Reps. Cleaver, Katko Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Expand Access to Affordable Housing, Remove Bureaucratic Barriers Within Housing Voucher Program

March 3, 2022

(Washington, D.C.) – This week, U.S. Representatives Emanuel Cleaver, II (D-MO), Chairman of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development, and Insurance, and John Katko (R-NY) introduced H.R. 6880, the Choice in Affordable Housing Act of 2022, a plan for expanding access to affordable housing options for American families. Specifically, the bipartisan bill would reform the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCV) by removing burdensome bureaucratic regulations, incentivizing greater landlord participation, and allowing more vouchers to be used in higher-opportunity neighborhoods, which will increase housing opportunities for lower-income Americans.

"Reforms to the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program have the potential to unlock greater opportunity and access to affordable housing for families throughout Missouri and across the nation," said Congressman Cleaver. "The Choice in Affordable Housing Act is a critical component to realizing that potential. This common sense, bipartisan proposal will make necessary and long overdue improvements to maximize the efficiency of this life-changing program and provide stability for renters and landlords alike. I'm proud to have the partnership of my colleague Representative Katko on this significant matter, and I look forward to working with him as it makes its way to the President's desk."

"I was proud to join Representative Cleaver in introducing the Choice in Affordable Housing Act, a bipartisan bill that will increase access to affordable housing in communities across the nation," said Rep. Katko. "Declining landlord participation in the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program has exacerbated a severe shortage in affordable housing options. This legislation makes important reforms to the HCV program that incentivize landlord participation and facilitate valuable connections between local housing organizations and property owners. Encouraging more landlords to accept Housing Choice Vouchers is a crucial step in providing more affordable housing opportunities to families everywhere, and I am enthusiastic about the results this bill can deliver for Central New York."

"NMHC and the apartment industry have long supported the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program and believe it has the potential to be one of the most effective means of addressing our nation's affordable housing needs, supporting mixed-income communities and improving housing opportunity across the nation. However, the program's potential success is limited by too many inefficient, costly and duplicative requirements, which discourage private housing providers from accepting vouchers," said Doug Bibby, National Multifamily Housing Council President. "The common sense reforms included in the Choice in Affordable Housing Act are urgently needed and we appreciate the bipartisan leadership of Reps. Cleaver and Katko in introducing this critical legislation. The bill includes meaningful reforms that will improve the program for both renters and property owners and increase private housing provider participation, which will increase opportunity for millions of American families and help them find homes in thriving communities with access to good schools, jobs and transportation."

"The National Apartment Association (NAA) thanks Reps. Cleaver and Katko for their bipartisan leadership on reforming the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program, a critical tool for tackling housing affordability," said Bob Pinnegar, NAA President and CEO. "Fixing the HCV program's inefficiencies and redundancies while easing the burdens placed on participants is paramount to addressing housing affordability and will help ensure more Americans can receive the help they need. NAA applauds the introduction of this important bill and is proud to work alongside industry partners and legislators to produce responsible housing policy." 

"NAHB strongly supports the bipartisan Choice in Affordable Housing Act, legislation that would help ease the nation's housing affordability crisis for households most in need by providing additional resources to attract and retain landlords in the Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCV)," said Jerry Konter, Chairman, National Association of Home Builders. " The HCV is vital tool to help low-income families, the elderly and the disabled to afford decent and safe housing in the private market. This bill would increase landlord participation and improve housing choices for families seeking affordable housing."

"BPC Action applauds Reps. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) and John Katko (R-NY) for coming together to introduce the bipartisan Choice in Affordable Housing Act. This legislation, like its Senate companion, will help promote economic opportunity by removing burdensome barriers that complicate and deter landlord participation in HUD's Housing Choice Voucher Program. These barriers ultimately weaken the program's effectiveness as a tool to combat poverty and homelessness and help families climb up the economic ladder. In alignment with longstanding BPC recommendations, it advances evidence-based initiatives, like Small Area Fair Market Rents and landlord incentives, that will ultimately help to disrupt entrenched segregation and concentrated poverty by helping low-income families live in low-poverty communities. BPC Action looks forward to working with the congressmen to enact this legislation," said Michele Stockwell, Executive Director, Bipartisan Policy Center Action.

The Housing Choice Voucher Program at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) helps more than 5 million low-income Americans, including the elderly and people with disabilities, afford safe and decent housing in the private market. More than two-thirds of the 2.3 million households currently participating in the Housing Choice Voucher Program are headed by a person of color. Studies have shown that children who were able to utilize housing vouchers in high-opportunity neighborhoods that have low poverty rates and access to quality schools increased their lifetime income by more than $200,000.

Unfortunately, landlord participation in the Housing Choice Voucher Program is declining, with an average of 10,000 housing providers having left the program each year between 2010 and 2016. HUD has found that rent payment standards, administrative hurdles, and misperceptions of the Housing Choice Voucher Program have caused uncertainty in rental housing operations and deterred landlords from participating in the program.

The Choice in Affordable Housing Act of 2022 would make several reforms to the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program to incentivize greater use of housing vouchers among landlords, including:

Providing $500 million to create the Herschel Lashkowitz Housing Partnership Fund, which will be distributed to Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) that offer a signing bonus to landlords with a unit in an area with less than 20% poverty; PHAs that provide security deposit assistance so that tenants can better afford required deposits and landlords are assured greater protection against damages; PHAs that retain a dedicated landlord liaison on staff; and more;
Using neighborhood-specific data to set rents fairly by requiring the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to expand its 2016 rule requiring the use of Small Area Fair Market Rents to calculate fair rents in certain metro areas;
Reducing inspection delays by removing duplicative regulations and enabling new landlords to request pre-inspections from a PHA prior to selecting a voucher-holding tenant; and
Refocusing HUD's evaluation of housing agencies to encourage an increase in the diversity of neighborhoods where vouchers are used.

The Choice in Affordable Housing Act has also been introduced in the Senate by Senators Chris Coons (D-DE) and Kevin Cramer (R-ND), and is endorsed by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, National Housing Law Project, Poverty & Race Research Action Council, Habitat for Humanity, Enterprise Community Partners, National Apartment Association, National Multifamily Housing Council, National Association of Realtors, National Association of Home Builders, National Leased Housing Association, Jewish Federations of North America, Up for Growth Action, RESULTS Educational Fund, BPC Action, and National Rental Home Council.

Official text of the Choice in Affordable Housing Act of 2022 is available here.

Emanuel Cleaver, II is the U.S. Representative for Missouri's Fifth Congressional District, which includes Kansas City, Independence, Lee's Summit, Raytown, Grandview, Sugar Creek, Blue Springs, Grain Valley, Oak Grove, North Kansas City, Gladstone, Claycomo, and all of Ray, Lafayette, and Saline Counties. He is a member of the exclusive House Financial Services Committee; Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development, and Insurance; member of the Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress; member of the Committee on Homeland Security; and a Senior Whip of the Democratic Caucus. A high-resolution photo of Congressman Cleaver is available here.