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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 146
February Session, 2024
LCO No. 1032
Referred to Committee on HOUSING
Introduced by:
(HSG)
AN ACT CONCERNING THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE RENTAL
ASSISTANCE PROGRAM AND OTHER HOUSING VOUCHER
PROGRAMS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 8-345 of the 2024 supplement to the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 2
1, 2024): 3
(a) As used in this chapter: 4
(1) "Certificate holder" means any individual or family who has been 5
issued a rental assistance certificate by the commissioner pursuant to the 6
rental assistance program; 7
(2) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Housing; 8
(3) "Housing" means any house or building, or portion thereof, which 9
is occupied, designed to be occupied, or rented, leased or hired out to 10
be occupied, exclusively as a home or residence of one or more persons; 11
and 12 Raised Bill No. 146
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(4) "Low-income family" means an individual or family whose 13
income does not exceed fifty per cent of the median family income for 14
the area of the state in which such family lives, as determined by the 15
commissioner. 16
[(a)] (b) The [Commissioner of Housing] commissioner shall 17
implement and administer [a program of rental] the rental assistance 18
program to provide assistance for low-income families living in, or 19
seeking to live in, privately-owned rental housing. [For the purposes of 20
this section, a low-income family is one whose income does not exceed 21
fifty per cent of the median family income for the area of the state in 22
which such family lives, as determined by the commissioner.] 23
[(b) Housing] (c) To be eligible for participation in the program, 24
housing shall comply with applicable state and local health, housing, 25
building and safety codes. 26
[(c)] (d) In addition to [an] a program element in which rental 27
assistance certificates are made available to qualified tenants, to be used 28
in any eligible housing [which] that such tenants are able to locate, the 29
program may include a housing support element in which rental 30
assistance for tenants is linked to participation by the property owner in 31
other municipal, state or federal housing repair, rehabilitation or 32
financing programs. The commissioner shall use rental assistance under 33
this section [so as] to encourage the preservation of existing housing and 34
the revitalization of neighborhoods or the creation of additional rental 35
housing. 36
[(d)] (e) The commissioner may designate a portion of the rental 37
assistance available under the program for tenant-based and project-38
based supportive housing units. To the extent practicable rental 39
assistance for supportive housing shall adhere to the requirements of 40
the federal Housing Choice Voucher Program, 42 USC 1437f(o), relative 41
to calculating the tenant's share of the rent to be paid. 42
[(e) The commissioner shall administer the program under this 43
section to promote housing choice for certificate holders and encourage 44 Raised Bill No. 146
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racial and economic integration.] (f) The commissioner shall 45
affirmatively seek to expend all funds appropriated for the program on 46
an annual basis without regard to population limitation established in 47
prior years. The commissioner shall establish maximum rent levels for 48
each municipality or, at the discretion of the commissioner, zip code 49
area, in a manner that promotes the use of the program in all 50
municipalities. Any certificate issued pursuant to this section may be 51
used for housing in any municipality in the state. The commissioner 52
shall inform certificate holders that a certificate may be used in any 53
municipality and, to the extent practicable, the commissioner shall assist 54
certificate holders in finding housing in the municipality of their choice. 55
(g) Any certificate issued pursuant to this section shall terminate one 56
year after the issuance of such certificate, provided the commissioner 57
may, upon a finding of good cause, extend the effective period of any 58
such certificate by an additional one hundred eighty days. 59
(h) Except as provided in subsection (i) of this section, any inspection 60
required by the commissioner to determine whether a housing unit is 61
eligible for participation in the program shall be conducted not more 62
than five business days after a certificate holder submits a request for 63
the approval of such unit to the commissioner. The commissioner shall 64
send written notice containing the date of any such inspection to both 65
the unit owner and the certificate holder. If the commissioner denies 66
such approval after an inspection because of defects in such unit, and 67
the owner of such unit certifies in writing to the commissioner that such 68
defects have been corrected, the commissioner shall conduct a 69
reinspection of such unit not later than three business days after receipt 70
