By Naishtat H.B. No. 3340
76R3617 KEL-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to a rental assistance pilot program to expand housing
1-3 options for elderly residents with low income.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. DEFINITIONS. In this Act:
1-6 (1) "Department" means the Texas Department of Human
1-7 Services.
1-8 (2) "Facility" means a complex that provides
1-9 apartment-like residential units for its residents.
1-10 SECTION 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF PILOT PROGRAM. (a) The Texas
1-11 Department of Human Services, in coordination with the Texas
1-12 Department of Housing and Community Affairs, shall develop and
1-13 implement a facility-based rental assistance pilot program to
1-14 expand long-term care options for elderly residents of this state.
1-15 The pilot program shall provide rent subsidies for low-income
1-16 elderly persons who live in facilities that provide coordination of
1-17 and transportation for the services needed by those persons.
1-18 (b) To the greatest extent possible, the department shall
1-19 implement the pilot program using federal housing block grant
1-20 funds.
1-21 (c) The department shall process applications for an
1-22 individual's participation in the pilot program and determine which
1-23 applicants will likely be able to participate successfully in the
1-24 program.
2-1 SECTION 3. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS. (a) To qualify for a
2-2 rent subsidy under the pilot program, a person must:
2-3 (1) be an elderly resident of this state;
2-4 (2) satisfy the functional needs criteria for nursing
2-5 home care;
2-6 (3) satisfy income eligibility criteria established by
2-7 the department;
2-8 (4) have sufficient financial resources to pay a part
2-9 of the person's monthly rental charge; and
2-10 (5) reside in a facility that participates in the
2-11 program.
2-12 (b) To participate in the pilot program, a facility must
2-13 demonstrate that it uses sources of low-income housing funds, such
2-14 as tax credits and tax-exempt bonds, to offer housing at rental
2-15 rates that are below the average market rates for comparable
2-16 housing.
2-17 SECTION 4. RENT SUBSIDIES. (a) Rent subsidies offered
2-18 under the pilot program shall be computed for each participant
2-19 based on the participant's income and needs. The subsidies may
2-20 vary by facility on the basis of rental charges for the housing.
2-21 (b) The department shall require a participant to pay from
2-22 the participant's financial resources as rent an amount that is
2-23 approximately equal to the amount the person would be required to
2-24 contribute if the person resided in a nursing home and received
2-25 Medicaid benefits.
2-26 (c) The department shall pay the rent subsidy to the
2-27 facility in which a participant resides.
3-1 SECTION 5. EVALUATION AND REPORT. Not later than December
3-2 15, 2000, the department shall submit a report to the governor,
3-3 lieutenant governor, and speaker of the house of representatives
3-4 that evaluates the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the
3-5 pilot program established under this Act. The report must include
3-6 the department's recommendations with respect to providing rent
3-7 subsidies for low-income elderly residents of this state.
3-8 SECTION 6. TERMINATION; EXPIRATION. The pilot program ends
3-9 and this Act expires September 1, 2001.
3-10 SECTION 7. EMERGENCY. The importance of this legislation
3-11 and the crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-12 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-13 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-14 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-15 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-16 passage, and it is so enacted.