BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: SB 660
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: runner
VERSION: 2/18/11
Analysis by: Mark Stivers FISCAL: no
Hearing date: April 12, 2011
SUBJECT:
Public housing authorities: school attendance requirements
DESCRIPTION:
This bill allows public housing authorities to make regular
school attendance a continuing condition of eligibility for
tenant rental assistance vouchers.
ANALYSIS:
Under Section 8 of the Federal Housing Act of 1937, public
housing authorities make available to lower-income households
rental assistance vouchers known as Housing Choice Vouchers. A
household may use a voucher to rent any home or apartment within
the jurisdiction. The household pays 30% of its income towards
rent, and the housing authority pays the remainder up to a
regionally established "fair market rent." The tenant household
may choose to rent a home or apartment that is more expensive
than the fair market rent but then must pay all of the overage.
The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development has
adopted regulations to implement the Housing Choice Voucher
program. These regulations identify the reasons for which a
housing authority may deny or terminate assistance. The
regulations include a list of mandatory reasons for termination,
which includes illegal drug use, violent criminal activity, and
alcohol abuse that threatens the health, safety, or right to
peaceful enjoyment of the premises by other residents; eviction
for serious violation of the lease; failure to sign and submit
consent forms for obtaining necessary information; and failure
to submit required evidence of citizenship or eligible
immigration status. In addition, the regulations include a list
of permissive reasons for termination which includes fraud,
bribery, or a criminal act in connection with a federal housing
program; unpaid rent or damage reimbursements; abusive or
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violent behavior towards housing authority personnel; and
enumerated program violations.
This bill allows public housing authorities to make regular
school attendance a continuing condition of eligibility for
Housing Choice Vouchers.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose of the bill . According to the author, education is
the most cost effective way to improve a child's life. The
goal of this bill is to improve school attendance in order to
raise the academic performance of children who live in
subsidized housing. The bill is not being sought to punish
parents but instead to motivate them to ensure that their kids
are attending school. Given that Housing Choice Vouchers are
subsidized by taxpayers, the author asserts that it is not
asking too much to require students to attend school in
accordance with the law.
2.Likely precluded by federal regulations . Both housing
authority representatives and legal services attorneys agree
that housing authorities may not adopt grounds for
terminations other than those listed in the federal
regulations. While staff cannot find a case directly on point
to this bill, in Hill v. Richardson (1990), a federal appeals
court expressly agreed with the provision of the settlement
agreement stating that "the reasons specified in Ýthe federal
regulations for the predecessor Section 8 certificate program]
shall be the only bases upon which the Indiana Department of
Human Services may deny or terminate Section 8 assistance
because of action or inaction by the Section 8 applicant or
participant." If a housing authority were to add truancy as a
reason for termination from the Housing Choice Voucher
Program, it is likely that a court would not uphold the
termination. Given this likelihood, a state law allowing
housing authorities to terminate assistance based on school
attendance would likely have little impact other than to
expose authorities to litigation. The committee may wish to
consider the wisdom of enacting a state law in apparent
violation of federal regulations.
3.Severe consequence . While encouraging school attendance is a
laudable goal, terminating housing assistance for an entire
family may be an excessive consequence for truancy. For
example, if one child failed to attend class on a regular
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basis, the entire family could be subject to eviction. In a
case where a parent is at fault, the children would likewise
be made to suffer for the failures of the parent. Families
who receive vouchers generally have very low incomes and very
few, if any, alternatives in the private housing market.
Currently, a parent that fails to send a child to school is
guilty of an infraction and subject to a fine of $100 for a
first conviction and up to $500 for a third or subsequent
conviction. In addition, a parent of a pupil in kindergarten
or grades 1 to 8 whose child is a "chronic truant" and who has
failed to reasonably supervise and encourage the pupil's
school attendance is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by up
to one year in jail and/or a fine of up to $2,000. The
committee may wish to consider whether it is appropriate to
punish an entire family for truancy rather than the
responsible individual.
4.Arguments in opposition . Opponents believe that housing
authorities are restricted from adding lease provisions to
standards lease agreements and that housing authorities, that
a nexus is lacking between school attendance and housing
assistance, and that housing authorities, even if they wanted
to, would be unable to take on the task of enforcing school
attendance due to limited and shrinking budgets. As a result,
opponents believe that it is improper to use the Housing
Choice Voucher program to address school attendance issues.
5.Technical amendment . On page 1, line 5 and page 2, line 3
strike "certificate" and insert "voucher".
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POSITIONS: (Communicated to the Committee before noon on
Wednesday, April 6,
2011)
SUPPORT: None received.
OPPOSED: California Association of Housing Authorities
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
Western Center on Law and Poverty