[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 109 (Tuesday, July 14, 2015)]
[House]
[Pages H5132-H5134]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   HOUSING ASSISTANCE EFFICIENCY ACT

  Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass 
the bill (H.R. 1047) 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. 1047

       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 
Missouri (Mr. Luetkemeyer) and the gentlewoman from California (Ms. 
Maxine Waters) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Missouri.


                             General Leave

  Mr. LUETKEMEYER. 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 material on this bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Missouri?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  I rise today in strong support of H.R. 1047, the Housing Assistance 
Efficiency Act, introduced by the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Peters). This bill makes a technical correction to the 2009 HEARTH Act 
amendments to the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.
  H.R. 1047 will accomplish two goals:
  First, it would restore the ability of nonprofit organizations to 
administer permanent housing rental assistance provided through the 
McKinney-Vento Continuum of Care program.
  Second, it would authorize the HUD Secretary to reallocate any 
housing assistance provided from the Emergency Solutions Grants Program 
that is unused or returned or that becomes available after the minimum 
allocation requirements under McKinney-Vento have been met on an annual 
rather than on a semiannual basis.
  In 2009, the HEARTH Act amended McKinney-Vento to combine the Shelter 
Plus Care program and the supportive housing programs into a single, 
competitive program.
  When combining the activities of the previous programs into one, the 
HEARTH Act also created a new requirement that only States, units of 
local governments, or Public Housing Agencies--PHAs--could administer 
rental assistance. Previously, these public entities had used private 
nonprofit organizations to administer the assistance.

[[Page H5133]]

  H.R. 1047 corrects an unintended consequence of the HEARTH Act by 
restoring nonprofit participation. The bill maximizes community 
flexibility to allow existing nonprofits that operate leased housing to 
homeless families and individuals to continue to manage their McKinney-
Vento grants as rental assistance as well as to continue to develop 
innovative practices that assist homeless families and individuals.
  Finally, H.R. 1047 reduces a regulatory burden by requiring HUD to 
reallocate unused Emergency Solutions Grants Program funds only once 
per year. As I understand from HUD and many nonprofit organizations, 
there are very few unused funds available; yet, a complicated 
reallocation program, as required by current law, must be conducted 
twice a year even if the amount is miniscule.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to pass this commonsense 
legislation that is supported by the administration and many of the 
nonprofit organizations that continue to serve homeless populations 
with limited resources.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such 
time as I may consume.
  I want to thank my colleague from California (Mr. Peters) for working 
on this important issue and introducing this bill.
  This bill, entitled the Housing Assistance Efficiency Act, makes two 
key changes to the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act that are long 
overdo.
  Specifically, this bill is designed to fix two technical problems 
that have arisen in HUD's homeless assistance programs due to technical 
errors in the language in the HEARTH Act, which was a bipartisan bill 
that significantly reformed the homeless assistance programs in 2009.
  Among other things, HUD's homeless assistance programs help homeless 
people pay rent when they move out of shelters or off the streets and 
into housing.
  Since the inception of these programs, local nonprofit organizations 
have received funding from HUD to administer efficient and cost-
effective rental assistance programs, working with local landlords to 
get places for homeless people to live.
  Unfortunately, in 2009, when certain programs were merged under the 
HEARTH Act, these nonprofits became ineligible to directly administer 
permanent rental assistance.

