Bill Text: CT SB00215 | 2014 | General Assembly | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: An Act Providing Veterans' Preferences In The Rental Assistance Program And Housing Authority Projects.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-04-23 - Favorable Report, Tabled for the Calendar, Senate [SB00215 Detail]

Download: Connecticut-2014-SB00215-Comm_Sub.html

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General Assembly		Raised Bill No. 215
February Session, 2014		LCO No. 1361
		*_____SB00215HSG___042314____*
Referred to Committee on VETERANS' AFFAIRS
Introduced by:
(VA)

AN ACT PROVIDING VETERANS' PREFERENCES IN THE RENTAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM AND HOUSING AUTHORITY PROJECTS.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 17b-812 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2014):

(a) The Commissioner of Housing shall implement and administer a program of rental assistance for low-income families living in privately-owned rental housing. For the purposes of this section, a low-income family is one whose income does not exceed fifty per cent of the median family income for the area of the state in which such family lives, as determined by the commissioner.

(b) Housing eligible for participation in the program shall comply with applicable state and local health, housing, building and safety codes.

(c) In addition to an element in which rental assistance certificates are made available to qualified tenants, to be used in eligible housing which such tenants are able to locate, the program may include a housing support element in which rental assistance for tenants is linked to participation by the property owner in other municipal, state or federal housing repair, rehabilitation or financing programs. The commissioner shall use rental assistance under this section so as to encourage the preservation of existing housing and the revitalization of neighborhoods or the creation of additional rental housing.

(d) The commissioner may designate a portion of the rental assistance available under the program for tenant-based and project-based supportive housing units. To the extent practicable rental assistance for supportive housing shall adhere to the requirements of the federal Housing Choice Voucher Program, 42 USC 1437f(o), relative to calculating the tenant's share of the rent to be paid.

(e) The commissioner shall administer the program under this section to promote housing choice for certificate holders and encourage racial and economic integration. The commissioner shall establish maximum rent levels for each municipality in a manner that promotes the use of the program in all municipalities. Any certificate issued pursuant to this section may be used for housing in any municipality in the state. The commissioner shall inform certificate holders that a certificate may be used in any municipality and, to the extent practicable, the commissioner shall assist certificate holders in finding housing in the municipality of their choice.

(f) Nothing in this section shall give any person a right to continued receipt of rental assistance at any time that the program is not funded.

(g) As among applicants who are eligible for the rental assistance provided in this section, and whose needs for housing accommodations are substantially equal, as determined by the commissioner, preference shall be given to veterans who are "preference eligible", as defined in 5 USC 2108, as amended from time to time.

[(g)] (h) The commissioner shall adopt regulations in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 to carry out the purposes of this section. The regulations shall establish maximum income eligibility guidelines for such rental assistance and criteria for determining the amount of rental assistance which shall be provided to eligible families.

[(h)] (i) Any person aggrieved by a decision of the commissioner or the commissioner's agent pursuant to the program under this section shall have the right to a hearing in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54.

Sec. 2. Section 8-45 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2014):

(a) Each housing authority shall manage and operate its housing projects in an efficient manner so as to enable it to fix the rentals for dwelling accommodations at the lowest possible rates consistent with providing decent, safe and sanitary dwelling accommodations, and no housing authority shall construct or operate any such project for profit or as a source of revenue to the municipality. To this end an authority shall fix the rentals for dwelling in its projects at no higher rates than it finds to be necessary in order to produce revenues which, together with all other available money, revenues, income and receipts of the authority from whatever sources derived, will be sufficient [(a)] (1) to pay, as the same become due, the principal and interest on the bonds of the authority; [(b)] (2) to meet the cost of, and to provide for, maintaining and operating the projects, including the cost of any insurance, and the administrative expenses of the authority; and [(c)] (3) to create, during not less than six years immediately succeeding its issuance of any bonds, a reserve sufficient to meet the largest principal and interest payments which will be due on such bonds in any one year thereafter and to maintain such reserve.

(b) In the operation or management of housing projects an authority shall, at all times, rent or lease the dwelling accommodations therein at rentals within the financial reach of families of low income. The authority, subject to approval by the Commissioner of Housing, shall fix maximum income limits for the admission and for the continued occupancy of families in such housing, provided such maximum income limits and all revisions thereof for housing projects operated pursuant to any contract with any agency of the federal government shall be subject to the prior approval of such federal agency. The Commissioner of Housing shall define the income of a family to provide the basis for determining eligibility for the admission and for the continued occupancy of families under the maximum income limits fixed and approved. The definition of family income, by the Commissioner of Housing, may provide for the exclusion of all or part of the income of family members which, in the judgment of said commissioner, is not generally available to meet the cost of basic living needs of the family. As among applicants who are eligible for admission to such housing, and whose needs for housing accommodations are substantially equal, as determined by the housing authority, preference shall be given to veterans who are "preference eligible", as defined in 5 USC 2108, as amended from time to time.

(c) No housing authority shall refuse to rent any dwelling accommodation to an otherwise qualified applicant on the ground that one or more of the proposed occupants are children born out of wedlock.

(d) Each housing authority shall provide a receipt to each applicant for admission to its housing projects stating the time and date of application and shall maintain a list of such applications which shall be a public record as defined in section 1-200. The Commissioner of Housing shall, by regulation, provide for the manner in which such list shall be created, maintained and revised. No provision of this chapter shall be construed as limiting the right of the authority to vest in an obligee the right, in the event of a default by such authority, to take possession of a housing project or cause the appointment of a receiver thereof or acquire title thereto through foreclosure proceedings, free from all the restrictions imposed by this chapter with respect to rental rates and tenant selection.

Sec. 3. Section 8-48 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2014):

In the cases of any tenants who are the recipients of one hundred per cent social services aid from the Department of Social Services of the state or any municipality and who have no income from any other source, rentals shall be fixed by each housing authority for the ensuing rental year established by the authority based on one-half of the costs and expenses set forth in subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of section 8-45, as amended by this act, plus the full amount of costs and expenses set forth in [subsections (b) and (c)] subdivisions (2) and (3) of subsection (a) of said section as set forth in the operating statements of the authority for the preceding fiscal year, which total amount shall be divided by the total number of rooms contained in all low-rent housing projects operated by such housing authority to establish the rental cost per room per annum for such tenants, from which figure shall be computed the rent per month per room. Said rentals shall govern for said rental year.

This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1	October 1, 2014	17b-812
Sec. 2	October 1, 2014	8-45
Sec. 3	October 1, 2014	8-48

VA	Joint Favorable
HSG	Joint Favorable