[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 43 (Monday, March 11, 2019)]
[House]
[Pages H2618-H2620]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHER MOBILITY DEMONSTRATION ACT OF 2019
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 1122) to authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development to carry out a housing choice voucher mobility
demonstration to encourage families receiving such voucher assistance
to move to lower-poverty areas and expand access to opportunity areas.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 1122
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 Choice Voucher
Mobility Demonstration Act of 2019''.
SEC. 2. HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHER MOBILITY DEMONSTRATION.
(a) Authority.--The Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development (in this section referred to as the
``Secretary'') may carry out a mobility demonstration program
to enable public housing agencies to administer housing
choice voucher assistance under section 8(o) of the United
States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)) in a manner
designed to encourage families receiving such voucher
assistance to move to lower-poverty areas and expand access
to opportunity areas.
(b) Selection of PHAs.--
(1) Requirements.--The Secretary shall establish
requirements for public housing agencies to participate in
the demonstration program under this section, which shall
provide that the following public housing agencies may
participate:
(A) Public housing agencies that together--
(i) serve areas with high concentrations of holders of
rental assistance vouchers under section 8(o) of the United
States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)) in poor, low-
opportunity neighborhoods; and
(ii) have an adequate number of moderately priced rental
units in higher-opportunity areas.
(B) Planned consortia or partial consortia of public
housing agencies that--
(i) include at least one agency with a high-performing
Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) program; and
(ii) will enable participating families to continue in such
program if they relocate to the jurisdiction served by any
other agency of the consortium.
(C) Planned consortia or partial consortia of public
housing agencies that--
(i) serve jurisdictions within a single region;
(ii) include one or more small agencies; and
(iii) will consolidate mobility focused operations.
(D) Such other public housing agencies as the Secretary
considers appropriate.
(2) Selection criteria.--The Secretary shall establish
competitive selection criteria for public housing agencies
eligible under paragraph (1) to participate in the
demonstration program under this section.
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(3) Random selection of families.--The Secretary may
require participating agencies to use a randomized selection
process to select among the families eligible to receive
mobility assistance under the demonstration program.
(c) Regional Housing Mobility Plan.--The Secretary shall
require each public housing agency applying to participate in
the demonstration program under this section to submit a
Regional Housing Mobility Plan (in this section referred to
as a ``Plan''), which shall--
(1) identify the public housing agencies that will
participate under the Plan and the number of vouchers each
participating agency will make available out of their
existing programs in connection with the demonstration;
(2) identify any community-based organizations, nonprofit
organizations, businesses, and other entities that will
participate under the Plan and describe the commitments for
such participation made by each such entity;
(3) identify any waivers or alternative requirements
requested for the execution of the Plan;
(4) identify any specific actions that the public housing
agencies and other entities will undertake to accomplish the
goals of the demonstration, which shall include a
comprehensive approach to enable a successful transition to
opportunity areas and may include counseling and continued
support for families;
(5) specify the criteria that the public housing agencies
would use to identify opportunity areas under the plan;
(6) provide for establishment of priority and preferences
for participating families, including a preference for
families with young children, as such term is defined by the
Secretary, based on regional housing needs and priorities;
and
(7) comply with any other requirements established by the
Secretary.
(d) Funding for Mobility-Related Services.--
(1) Use of administrative fees.--Public housing agencies
participating in the demonstration program under this section
may use administrative fees under section 8(q) of the United
States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(q)), their
administrative fee reserves, and funding from private
entities to provide mobility-related services in connection
with the demonstration program, including services such as
counseling, portability coordination, landlord outreach,
security deposits, and administrative activities associated
with establishing and operating regional mobility programs.
(2) Use of housing assistance funds.--Public housing
agencies participating in the demonstration under this
section may use housing assistance payments funds under
section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42
U.S.C. 1437f(o)) for security deposits if necessary to enable
families to lease units with vouchers in designated
opportunity areas.
(e) Waivers; Alternative Requirements.--
(1) Waivers.--To allow for public housing agencies to
implement and administer their Regional Housing Mobility
Plans, the Secretary may waive or specify alternative
requirements for the following provisions of the United
States Housing Act of 1937:
(A) Sections 8(o)(7)(A) and 8(o)(13)(E)(i) (relating to the
term of a lease and mobility requirements).
