[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 145 (Tuesday, December 2, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H8254-H8255]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HOUSING ASSISTANCE EFFICIENCY ACT
Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 2790) to authorize private nonprofit organizations to
administer permanent housing rental assistance provided through the
Continuum of Care Program under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance
Act, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 2790
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 Assistance
Efficiency Act''.
SEC. 2. AUTHORITY TO ADMINISTER RENTAL ASSISTANCE.
Subsection (g) of section 423 of the McKinney-Vento
Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11383(g)) is amended by
inserting ``private nonprofit organization,'' after ``unit of
general local government,''.
SEC. 3. REALLOCATION OF FUNDS.
Paragraph (1) of section 414(d) of the McKinney-Vento
Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11373(d)(1)) is amended by
striking ``twice'' and inserting ``once''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
[[Page H8255]]
New Mexico (Mr. Pearce) and the gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Moore)
each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Mexico.
General Leave
Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and
to include extraneous materials for the Record on H.R. 2790, currently
under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from New Mexico?
There was no objection.
Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, the Housing Assistance Efficiency Act was introduced by
Scott Peters in July of 2013 as a technical correction to the 2009
HEARTH Act amendments to the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.
Changes include restoring nonprofit organizations' ability to
administer rental assistance programs, as well as alter the way in
which HUD reallocates funds.
Originally enacted in 1987 as the McKinney Homeless Assistance Act,
this legislation created a number of new programs to assist homeless
Americans' needs, including food, shelter, health care, and education.
Since 1987, it has twice been reauthorized. In 2000, it came to be
known as the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, with updates
including the creation of the HUD Homeless Assistance Grants, the
Department of Labor Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program, and
others. In 2009, the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition
to Housing, the HEARTH Act, amended McKinney-Vento Homeless to combine
the Shelter Plus Care and the Supportive Housing Programs into a
single, competitive program.
Supported by HUD and the administration, the bill before us today
will correct unintended consequences created by the HEARTH Act by
allowing existing nonprofits that operate CoC programs for leased
housing to homeless families and individuals to continue to manage
their McKinney-Vento grants as rental assistance.
It restores nonprofit participation and maximum community flexibility
by delegating authority to these institutions to administer rental
assistance. It allows Innovation of Promising Practices. Providing
nonprofits with administration of rental assistance will allow these
groups to implement new housing practices, which would better assist
the communities they are in. It reduces administrative work by allowing
reallocation to occur once a year instead of semiannually.
I reserve the balance of my time.
{time} 1500
Ms. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I really rise to congratulate and thank the gentleman from California
(Mr. Peters) for championing this bill and bringing to our attention a
real tremendous cost savings in this HUD program with H.R. 2790, and
really providing, using the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act to
provide services to the homeless rather than just additional legal
fees, operating costs, additional insurance issues, establishing new
internal controls and tracking systems. This is really innovative in
terms of how it maximizes the McKinney-Vento moneys. The bill does not
include more money, Mr. Speaker. It just allows us to use the small
``c'' that we have more effectively.
I yield as much time as he might consume to the gentleman from
California (Mr. Peters), the author of H.R. 2790.
Mr. PETERS of California. Mr. Speaker, many laws are intended to
ensure efficiency in Federal agencies but often have unintended
consequences, preventing agencies from serving the public and costing
taxpayer money. Currently, the Department of Housing and Urban
Development's Continuum of Care Program spends too much time fulfilling
administrative obligations instead of helping individuals and families
transition out of homelessness and putting them on a path to
independent living.
Twice a fiscal year, HUD has to reallocate emergency solutions grant
program funds that are unused, returned, or otherwise become available
in the program, but because almost no funds are unused or become
available under the program, the reallocation of funds takes a lot of
time and unwarranted human capital to complete.
It is administratively more efficient to reallocate funds only once a
year. This frees up HUD employees to provide more human resources
toward providing better service to constituents, and we shouldn't
saddle HUD with more administrative work that isn't helping anyone.
In addition to mandatory fund allocations, HUD also faces a mountain
of paperwork when it comes to administering rental assistance. Prior to
2009, private nonprofits could administer rental assistance through
HUD's Continuum of Care. The HEARTH Act, however, obfuscated rental
assistance laws, and private nonprofits were left off the list of
entities allowed to administer rental assistance.
Currently, only States, units of general local government, or public
housing agencies can dispense housing assistance despite nonprofits'
substantial experience and their ability to reach vulnerable
populations. Private nonprofits can still execute other homelessness
programs, but they have to go through public housing agencies or
another layer of bureaucracy to get rental assistance to their clients
or the landlord. This creates more bureaucratic burdens when
individuals and families really need the help quickly to stay in their
homes.
H.R. 2790, the Housing Assistance Efficiency Act, would remedy both
these problems, would make HUD a more efficient agency and get
homelessness assistance to those that need it more quickly. This is
important in particular to San Diego. We have the third largest
homeless population, and it is widely supported in my district and
across the country.
I thank the gentleman from New Mexico.
In their statement supporting this legislation, the San Diego Housing
Federation said this bill removes barriers to helping get important
resources to those who need it the most, and that is what it is all
about.
So I urge my colleagues to help pass this legislation to take
substantive action to improve government efficiency and help fight
chronic homelessness in our country.
Ms. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Speaker, I would again like to thank the gentleman
for his hard work in this area and for bringing this bill forward.
We have no other speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Pearce) that the House suspend the rules
and pass the bill, H.R. 2790.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________