[StBernard] FSC Website Update- Press Release; Gulf Coast Hurricane Housing B ill

[Westley Annis]

For Immediate Release: March 7, 2007    

House Financial Services Committee Passes Comprehensive Gulf Coast Hurricane
Housing Bill

House Floor Action to follow

Washington, DC - The House Financial Services Committee today passed H.R.
1227, the "Gulf Coast Hurricane Housing Recovery Act of 2007."  The bill, as
amended, passed on a bipartisan vote of 50-16, and will provide
comprehensive housing relief for the hurricane impacted areas of the Gulf
Coast.  The measure will provide increased flexibility for already allocated
funds, provides new oversight of existing programs, preserves public housing
and assists evacuees with rental housing, and provides support for landlords
and local communities who assisted evacuees with housing.  

"Today, the people of the Gulf Coast won a tremendous victory.  The 'Gulf
Coast Hurricane Housing Recovery Act of 2007' will help to facilitate the
implementation of recovery in a real and meaningful way.  This bill will
allow for the use of certain monies to be used as matching funds to provide
necessary waivers and add over one billion dollars in aid transferred from
FEMA to those who need it most.  Additionally, reporting requirements in
this bill will help speed up subsidies to homeowners to rebuild their
homes," said Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chair of the Financial Services
Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity. "Most importantly, this
bill will create the opportunity for residents of public housing to be able
to return from cities around the country to their everyday lives.  I am glad
we have finally made it possible for them to go home."

Specifically, the bill passed by the Committee today will provide the
following:

Flexibility: The bill provides much needed flexibility for use of previously
appropriated federal funds to speed up recovery efforts.  It frees up $1.2
billion in funds for Louisiana's Road Home Program, for which FEMA is
currently withholding use - by transferring the funds to the CDBG account.
It eliminates an unnecessary restriction imposed by the prior Congress
against CDBG funds being used to meet matching requirements under other
federal programs. 

Oversight:  The bill requires that the Louisiana Recovery Authority, the
entity that administers the Road Home program, report on their progress
every thirty days. 

Preservation of Federal Housing Assistance:  The bill includes a number of
provisions to rebuild the stock of affordable housing and to ensure that the
Administration will not shrink the level of housing assistance that supports
that housing stock.  Specifically, it requires HUD to provide a replacement
voucher for every public or assisted housing unit destroyed by Hurricane
Katrina.  It requires HUD to approve proposals to reestablish or re-site
damaged affordable federally assisted housing units owned by private
landlords.  It requires that replacement affordable housing units be
provided for every public housing unit in New Orleans that HUD wants to
demolish.  It requires HUD to report on the number of public housing units
which are being planned to be sold off in areas impacted by Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita. And, it authorizes housing voucher assistance for evacuees
living in other parts of the country who might otherwise lose their
assistance in September.  This bill requires that HUD open 3,000 public
housing units in New Orleans. 

Assistance for Communities and landlords that assisted evacuees: The bill
provides assistance for generous communities and landlords that offered
rental housing assistance nationwide for evacuees from Hurricanes Katrina
and Rita.  The bill authorizes reimbursements for communities that used
their own CDBG funds to provide rental assistance to evacuees after the
storms hit.  And it reimburses landlords who assisted evacuees for financial
damages caused by FEMA abrogating commitments made right after the storm
under the FEMA Section 403 City Lease program. 

"Today's bipartisan work by the Committee on Financial Services means we
will reverse the last 18 months of inaction in housing policy in New Orleans
and the Gulf Coast," said Chairman Frank.  "What we did here today is
significant; we have committed ourselves to rebuilding housing in the gulf
coast, and I look forward to working with our leadership to bring this to a
House vote soon."

In addition, the bill was amended to include the following:

An amendment to authorize funding for 4,500 new project based vouchers for
supportive housing for seniors, disabled, and the homeless. [Rep. Al Green
(D-TX)] 

An amendment to protect the inventory of affordable housing units in the
gulf - by preventing sell off of public housing units unless affordability
maintained for the longest feasible period, by requiring replacement of
demolished public housing units, and by protecting residents by providing
relocation assistance for displaced residents. [Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver
(D-MO)] 

To provide protections for housing agencies adversely impacted by Hurricane
Wilma, by clarifying that HUD shall make adjustments in the voucher
allocation formula for agencies whose voucher utilization rates fell as a
result of Wilma. [Rep. Frank - Manager's Amendment]