[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.

                          ____________________