[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 35 (Tuesday, March 18, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E508]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           STATE OCCUPANCY STANDARDS AFFIRMATION ACT OF 1997

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                           HON. BILL McCOLLUM

                               of florida

                            HON. KEN BENTSEN

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 18, 1997

  Mr. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, today my colleague from Texas, Mr. 
Bentsen, and I are introducing a bill, the State Occupancy Standards 
Affirmation Act of 1997 to assert the rights of States in establishing 
occupancy standards for housing providers. Currently, there is no 
Federal law to establish the number of people permitted to live in a 
housing unit. It is imperative that we ensure that States retain the 
right to set reasonable occupancy standards; our bill does just this.
  There is a national consensus that the appropriate level for most 
apartment properties is two people per bedroom. Most States have 
adopted a two-per-bedroom policy, and HUD's own guidelines state that 
this is an appropriate level to maintain public housing and section 8 
housing. Our bill goes one step farther to include infants. The 
reasonable standard, in the case that States don't have a standard, is 
two persons plus an infant per bedroom. Beyond this level, the negative 
effects of overcrowding can be triggered, including decreasing the 
stock of affordable housing.
  However, HUD's Fair Housing Office has initiated legal actions over 
the past 3 years. And then in July 1995, HUD issued a memorandum, 
without any consultation, that would pressure housing providers to rent 
to substantially more than two per bedroom or be potentially subject to 
lawsuits charging discrimination against families.
  All types of housing providers, including managers of seniors housing 
and public housing, were dismayed with HUD's proposal. If this change 
were permitted to stand, it would adversely impact all involved in 
housing, from tenants who could be crowded into inadequate housing, to 
housing providers who would have to provide services for more residents 
than they may be equipped for, and whose property would deteriorate.
  In the fiscal year 1996 omnibus appropriations bill, Congress 
disallowed HUD from implementing its July memorandum. But we need to go 
one step farther.
  The bill we are introducing is a simple clarification of existing law 
and practice. It says that States, not HUD, will set occupancy 
standards and that a two-per-bedroom plus an infant standard is 
reasonable in the absence of a State law. American taxpayers have spent 
billions of dollars on HUD programs designed to reduce crowding. It is 
time to ensure that overcrowding will not be a possibility.

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