119-hr1696

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1696 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 1696

 To amend the definition of extremely low-income families under the 
 United States Housing Act of 1937.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 February 27, 2025

 Mr. Hernandez (for himself and Mr. Torres of New York) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial 
 Services

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To amend the definition of extremely low-income families under the 
 United States Housing Act of 1937.

 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 ``Puerto Rico Low-Income Housing 
Support Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF EXTREMELY LOW-INCOME FAMILIES.

 Clause
            (i) of 

section 3

    (b)

    (2)
            (C) of the United States Housing Act 
of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437a

    (b)

    (2)
            (C) 
            (i) ) is amended--

    (1) by striking ``Puerto Rico or any other'' and inserting 
 ``any''; and

    (2) by inserting before the closing parentheses the 
 following: ``other than Puerto Rico and in the case of public 
 housing agencies and projects located in Puerto Rico, the same 
 poverty guidelines as used for the contiguous 48 States and the 
 District of Columbia shall apply''.

SEC. 3. REPORT ON LOW INCOME HOUSING ACCESS IN PUERTO RICO.

    (a) In General.--The Comptroller General shall, not later than 180 
day after the date of the enactment of this section, submit a report to 
the Congress about efforts made by the Secretary of Housing and Urban 
Development, in collaboration with the Government of Puerto Rico, to 
connect low-income families residing in Puerto Rico with--

    (1) housing assistance available in Puerto Rico; and

    (2) affordable dwelling units, including dwelling units 
 that are part of a housing project assisted under the United 
 States Housing Act of 1937.

    (b) Contents.--The report required under subsection

    (a) shall 
include--

    (1) an assessment of how the Secretary of Housing and Urban 
 Development

    (HUD) and the Puerto Rico Public Housing 
 Administration

    (PRPHA) identify and address housing needs for 
 extremely low-income families that reside in Puerto Rico;

    (2) an assessment how the Secretary of Housing and Urban 
 Development uses Federal disaster recovery funds to rebuild and 
 expand low-income housing after natural disasters in Puerto 
 Rico, including hurricanes and earthquakes; and

    (3) recommendations to improve the effectiveness of Federal 
 and local housing programs that serve extremely low-income 
 families that reside in Puerto Rico.
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