving tenant-based assistance under section 8 and''
       On page 191, redesignate subsections (b) and (c) as (c) and 
     (d), and insert on line 23:
       (b) Income Eligibility for Certain Assisted Housing.--
       (1) In general.--Of the dwelling units receiving tenant-
     based assistance under section 8 made available for occupancy 
     in any fiscal year of the public housing agency--
       (A) not less than 50 percent shall be occupied by families 
     whose incomes do not exceed 30 percent of the area median 
     income for those families; and
       (B) any remaining dwelling units may be made available for 
     families whose incomes do not exceed 80 percent of the area 
     median income for those families.
       (2) Establishment of different standards.--Notwithstanding 
     paragraph (1), if approved by the Secretary, a public housing 
     agency, in accordance with the public housing agency plan, 
     may for good cause establish and implement an occupancy 
     standard other than the standard described in paragraph (1).
       On page 255, after line 25, insert the following new 
     section:

     SEC. 209. DEFINITION.

       For the purposes of this title, public housing agency has 
     the same meaning as section 3 of the United States Housing 
     Act of 1937, except that such term shall also include any 
     other nonprofit entity serving more than one local government 
     jurisdiction that was administering the Section 8 tenant-
     based assistance program pursuant to a contract with the 
     Secretary or a public housing agency prior to the date of 
     enactment of this Act.
       On page 259, after line 7, insert the following new 
     section:

     SEC. 305. COORDINATION OF TAX CREDITS AND SECTION 8.

       Notwithstanding any other provision of law, rehabilitation 
     activities undertaken in projects using the Low-Income 
     Housing Tax Credit allocated to developments in the City of 
     New Brunswick, New Jersey, in 1991, are hereby deemed to have 
     met the requirements for rehabilitation in accordance with 
     clause (ii) of the third sentence of section 8(d)(2)(A) of 
     the United States Housing Act of 1937, as amended.''
       At the appropriate place, add the following:

     SEC.   . ELIGIBILITY FOR PUBLIC AND ASSISTED HOUSING.

       Section 214 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 
     1980 (42 U.S.C. 1436a) is amended--
       (1) in subsection (b), by inserting before the period at 
     the end the following: ``and includes any other assistance 
     provided under the United States Housing Act of 1937'';
       (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
       ``(h) Verification of Eligibility.--
       ``(1) In general.--Except in the case of an election under 
     paragraph (2)(A), no individual or family applying for 
     financial assistance may receive such financial assistance 
     prior to the affirmative establishment and verification of 
     eligibility of that individual or family under this section 
     by the Secretary or other appropriate entity.
       ``(2) Rules applicable to public housing agencies.--A 
     public housing agency (as that term is defined in section 3 
     of the United States Housing Act of 1937)--
       ``(A) may elect not to comply with this section; and
       ``(B) in complying with this section--
       ``(i) may initiate procedures to affirmatively establish or 
     verify the eligibility of an individual or family under this 
     section at any time at which the public housing agency 
     determines that such eligibility is in question, regardless 
     of whether or not that individual or family is at or near the 
     top of the waiting list of the public housing agency;
       ``(ii) may affirmatively establish or verify the 
     eligibility of an individual or family under this section in 
     accordance with the procedures set forth in section 
     274A(b)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act; and
       ``(iii) shall have access to any relevant information 
     contained in the SAVE system (or any successor thereto) that 
     relates to any individual or family applying for financial 
     assistance.
       ``(3) Eligibility of families.--For purposes of this 
     subsection, with respect to a family, the term `eligibility' 
     means the eligibility of each family member.''.
       Amend the table of contents accordingly.

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