House Appropriations Approves FY 2020 THUD Spending Bill, Report on Small Agencies Included in S.2155

The House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday approved the FY 2020 Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD) spending bill by a vote of 29 to 21. The bill now moves to the House floor, though the timing on a full House vote is unclear.

The spending bill was approved with a single amendment, a manager’s package that includes a provision mandating HUD report on which small agencies are included in regulatory relief provided by the Economic Growth, Regulatory Reform, and Consumer Protection Act of 2018 (frequently referred to as S. 2155). Congressman Steven Palazzo (R-Miss.) requested the language be included at the advice of NAHRO.

Full details of the bill can be found on NAHRO’s web site (password restricted).

The House will consider a five-bill omnibus package next week, but unfortunately THUD is not included in the package. Timing of when the THUD bill will move to the floor isn’t known, though House Democratic leadership said they intend to approve all spending bills by the end of June. The Senate has not begun appropriations work yet, insisting that they will wait for a budget deal to be approved.

Prior to the full committee mark-up, report language was also released on the bill. These notable provisions were included:

• Sexual Harassment in Housing – Committee wants a report no later than 90 days after enactment on the activities of an interagency task force between HUD and DOJ to combat sexual harassment.
• Tenant-based rental assistance:
  • TPVs – more funding for TPVs is not to reposition public housing, but to address anticipated closures of certain PHA properties.
  • Fair Market Rents – committee directs HUD to work with authorizing committees to “develop statutory flexibilities” so that vouchers will be usable in rapidly rising rental markets.
  • Purchasing power of vouchers – committee directs HUD to report on impacts of rising rental market prices on purchasing power of vouchers. HUD should develop recommendations regarding funding levels necessary to ensure that PHAs can serve the same number of households.
• PD&R
  • Studies in the works:
    • Collaborating with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services – how Medicare and Medicaid funds can be used to support programs that use affordable senior housing as a platform for coordinating health, etc.
    • A study of alternative methods for calculating FMRs in rental markets with rapidly rising rents.
• Public Housing
  • Secretary must evaluate requiring carbon monoxide detectors in HUD rental housing.
  • HUD must continue improving REAC inspections, as required in the House bill. This includes looking into potentially using civil monetary penalties to ensure PHAs and landlords maintain physical quality of HUD rental units. Congress also asks HUD to solicit comments from stakeholders, including tenants, on how they can improve REAC inspections. HUD needs to submit a 60-day progress report to Congress.
  • Congress asks HUD to create more stringent inspections for lead.
  • HUD must release S. 2155 FSS regulations within 90 days of enactment.