[House Report 109-342]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



109th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session                                                    109-342

======================================================================



 
                   SMALL PUBLIC HOUSING AUTHORITY ACT

                                _______
                                

 December 13, 2005.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 
            the State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

  Mr. Oxley, from the Committee on Financial Services, submitted the 
                               following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 3422]

  The Committee on Financial Services, to whom was referred the 
bill (H.R. 3422) to amend the United States Housing Act of 1937 
to exempt small public housing agencies from the requirement of 
preparing an annual public housing agency plan, having 
considered the same, report favorably thereon with an amendment 
and recommend that the bill as amended do pass.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
Amendment........................................................     1
Purpose and Summary..............................................     3
Background and Need for Legislation..............................     3
Hearings.........................................................     3
Committee Consideration..........................................     3
Committee Votes..................................................     4
Committee Oversight Findings.....................................     4
Performance Goals and Objectives.................................     4
New Budget Authority, Entitlement Authority, and Tax Expenditures     4
Committee Cost Estimate..........................................     4
Federal Mandates Statement.......................................     5
Advisory Committee Statement.....................................     5
Constitutional Authority Statement...............................     5
Applicability to Legislative Branch..............................     5
Section-by-Section Analysis of the Legislation...................     5
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported............     6

                               Amendment

  The amendment is as follows:
  Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

  This Act may be cited as the ``Small Public Housing Authority Act''.

SEC. 2. PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCY PLANS FOR CERTAIN SMALL PUBLIC HOUSING 
                    AGENCIES.

  (a) In General.--Section 5A(b) of the United States Housing Act of 
1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437c-1(b)) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new paragraph:
          ``(3) Exemption of certain small phas from filing 
        requirement.--
                  ``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1) or 
                any other provision of this Act--
                          ``(i) the requirement under paragraph (1) 
                        shall not apply to any qualified small public 
                        housing agency; and
                          ``(ii) except as provided in subsection 
                        (e)(4)(B), any reference in this section or any 
                        other provision of law to a `public housing 
                        agency' shall not be considered to refer to any 
                        qualified small public housing agency, to the 
                        extent such reference applies to the 
                        requirement to submit an annual public housing 
                        agency plan under this subsection.
                  ``(B) Civil rights certification.--Notwithstanding 
                that qualified small public housing agencies are exempt 
                pursuant to subparagraph (A) from the requirement under 
                this section to prepare and submit an annual public 
                housing plan, each qualified small public housing 
                agency shall, on an annual basis, make the 
                certification described in paragraph (15) of subsection 
                (d) of this section, except that for purposes of such 
                small public housing agencies, such paragraph shall be 
                applied by substituting `the public housing program of 
                the agency' for `the public housing agency plan'.
                  ``(C) Definition.--For purposes of this section, the 
                term `qualified small public housing agency' means a 
                public housing agency that meets all of the following 
                requirements:
                          ``(i) The sum of (I) the number of public 
                        housing dwelling units administered by the 
                        agency, and (II) the number of vouchers under 
                        section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act 
                        of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)) administered by 
                        the agency, is 250 or fewer.
                          ``(ii) The agency is not designated pursuant 
                        to section 6(j)(2) as a troubled public housing 
                        agency.''.
  (b) Resident Participation.--Section 5A of the United States Housing 
Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437c-1) is amended--
          (1) in subsection (e), by inserting after paragraph (3) the 
        following:
          ``(4) Qualified small public housing agencies.--
                  ``(A) In general.--Except as provided in subparagraph 
                (B), nothing in this section may be construed to exempt 
                a qualified small public housing agency from the 
                requirement under paragraph (1) to establish one or 
                more resident advisory boards. Notwithstanding that 
                qualified small public housing agencies are exempt 
                pursuant to subsection (b)(3)(A) from the requirement 
                under this section to prepare and submit an annual 
                public housing plan, each qualified small public 
                housing agency shall consult with, and consider the 
                recommendations of the resident advisory boards for the 
                agency, in any determinations and actions of the agency 
                regarding establishing goals, objectives, and policies 
                of the agency.
                  ``(B) Applicability of waiver authority.--Paragraph 
                (3) shall apply to qualified small public housing 
                agencies, except that for purposes of such small public 
                housing agencies, subparagraph (B) of such paragraph 
                shall be applied by substituting `the functions 
                described in the second sentence of paragraph (4)(A)' 
                for `the functions described in paragraph (2)'.
  ``(f) Public Hearings.--''; and
          (2) in subsection (f) (as so designated by the amendment made 
        by paragraph (1) of this subsection), by adding at the end the 
        following new paragraph:
          ``(5) Qualified small public housing agencies.--
                  ``(A) Requirement.--Notwithstanding that qualified 
                small public housing agencies are exempt pursuant to 
                subsection (b)(3)(A) from the requirement under this 
                section to conduct a public hearing regarding the 
                annual public housing plan of the agency, each 
                qualified small public housing agency shall, not less 
                than annually, conduct a public hearing to discuss the 
                goals, objectives, and policies of the agency, and any 
                changes to such goals, objectives, and policies, and to 
                invite public comment regarding such issues.
                  ``(B) Availability of information and notice.--Not 
                later than 45 days before the date of such a hearing, 
                the qualified small public housing agency shall--
                          ``(i) make all information relevant to the 
                        hearing and any determinations of the agency 
                        regarding the goals, objectives, and policies 
                        of the agency to be considered at the hearing 
                        available for inspection by the public at the 
                        principal office of the public housing agency 
                        during normal business hours; and
                          ``(ii) publish a notice informing the public 
                        that (I) the information is available as 
                        required under clause (i), and (II) a public 
                        hearing under subparagraph (A) will be 
                        conducted.''.