                              {time}  1315

  This unintentional result of the HEARTH Act has created huge 
uncertainty on the ground for many nonprofits who work hard to house 
our homeless populations across the country. The permanent fix in H.R. 
1047 would be extremely helpful for communities that are working to end 
homelessness for chronic individuals, veterans, children, and other 
populations.
  The second provision in H.R. 1047 addresses the Emergency Solutions 
Grants Program, a program aimed at homelessness prevention and rapid 
rehousing activities. The bill would amend the current HUD requirement 
to reallocate unused, returned, or otherwise newly available funds 
twice per year to just once per year. This change provides HUD and 
local agencies with administrative relief, while having no negative 
impact on beneficiaries of these programs.
  In addition, this program is supported by the National Alliance to 
End Homelessness, a national advocacy organization committed to 
preventing and ending homelessness in the United States. An identical 
bill passed the House last December on the suspension calendar by voice 
vote. I urge my colleagues to again vote in favor of this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LUETKEMEYER. I reserve the balance of my time, Mr. Speaker.
  Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. I yield such time as he may consume 
to the gentleman from California (Mr. Peters).
  Mr. PETERS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.
  Today, I rise to urge passage of the Housing Assistance Efficiency 
Act, a bill that I introduced earlier this year. As the ranking member 
said, an identical version of this legislation passed the House by 
voice vote last December.
  Many laws are intended to ensure efficiency in Federal agencies but 
often have unintended consequences, preventing agencies from serving 
the public and costing taxpayers money.
  Currently, the Department of Housing and Urban Development's 
Continuum of Care Program is forced to spend 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.
  This legislation will reduce government inefficiency and make it 
easier for Americans struggling to find a foothold to access the 
already existing resources available to them.
  Twice each fiscal year, HUD has to reallocate unused or returned 
funds in the Emergency Solutions Grants Program. Because funds are 
almost never unused or returned under this program, the reallocation of 
funds takes a lot of time and human capital to complete but with little 
end purpose.
  It is administratively more efficient to reallocate funds only once 
per year. This frees up HUD employees to provide more human resources 
toward better providing service to constituents. We shouldn't saddle 
HUD with more administrative work that isn't helping anyone.
  In addition to mandatory fund allocations, HUD faces a mountain of 
paperwork as it tries to administer that important system used by more 
than 3 million Americans each year. Prior to 2009, private nonprofits 
could administer rental assistance through HUD's Continuum of Care.
  Nonprofits are uniquely positioned to handle the needs of those 
seeking rental assistance, using expertise in individual communities of 
vulnerable populations to serve the clients where they are.
  The HEARTH Act, however, muddled rental assistance laws, and private 
nonprofits were left off the list of entities allowed to administer 
rental assistance. Currently, only States, local government units, or 
public housing agencies can dispense this housing assistance, although 
nonprofits have substantial experience and the ability to reach 
vulnerable populations that is often unavailable to government 
programs.
  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 to the 
landlord. This creates more bureaucratic burdens when individuals and 
families really need the help quickly to stay in their homes.
  Passing this bill would remedy both these problems, make HUD a more 
efficient agency, and get homelessness assistance to those who need it 
more quickly. This is particularly important in San Diego, where access 
to affordable housing has been continually one of our region's biggest 
obstacles and where we have the third largest homeless population in 
the country. By passing today's bill, we can help HUD be more efficient 
and ensure that community experts and nonprofits are not hamstrung by 
Federal inaction.
  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 most.'' Mr. Speaker, that is what it is 
all about.
  I urge my colleagues to help pass this legislation and take 
substantive action to improve government efficiency and help fight 
chronic homelessness in our country.
  Mr. LUETKEMEYER. I reserve the balance of my time, Mr. Speaker.
  Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Speaker, I have no additional 
speakers.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Mr. Speaker, we just want to reiterate our support 
for H.R. 1047. We feel it corrects some problems that have arisen 
inadvertently.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise in support of H.R. 
1047, the Housing Assistance Efficiency Act. This bill would remove 
non-essential administrative boundaries in order to better serve our 
nation's homeless population.
  Under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, only a state, local 
government, or public housing agency may administer housing assistance 
to our nation's homeless.

[[Page H5134]]

This regulation prevents many non-profit agencies--which often have 
deep ties to our communities--from assisting the homeless.
  Like many districts and states, the State of Alabama faces many 
challenges in addressing the needs of our homeless. We can accomplish 
this by correcting any unintended legislative consequences and taking 
action to create the most fast-acting and efficient system of housing 
assistance possible.
  The Housing Assistance Efficiency Act addresses these problems by 
increasing efficiency, eliminating red tape, and expediting the process 
of providing safe, stable shelter for homeless communities.
  I congratulate my colleague from California, Congressman Peters, for 
remaining vigilant and continuing to be a voice for our most vulnerable 
communities. This is a valuable opportunity to eliminate barriers and 
offer a faster and more financially responsible approach to assisting 
the homeless.
  While we continue our efforts to help the homeless, we must remain 
mindful of our long-term goals. I urge my colleagues to help pass this 
legislation and reaffirm our commitment to the alleviation of 
homelessness in all of our communities.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Luetkemeyer) that the House suspend the 
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1047.
  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.

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