Earning and Living Opportunities Act

        [Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2298 Introduced in House (IH)]

108th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2298

To amend section 3 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 to
ensure improved access to employment opportunities for low-income
people.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

June 2, 2003

Ms. Velazquez introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

A BILL

To amend section 3 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 to
ensure improved access to employment opportunities for low-income
people.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ``Earning and Living Opportunities
Act''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS.

Section 3 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 (12
U.S.C. 1701u) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subsections (e), (f), and (g) as
subsections (g), (h), and (i), respectively;
(2) in subsection (g), as so redesignated--
(A) in paragraph (1), by inserting at the end
``Provided, however, that any resident of a public or
Indian housing development or any other person who
qualifies as a low- or very low-income person under the
preference categories set forth in section (c)(1)(B)
shall, for purposes of this statute, continue to
qualify, as initially verified, as a low- or very low-
income person for a period of five years, irrespective
of any increase in the person's income during that
period.''; and
(B) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following
new paragraph:
``(3) One-stop delivery system.--The term `one-stop
delivery system' has the meaning given that term in section
134(c) of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C.
2864(c)).''; and
(3) by inserting after subsection (d) the following new
subsections:
``(e) Requirement for Employing Low- and Very Low-Income Persons.--
``(1) Twenty percent requirement.--
``(A) Condition of assistance.--It shall be a
condition of any assistance provided to a public or
Indian housing agency or contract awarded by a public
or Indian housing agency for work to be performed in
connection with development assistance provided from
the capital fund under section 9(d) of the United
States Housing Act of 1937, the operating fund under
section 9(e) of such Act, or any other Federal
assistance for housing and community development that,
except as provided in paragraph 2(B), a minimum of 20
percent of all hours worked by employees of the public
or Indian housing agency or of a contractor in
connection with such contract shall be performed by
low- or very low-income persons hired in accordance
with subsection (c)(1)(B)
``(B) Requirement.--Recipients of Federal housing
and community development assistance for housing
rehabilitation, housing construction, or other public
construction projects and their contractors shall
provide that a minimum of 20 percent of all hours
worked by new employees of the recipient or its
contractors shall be performed by low- or very low-
income persons hired in accordance with subsection
(c)(2)(B).
``(2) Compliance.--As a condition of any contract awarded
for the work described in paragraph (1), any contractor awarded
such a contract shall--
``(A)(i) immediately before beginning work under
such contract, submit evidence to the satisfaction of
the public or Indian housing agency, and the tenant
association (or tenant delegate where a tenant
association does not exist) at the development where
the contracted work is to be done, showing that a
minimum of 20 percent of all hours worked in connection
with such contract shall be performed by low- or very
low-income persons hired in accordance with subsection
(c)(1)(B); and
``(ii) submit evidence to the satisfaction of the
public or Indian housing agency showing that a minimum
of 20 percent of all hours actually worked in
connection with such contract were in fact performed by
low- or very low-income persons hired in accordance
with subsection (c)(1)(B); or
``(B) if such contractor cannot meet the
requirement imposed by paragraph (1)--
``(i) submit evidence to the satisfaction
of the public or Indian housing agency and the
tenant association (or tenant delegate where a
tenant association does not exist) at the
development where the contracted work is to be
done, that such contractor made a best effort
to hire low- and very low-income persons in
conformance with subsection (c)(1)(B) by taking
steps which include--
``(I) recruiting and conducting job
interviews at the affected development
and in the affected community;
``(II) working with the public and
Indian housing agency to advertise and
recruit low- and very low-income
persons; and
``(III) giving notice of such
contract to the one-stop delivery
system for the area which the housing
subject to the contract is located,
including the particular skills,
knowledge, and abilities needed by
potential employees for work under such
contract; and
``(ii) provide to the public or Indian
housing agency and the tenant association (or
tenant delegate where a tenant association does
not exist) at the development where the
contracted work is to be done, evidence, as the
Secretary shall by regulation require,
sufficient to show why low- or very low-income
persons who were provided by either the public
or Indian housing agency or by the one-stop
delivery system, or who otherwise made
themselves available did not have the skills,
knowledge, or abilities to perform the work.
``(3) Training.--Any contractor awarded a contract for the
work described in paragraph (1) shall provide on-the-job
training to any employee who is a low- or very low-income
person and hired in conformance with subsection (c)(1)(B). Such
training may be provided through an approved apprenticeship
program.
``(f) Recruitment, Referral, and Training Requirements.--Public and
Indian housing agencies shall--
``(1) maintain a registry of eligible low- and very low-
income persons who reside in the public housing which is the
site of a contract referred to in this section;
``(2) provide to any contractor and the tenant association
(or tenant delegate where a tenant association does not exist)
at the development where the contracted work is to be done,
awarded such a contract names and applications from low- and
very low-income persons;
``(3) refer any low- or very low-income persons seeking
qualifying skills to the one-stop delivery system for the area
in which the housing subject to a contract is located;
``(4) consult with contractors to ensure that with the
skills, knowledge, and abilities, and in the priority
categories of subsections (c)(1)(B) and (c)(2)(B) low- and very
low-income persons are not passed over in hiring;
``(5) provide to the one-stop delivery system for the area
in which the housing subject to a contract is located a
detailed description of the work to be done on all projects for
which it is accepting, or will be accepting, bids, and a list
of the priority categories, so that eligible low- and very low-
income persons may be appropriately trained; and
``(6) make any other effort that may be necessary to
increase the number of low- and very low-income persons hired
in accordance with subsection (c)(1)(B).''.
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