                          Purpose and Summary

    The purpose of H.R. 3422 is to provide some regulatory 
burden relief to small public housing authorities (PHAs). H.R. 
3422 would exempt small PHAs from being required to submit an 
annual plan to the Department of Housing and Urban Development 
(HUD.) For purposes of this legislation, a small PHA is defined 
as when the sum of both the number of housing units and the 
number of Section 8 vouchers is 250 or fewer.

                  Background and Need for Legislation

    The Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 
requires PHAs to submit both a five-year plan and an annual 
plan to HUD. The five-year PHA plan addresses the agency's 
mission and their plan to achieve their mission. The annual 
plan requires PHAs to provide details about any updates or 
changes to the five-year plan.
    Specifically, the annual plan, among other things, has 
typically asked for the following information: housing needs of 
the families in the jurisdiction; strategies to meet these 
needs; statement of financial resources; and PHA policies 
governing eligibility, selection, and admissions. HUD has made 
the effort to streamline this annual planning for small PHAs 
and for high-performing PHAs through rulemaking. However, an 
example of a streamlined plan was 47 pages with extensive 
attachments.
    The exemption of smaller PHAs from filing plans will not 
affect the ability of tenant organizations to continue to have 
input with the managers of their developments. Language 
incorporated into the legislation ensures tenant participation 
and requires smaller PHAs to provide advance planning required 
under the five-year plans. In addition, the Committee included 
language that would still require a small PHA to provide annual 
certification that it is conforming to the applicable Fair 
Housing and Civil Rights laws.
    This legislation is needed to ease one of the burdens that 
are placed on small PHAs, which many times only have a part-
time executive director. Some of these directors do not have 
the time, staff or resources to complete these annual plans by 
themselves. Some small PHAs often have no choice but to hire 
consultants since they do not have the computer software 
package to help complete these annual plans. These consultants 
are an expensive cost for small PHAs that already are facing 
numerous fiscal challenges.

                                Hearings

    No hearings were held on this legislation.

                        Committee Consideration

    The Committee on Financial Services met in open session on 
November 16, 2005 and ordered reported to the House H.R. 3422, 
the ``Small Public Housing Authority Act'' by a voice vote.

