Small Public Housing Agency Opportunity Act of 2016

Floor Speech

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Mr. PALAZZO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce bipartisan legislation that addresses the administrative burdens facing small and rural housing authorities across this country.

The Small Public Housing Agency Opportunity Act of 2016, H.R. 4816, being introduced by myself, the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Bishop), and the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Ashford), is the House companion to Senators Tester and Fischer's S. 2292. If enacted, this bill would simplify inspection and compliance requirements and eliminate excessive paperwork for public housing authorities that support fewer than 550 households.

Small PHAs represent 80 percent of all agencies but administer only 20 percent of the units and receive only 10 percent of the public housing and Housing Choice Voucher funds. Under current law, these small public housing agencies are required to follow the same reporting and inspection rules as large, urban housing authorities, even though they have far fewer resources.

Speaking from experience with my work as a CFO and deputy executive director of a small housing authority prior to serving in Congress, there is a big difference between housing needs in small town Mississippi, Georgia, or Nebraska, and those in cities like New York City. This legislation removes that one-size-fits-all approach and gives small housing authorities the flexibility to operate more effectively and efficiently.

Simply put, small housing authorities are being crushed by the regulatory burdens of the Federal Government. It doesn't take a CPA to see the cost significantly outweighs the benefits of HUD mandates and regulations.

Specifically, this bill limits HUD's inspections of housing and voucher units to once every 3 years, unless the small PHA is classified as ``troubled'' by HUD. It eliminates certain paperwork, including the submission of plans or reports not required of owners and operators of Section 8 private properties, and it also eliminates unnecessary yearly environmental reviews for agencies that are not undergoing new construction.

As we all know, recent Federal budgets have reduced support for public housing, and cuts have disproportionately impacted small and rural housing agencies. Deep prorations in the operating funds have forced housing authorities to reduce staff and cut services and maintenance.

Any revenue source is crucial; that is why this bill also takes a balanced, commonsense look at the inspections, requirements, paperwork, and regulations that our directors are doing year round.

Five decades ago, President Johnson announced a war on poverty, and it was believed during that time that one of the first bills to be introduced in the 89th Congress would be an updated version of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1964. President Johnson, in his State of the Union that year, proclaimed a desire for ``a decent home for every American family.''

This goal is today, as it was in 1964, a very real one that must be addressed. That is why I applaud Speaker Ryan for creating the Task Force on Poverty, Opportunity, and Upward Mobility, to strengthen America's safety net to help those in need.

I also commend Representative Luetkemeyer and the committee for the successful drafting and passage of the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016.

We have a model out there for public housing, and we can debate the pluses and minuses in terms of government efficiency; but at the end of the day, we cannot forget what the main focus here is: affordable housing for America's lowest income families.

This bill's exemptions and reforms will not have an adverse impact on the quality of living for these families. On the contrary, by removing just a fraction of the burden placed on the backs of our housing directors, we benefit the lives of the residents. With some directors and employees allotting over 30 hours a week to just one report or program or assessment, we take that time away from the residents.

This bill does not aim to reform the entire model or oppress one party involved but, rather, aims to ensure that the time and thousands of dollars spent on assessments here and there are absolutely necessary and that it ultimately benefits the residents in these units. So this bill really does what Congress oftentimes fails to do, which is to provide some much-needed regulatory relief. It simplifies, rather than complicates, the process.

I ask my colleagues to join me in this bipartisan effort to ensure that low-income families have a decent home, regardless of their location. This begins by giving agencies the resources and the flexibility they need to better serve their communities.

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