[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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