(B) Section 8(o)(13)(C)(i) (relating to the public housing
plan for an agency).
(C) Section 8(r)(2) (relating to the responsibility of a
public housing agency to administer ported assistance).
(2) Alternative requirements.--The Secretary shall provide
additional authority for public housing agencies in a
selected region to form a consortium that has a single
housing choice voucher funding contract, or to enter into a
partial consortium to operate all or portions of the Regional
Housing Mobility Plan, including agencies participating in
the Moving To Work Demonstration program.
(3) Effective date.--Any waiver or alternative requirements
pursuant to this subsection shall not take effect before the
expiration of the 10-day period beginning upon publication of
notice of such waiver or alternative requirement in the
Federal Register.
(f) Implementation.--The Secretary may implement the
demonstration, including its terms, procedures, requirements,
and conditions, by notice.
(g) Evaluation.--Not later than 5 years after
implementation of the regional housing mobility programs
under the demonstration program under this section, the
Secretary shall submit to the Congress and publish in the
Federal Register a report evaluating the effectiveness of the
strategies pursued under the demonstration, subject to the
availability of funding to conduct the evaluation. Through
official websites and other methods, the Secretary shall
disseminate interim findings as they become available, and
shall, if promising strategies are identified, notify the
Congress of the amount of funds that would be required to
expand the testing of these strategies in additional types of
public housing agencies and housing markets.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Waters) and the gentleman from Missouri (Mr.
Luetkemeyer) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from California.
General Leave
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on
this legislation and to insert extraneous material thereon.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from California?
There was no objection.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, rigorous studies have demonstrated that giving a low-
income family an opportunity to move to a lower-poverty neighborhood
can have a profound impact, particularly for children.
For example, one study found that young boys and girls in families
that used a voucher to move to lower-poverty neighborhoods were 32
percent more likely to attend college and earned 31 percent more, or
nearly $3,500 a year, compared to their counterparts in families who
did not receive a voucher.
Unfortunately, families with housing choice vouchers who want to move
to a better neighborhood can face significant challenges, particularly
if it involves moving from one public housing agency jurisdiction to
another. In fact, data shows that only one in eight families with
children with a housing choice voucher use their vouchers to live in
lower-poverty areas.
Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1122 would help reduce barriers to mobility by
establishing a demonstration program that would enable and incentivize
public housing agencies to come together to come up with a regional
plan to increase mobility across their jurisdictions.
This is a bipartisan proposal that was included in HUD budget
requests under the Obama administration. Further, $25 million in
funding for this demonstration was included in fiscal year 2019 funding
bill for HUD programs, and a version of this bill passed the House last
Congress 368 to 19.
This demonstration will not only provide thousands of families with
opportunities to move to better neighborhoods, but it will also lay the
foundation for how successful outcomes can be replicated at a larger
scale across the country.
I congratulate the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Cleaver) and the
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Duffy) for introducing this initiative.
Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 1122, and I
reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1122, the Housing Choice
Voucher Mobility Demonstration Act of 2019.
As currently administered, housing vouchers often are insufficient in
helping American families get access to neighborhoods with greater
opportunities. That is why H.R. 1122 is so important.
A strong body of research shows that growing up in a safe, lower-
poverty neighborhood with good schools improves children's academic
achievement and long-term chances of success, and may reduce
intergenerational poverty.
A recent groundbreaking Harvard study found that young children in
families who used housing vouchers to move to better neighborhoods
fared much better as young adults than similar children who remained in
extremely poor neighborhoods.
The Harvard study found that young boys and girls in families who use
a voucher to move to lower-poverty neighborhoods were 32 percent more
likely to attend college and earned 31 percent more as young adults
than their counterparts in families who did not receive an MTO voucher.
Girls in families who moved to lower-poverty neighborhoods were also 30
percent less likely to be single parents as adults.
And let us not forget that location also affects adults in many ways,
such as access to jobs, the cost of getting to work, the feasibility of
balancing child care responsibilities with work schedules, and other
basic goods and services.
