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Washington, DC - In a major step to bring relief to the displaced families of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, the House of Representatives today overwhelmingly passed H.R. 1227, the “Gulf Coast Hurricane Housing Recovery Act.” The bipartisan bill, which passed by a vote of 302 to 125, will provide immediate assistance to the displaced families of the Gulf Coast by increasing flexibility to use funds that were already allocated to the relief effort. In addition, the bill will also free up rebuilding funds for homeowners, provide tough oversight of state housing assistance plans, and require HUD to reopen public housing and provide voucher assistance for added affordable housing.
“Today the House of Representatives took a big step in removing many of the obstacles to the recovery faced by Hurricane Katrina victims by passing a bill that will expedite housing opportunities, return residents to public housing, and make permanent rental assistance for all of those people on temporary rental assistance for so long,” said Rep. Maxine Waters (D –CA), Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity and the original sponsor of the bill. “We are extremely pleased with the progress that we made today and we look forward this bill getting signed into law.”
The passage of the “Gulf Coast Hurricane Housing Recovery Act” will finally begin to address the Gulf Coast region’s crisis in affordable housing. Currently, the crisis in affordable housing in the Gulf Coast has prevented tens of thousands of families from returning to their homes. This bill will allow for long-awaited action to address the damaged or destroyed public housing units and provide the opportunity for people to return home.
The Gulf Coast Hurricane Housing Recovery Act comes after a series of hearing held in the Financial Services Committee both in Washington and in the Gulf Coast. This bill takes into consideration the issues and concerns that were outlined in the testimony of the witnesses at these hearings.
Flexibility for Fund Use
The bill includes provisions design ed to improve flexibility for previously appropriated funds for hurricane recovery efforts on the Gulf Coast:
FEMA has been holding up Louisiana’s use of $1.175 billion in Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funds for the Louisiana Road Home program – greatly slowing down the program. FEMA has cited its concern with certain features of the program. This bill would free up this $1.175 billion, by prohibiting FEMA from disapproving or restricting the use of such FEMA funds based on its concerns with the features of the Louisiana Road Home program that provide financial incentives for people to come back and live in the state.
Preservation of Affordable Housing
The bill includes provisions designed to preserve the supply of affordable rental housing:
Requires HUD to give timely approval of all feasible requests to restore project-based rental assistance or transfer such assistance to another site, in the case of damaged or destroyed federally assisted housing developments.
Authorizes 4,500 new housing vouchers for the purpose of project-based assistance for supportive housing units for seniors, people with disabilities, and the homeless.
Requires HUD to provide a replacement voucher for every public housing and assisted housing unit that is not brought back on line.
Preserves the availability of public housing units in hurricane-affected areas by preventing the sale of public housing units without preserving long-term affordability requirements.
Conditions demolition of public housing units in hurricane-affected areas on providing alternative housing units for residents of the units being demolished and on replacing such units either with other public housing or comparable units that are affordable.
Requires the New Orleans Public Housing Authority to survey pre-Katrina residents to identify which residents want to return and when, and to provide public housing or comparable units to those residents who want to return, but in any case no less than 3,000 units by August 1st. Also authorizes funding for repair, rehabilitation and development of New Orleans public housing units.
Rental Housing Assistance
The bill includes provisions to help families that would otherwise lose rental housing assistance:
The adopted amendment offered by Rep. Al Green (D-TX) will address the looming August deadline for the cutoff of some 37,000 families receiving rental housing assistance under FEMA’s Section 408 program. The Green amendment will also authorize extension of assistance under this program through the end of the year, and provision of HUD Section 8 vouchers for eligible low income families after that date. The amendment will also authorize provision of such vouchers for eligible low income families currently living in temporary FEMA trailers.
Faced with a looming September deadline for the cutoff of some 12,000 families currently receiving Disaster Voucher Program (DVP) assistance, authorizes such sums as may be necessary for extending the DVP program for three months and authorizes replacement vouchers to affected families when the program terminates.
Reimbursement for Communities and Landlords that Assisted Evacuees
The bill also includes provisions to provide reimbursements to communities and landlords that were generous in providing assistance to hurricane evacuees in the aftermath of the storms:
Authorizes funding for reimbursement of localities that used their own CDBG funds to provide rental housing assistance to such evacuees.
Authorizes reimbursement to landlords who participated in the FEMA Section 403 program under which local communities co-signed private lease agreements – but who suffered financial losses arising from FEMA subsequently breaking their agreement to provide reimbursements under this program.
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