Public Housing Reinvestment Bill Advances Out of Committee
Aug 6, 2010
On Wednesday, July 28, 2010, the House Financial Services Committee passed the Public Housing Reinvestment and Tenant Protection Act (H.R. 5814), introduced by Congresswoman Maxine Walters (D-CA), Chair of the Housing and Community Opportunity Subcommittee.
Title I of H.R. 5814, Choice Neighborhoods Initiative, is intended to improve the HOPE VI program, authorized by section 24 of the United States Housing Act of 1937, which attempted to transform extreme poverty neighborhoods into mixed-income neighborhoods. Title II of the bill, Public Housing One-for-One Replacement and Tenant Protection, addresses the problem many residents have when trying to return to a public housing development after units have been demolished by requiring “one-for-one replacement of units demolished or removed from public housing,” so that each unit demolished equals a new unit created within the new development plan.
Title III of the bill, Public Housing Preservation and Rehabilitation, establishes a program that federally guarantees notes issued by public housing agencies for public housing projects and for conversions of public housing to assisted living facilities. Notably, the bill provides that the guarantees may be applied to loans related to energy conservation improvements. Title IV creates a job training program for public housing residents to become in-home health care aides to the elderly and disabled residents also living in public housing.
The full bill can be found here.