Voucher mobility is key to enabling families with children to move to
safer neighborhoods with less poverty, thereby enhancing their chances
of long-
[[Page H2620]]
term health and success. H.R. 1122 will provide the foundation for many
of these key changes.
I thank Mr. Duffy and Mr. Cleaver for their hard work in looking into
this issue and providing evidence-based solutions to affect positive
change in families and communities.
Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of H.R. 1122, and I reserve the balance
of my time.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from
Missouri (Mr. Cleaver), the chair of the Subcommittee on National
Security, International Development and Monetary Policy.
Mr. CLEAVER. Mr. Speaker, this piece of legislation is particularly
significant to me. I lived in public housing for 5 years. I saw what
the possibilities were there. I saw people who did not make it, and I
saw people who did made it.
The one thing that I found difficult to accept was the fact that if
you lived in public housing, almost every rule made was designed,
unintentionally, to keep you in public housing.
My father didn't tell the truth about the fact that he was cleaning
up at an office building on Saturday earning some additional money and
then serving at parties on the weekends. He had to pretend that that
didn't happen because he was saving money trying to get our family in
our own home. And it worked. He is watching C-SPAN right now, hearing
his son talk about what could have happened.
The essence of this bill was passed as a part of the appropriations
package that was signed into law earlier this year. It promotes housing
mobility for individuals who rely on housing vouchers.
Under this bill, the Department of Housing and Urban Development
would establish a demonstration program to allow interested public
housing agencies to form consortia to enhance mobility and provide
residents with increased opportunity to move to higher-income
communities.
There is something contagious about working around only poor people.
If you live in a neighborhood and all you see are people who are
struggling, it is easy to come to the conclusion that that is the way
life is: that you are just supposed to struggle and that you are just
supposed to barely make it. If you don't see the signs of people who
are making progress--people who are achieving--you might come to the
conclusion that achievement is beyond one's reach.
This was demonstrated with a research project from Harvard economists
Raj Chetty, Nathaniel Hendren, and Lawrence Katz which indicates that
children who move to higher-opportunity neighborhoods increase their
chances of success. More specifically, the study found that children
who were able to use housing vouchers to move to lower-poverty areas
were 32 percent more likely to attend college and earned 31 percent
more a year than their counterparts in lower-income neighborhoods.
This bill removes barriers by providing families with the tools to
navigate a move from one neighborhood to another. H.R. 1122 will allow
more families to thrive by increasing their access to higher performing
schools, employment opportunities, fresh and affordably priced foods,
and safe playgrounds.
There is something about homeownership or living in a nice
neighborhood. Our family was able to move out. My father bought a house
in a White neighborhood where we could not live and had it moved at
night from the Midwestern Parkway to Gerald Street, where my father
lives today. And, my goodness, I wish the world could see what
transpired.
My father's yard is in contention with any yard in town for the yard
of the summer. We had a water shortage in Texas--we had a drought, a
serious drought 38 years ago--and my father would get up at 3 a.m. in
the morning to trick the city people who would come out checking to see
if anybody was violating the water ordinance by watering his lawn at 2,
3, or 4 a.m. in the morning.
While I am confessing my father broke the law, the truth of the
matter is that it pleased me because we had never had a yard in my life
until we were able to get out of public housing. So not only does it
give the children an opportunity for a higher achievement
educationally, but it also does something for the homeowner.
This bill removes barriers, and I am supportive of that.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the
gentleman from Missouri.
Mr. CLEAVER. Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, friend, and former
neighbor, Sean Duffy, who worked with me on this bill. And I also thank
the chair and the ranking member of the committee for their continued
support.
With this, I am hopeful that we can continue working across the aisle
to promote housing opportunity for all of our constituents.
Mr. LUETKEMEYER. Mr. Speaker, I reiterate my support for the bill.
I thank Mr. Cleaver for his personal testimony today. It was very
compelling. It is a tremendous story of success in the use of these
things and how changing our neighborhoods can really be helpful.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
{time} 1615
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that we were able to work in a
bipartisan manner on this initiative. This bill shows that we can
foster new ideas and help improve services and flexibility for our
citizens who are receiving housing assistance.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Luetkemeyer)
for his engagement on the bill, and I urge my colleagues to join me in
supporting this important piece of legislation.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1122.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
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