                            Committee Votes

    Clause 3(b) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives requires the Committee to list the record votes 
on the motion to report legislation and amendments thereto. No 
record votes were taken with in conjunction with the 
consideration of this legislation. An amendment offered by Mr. 
Oxley addressing small public housing agencies establishing 
resident advisory boards and requiring small housing agencies 
to certify compliance with the civil rights laws, as is 
required under current law, was agreed to by voice vote. A 
motion by Mr. Oxley to report the bill to the House with a 
favorable recommendation was agreed to by a voice vote.

                      Commitee Oversight Findings

    Pursuant to clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee has held hearings and 
made findings that are reflected in this report.

                    Performance Goals and Objectives

    Pursuant to clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee establishes the 
following performance related goals and objectives for this 
legislation:
    The objective of this legislation is to reduce the 
administrative workload of small PHAs. The goal of H.R. 3422 is 
to give executive directors of small PHAs more time to focus on 
the needs of their tenants.

   New Budget Authority, Entitlement Authority, and Tax Expenditures

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules 
of the House of Representatives, the Committee adopts as its 
own the estimate of new budget authority, entitlement 
authority, or tax expenditures or revenues contained in the 
cost estimate prepared by the Director of the Congressional 
Budget Office pursuant to section 402 of the Congressional 
Budget Act.

                        Committee Cost Estimate

    The Committee adopts as its own the cost estimate prepared 
by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to 
section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974.

                  Congressional Budget Office Estimate

    Pursuant to clause 3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the following is the cost estimate 
provided by the Congressional Budget Office pursuant to section 
402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974:

                                     U.S. Congress,
                               Congressional Budget Office,
                                 Washington, DC, November 29, 2005.
Hon. Michael G. Oxley,
Chairman, Committee on Financial Services,
House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for H.R. 3422, the Small 
Public Housing Authority Act.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provided them. The CBO staff contact is Chad 
Chirico.
            Sincerely,
                                           Donald B. Marron
                               (For Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Director).
    Enclosure.

                       Federal Mandates Statement

    The Committee adopts as its own the estimate of Federal 
mandates prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office pursuant to section 423 of the Unfunded Mandates Reform 
Act.

                      Advisory Committee Statement

    No advisory committees within the meaning of section 5(b) 
of the Federal Advisory Committee Act were created by this 
legislation.

                   Constitutional Authority Statement

    Pursuant to clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 
House of Representatives, the Committee finds that the 
Constitutional Authority of Congress to enact this legislation 
is provided by Article 1, section 8, clause 1 (relating to the 
general welfare of the United States) and clause 3 (relating to 
the power to regulate interstate commerce).

                  Applicability to Legislative Branch

    The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to 
the terms and conditions of employment or access to public 
services or accommodations within the meaning of section 
102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act.

             Section-by-Section Analysis of the Legislation


Section 1. Short title

    This section establishes the short title of the bill, the 
``Small Public Housing Authority Act.''

Section 2. Public Housing Agency plans for small public housing 
        agencies

    This section amends Section 5A of the United States Housing 
Act of 1937 by exempting small PHAs from being required to 
submit an annual plan to HUD. This section defines a small PHA 
as when the sum of both the number of housing units and the 
number of Section 8 vouchers is 250 or fewer.
    Under this section, small PHAs who are exempt from the 
annual planning requirement would still have to complete a 
five-year plan. Furthermore, a small PHA, which is designated 
as a troubled housing agency by HUD, would still be required to 
submit an annual plan.
    In addition, this section would still require a small PHA 
to provide annual certification that it is conforming to the 
applicable Fair Housing and Civil Rights laws.
    This section would also require that tenants of small PHAs, 
which are exempt from the annual planning requirement, must 
continue to have an adequate and comparable opportunity for 
participation and notice regarding the establishing of goals, 
objectives, and policies of the PHA. Each small PHA shall 
continue to conduct an annual public hearing to discuss its 
goals, objectives and policies and shall invite public comments 
regarding these issues.

         Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

  In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (new matter is 
printed in italic and existing law in which no change is 
proposed is shown in roman):

          SECTION 5A OF THE UNITED STATES HOUSING ACT OF 1937


SEC. 5A. PUBLIC HOUSING AGENCY PLANS.

