This week the Senate approved the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (s. 2155), a wide-sweeping banking bill that also included several provisions to provide regulatory relief to small housing agencies and authorization for the Family Self-Sufficiency program.

The bill moved relatively quickly through the Senate; the initial draft was unveiled in November and it was approved by the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee in December. After two weeks of floor consideration, it was approved 67-31 on Wednesday, March 14.

While NAHRO did not take a position on the overall bill, NAHRO does support the small agency provisions. The bill includes:

• Streamline public housing inspections, making the process less burdensome on the agency, while protecting residents’ right to decent, healthy housing;
• Exempt small agencies from environmental reviews for projects under $100,000 and streamline the environmental review process for projects over $100,000;
• Create an appeals process for troubled agencies that protects residents and allows agencies to demonstrate satisfactory unit condition;
• Freeze formula utility and waste costs to accrue cost savings; Deploy a reporting system at HUD for agencies that choose to operate under a consortia; and
• Enhance the Family Self-Sufficiency program.

The path forward is unclear; the Senate modified the bill to attract more support in the House, but the House has already approved similar legislation. NAHRO is working with Congressional staff to consider options for the small agency provisions.

Housing Rules!!

An e-Briefing series on formation & substance of HUD rules, regulations, and guidance.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, March 13, 2018 from 1:30pm to 3pm eastern time

Work Requirements – Proposals & Practices

The Administration has released their fiscal year 2019 budget proposal which includes many policy provisions that would affect an assisted family’s rent payment. One provision would allow a housing authority or unit owner to require non-elderly and non-disabled family members to be employed or in a vocational training program for a minimum number of hours. During this e-Briefing, the NAHRO Policy Team will provide an overview of the Administration’s proposal. Also joining us are Moving to Work PHAs that have implemented a minimum work requirement to discuss why they use minimum work requirements and explore the results that have been seen to this point.

What is an e-Briefing?

A 90-minute online session (1:30pm – 3pm ET) that focuses on industry hot topics which affect your agency now. Expert presenters from the housing and community development industry, HUD and/or other agency staff and practitioners will share the most current information and case studies on critical issues. The final 20 minutes of each e-Briefing are reserved for questions & answers. e-Briefings are different from e-Learnings in that not every person listening must be registered. We require only one registration per viewing site/connection/device.

Registration closes tonight at 11:59 eastern time. Click the Register Now button above or below to register.

Last week, HUD awarded nearly $5 million in Choice Neighborhood Planning Grants to six communities to “help create plans to redevelop severely distressed HUD assisted housing and revitalize neighborhoods.” The Choice Neighborhoods Initiative is place-based and focuses on three goals: housing, people, and neighborhoods. Through the Choice Neighborhoods planning process,  local governments, housing authorities, residents, nonprofits, tribal authorities, private developers, school districts, police departments, and other civic organizations “create a common vision and develop effective strategies to revitalize their neighborhood.”

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On Wednesday, February 28, HUD published Notice 2018-03 titled “Guidance on the Use of Operating Subsidy for Capital Fund Purposes for Subsidy Appropriated and Allocated for Calendar Year 2018 and Subsequent Years.” The Housing Opportunities Through Modernization Act of 2016 (HOTMA) included language that allows PHAs to transfer up to 20 percent of their Operating Funds to their Capital Fund, language NAHRO has advocated for strongly over many years. This guidance explains how public housing agencies (PHAs) operating public housing may use a portion of their Operating Subsidy for capital activities, subject to HUD requirements.

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Established by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, Congress has created a new community development program that encourages long-term investments in low-income urban and rural communities. The Opportunity Zone Program provides tax incentives for investors to re-invest unrealized capital gains into Opportunity Funds by providing a temporary tax deferral for capital gains. Opportunity Funds are private sector investment vehicles that invest at least 90 percent of their capital in Opportunity Zones. This new program has the potential to become an important, viable program for housing and community development agencies across the country.

Governors for all U.S. states and territories, along with the mayor of the District of Columbia, are allowed to identify 25 percent of the total number of low-income census tracts in their state, territory, or federal district as an Opportunity Zone. States must conform to the Low-Income Community federal standard as a baseline for zone designations but are free to establish additional criteria to reflect local needs and priorities.

Governors have until March 22, 2018 to identify their Opportunity Zones to the Treasury Department.