  (a) * * *
  (b) Annual Plan.--
          (1) * * *

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

          (3) Exemption of certain small phas from filing 
        requirement.--
                  (A) In general.--Notwithstanding paragraph 
                (1) or any other provision of this Act--
                          (i) the requirement under paragraph 
                        (1) shall not apply to any qualified 
                        small public housing agency; and
                          (ii) except as provided in subsection 
                        (e)(4)(B), any reference in this 
                        section or any other provision of law 
                        to a ``public housing agency'' shall 
                        not be considered to refer to any 
                        qualified small public housing agency, 
                        to the extent such reference applies to 
                        the requirement to submit an annual 
                        public housing agency plan under this 
                        subsection.
                  (B) Civil rights certification.--
                Notwithstanding that qualified small public 
                housing agencies are exempt pursuant to 
                subparagraph (A) from the requirement under 
                this section to prepare and submit an annual 
                public housing plan, each qualified small 
                public housing agency shall, on an annual 
                basis, make the certification described in 
                paragraph (15) of subsection (d) of this 
                section, except that for purposes of such small 
                public housing agencies, such paragraph shall 
                be applied by substituting ``the public housing 
                program of the agency'' for ``the public 
                housing agency plan''.
                  (C) Definition.--For purposes of this 
                section, the term ``qualified small public 
                housing agency'' means a public housing agency 
                that meets all of the following requirements:
                          (i) The sum of (I) the number of 
                        public housing dwelling units 
                        administered by the agency, and (II) 
                        the number of vouchers under section 
                        8(o) of the United States Housing Act 
                        of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)) 
                        administered by the agency, is 250 or 
                        fewer.
                          (ii) The agency is not designated 
                        pursuant to section 6(j)(2) as a 
                        troubled public housing agency.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

  (e) Resident Advisory Board.--
          (1) * * *

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

          (4) Qualified small public housing agencies.--
                  (A) In general.--Except as provided in 
                subparagraph (B), nothing in this section may 
                be construed to exempt a qualified small public 
                housing agency from the requirement under 
                paragraph (1) to establish one or more resident 
                advisory boards. Notwithstanding that qualified 
                small public housing agencies are exempt 
                pursuant to subsection (b)(3)(A) from the 
                requirement under this section to prepare and 
                submit an annual public housing plan, each 
                qualified small public housing agency shall 
                consult with, and consider the recommendations 
                of the resident advisory boards for the agency, 
                in any determinations and actions of the agency 
                regarding establishing goals, objectives, and 
                policies of the agency.
                  (B) Applicability of waiver authority.--
                Paragraph (3) shall apply to qualified small 
                public housing agencies, except that for 
                purposes of such small public housing agencies, 
                subparagraph (B) of such paragraph shall be 
                applied by substituting ``the functions 
                described in the second sentence of paragraph 
                (4)(A)'' for ``the functions described in 
                paragraph (2)''.
  (f) Public Hearings.--
          (1) * * *

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *

          (5) Qualified small public housing agencies.--
                  (A) Requirement.--Notwithstanding that 
                qualified small public housing agencies are 
                exempt pursuant to subsection (b)(3)(A) from 
                the requirement under this section to conduct a 
                public hearing regarding the annual public 
                housing plan of the agency, each qualified 
                small public housing agency shall, not less 
                than annually, conduct a public hearing to 
                discuss the goals, objectives, and policies of 
                the agency, and any changes to such goals, 
                objectives, and policies, and to invite public 
                comment regarding such issues.
                  (B) Availability of information and notice.--
                Not later than 45 days before the date of such 
                a hearing, the qualified small public housing 
                agency shall--
                          (i) make all information relevant to 
                        the hearing and any determinations of 
                        the agency regarding the goals, 
                        objectives, and policies of the agency 
                        to be considered at the hearing 
                        available for inspection by the public 
                        at the principal office of the public 
                        housing agency during normal business 
                        hours; and
                          (ii) publish a notice informing the 
                        public that (I) the information is 
                        available as required under clause (i), 
                        and (II) a public hearing under 
                        subparagraph (A) will be conducted.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


                                  