of such certification from the owner. 71
(i) The commissioner may allow the owner of a housing unit to certify 72
that such unit is eligible for participation in the program and a tenant 73
may occupy such unit pending the results of any required inspection of 74
such unit by the commissioner. 75
(j) The commissioner shall commence payments to the owner of an 76 Raised Bill No. 146
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eligible housing unit pursuant to the program not more than ten days 77
after the commencement of a tenancy in such unit by a certificate holder 78
under this section. 79
(k) Not later than June 1, 2026, the commissioner shall create an online 80
tool accessible to the public on the Internet web site of the Department 81
of Housing that allows for (1) the calculation of the maximum allowable 82
rent, including any utility allowance, an owner of a housing unit may 83
charge a certificate holder based on such unit's location and physical 84
characteristics, and (2) an estimate of the monthly rental assistance that 85
would be paid by the commissioner for such unit based upon a monthly 86
rent price and a calculation of a certificate holder's projected 87
contribution. 88
(l) The commissioner may adopt regulations in accordance with the 89
provisions of chapter 54 to implement the use of electronic signatures or 90
electronic submissions of any applications, approvals, reports or other 91
agreements required for the administration of the program. Until any 92
such regulations are adopted, the commissioner shall accept any 93
electronic signature or electronic submission of any applications, 94
approvals, reports or other agreements required for the administration 95
of the program. 96
[(f)] (m) Nothing in this section shall give any person a right to 97
continued receipt of rental assistance at any time that the program is not 98
funded. 99
[(g)] (n) The commissioner shall adopt regulations in accordance with 100
the provisions of chapter 54 to carry out the purposes of this section. The 101
regulations shall establish maximum income eligibility guidelines for 102
such rental assistance and criteria for determining the amount of rental 103
assistance [which] that shall be provided to eligible families. 104
[(h)] (o) Any person aggrieved by a decision of the commissioner or 105
the commissioner's agent pursuant to the program under this section 106
shall have the right to a hearing in accordance with the provisions of 107
section 8-37gg. 108 Raised Bill No. 146
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Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2024) (a) As used in this section: 109
(1) "Certificate holder" means any individual or family who has been 110
issued a rental assistance certificate by the commissioner pursuant to the 111
rental assistance program established pursuant to chapter 138a of the 112
general statutes; 113
(2) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Housing; 114
(3) "Housing" means any house or building, or portion thereof, which 115
is occupied, designed to be occupied, or rented, leased or hired out to 116
be occupied, exclusively as a home or residence of one or more persons; 117
(4) "Housing voucher" means any assistance issued to an individual 118
or a family pursuant to a housing voucher program; 119
(5) "Housing voucher holder" means any person or family entitled to 120
participate in any housing voucher program other than the rental 121
assistance program; 122
(6) "Housing voucher program" means any housing voucher 123
program, including any portion of the federal Housing Choice Voucher 124
Program, that is administered in whole or in part by the commissioner; 125
(7) "Low-income family" means an individual or family whose 126
income does not exceed fifty per cent of the median family income for 127
the area of the state in which such family lives, as determined by the 128
commissioner; and 129
(8) "Rental assistance program" or "program" means the rental 130
assistance program established by the commissioner pursuant to 131
chapter 138 of the general statutes; 132
(b) The commissioner shall administer the rental assistance program 133
established pursuant to chapter 138a of the general statutes, and any 134
other housing voucher program, to promote housing choice for 135
certificate holders and housing voucher holders and to encourage racial 136
and economic integration. 137 Raised Bill No. 146
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(c) Not less than annually, the commissioner shall undertake an 138
assessment, based on statistically representative rental housing survey 139
data selected by the commissioner, to determine if maximum rent 140
amounts provided for in the rental assistance program established 141
pursuant to chapter 138a of the general statutes, or other housing 142
voucher programs administered in whole or in part by the 143
commissioner, are sufficient to provide certificate holders and housing 144
voucher holders with housing opportunities in each municipality or zip 145
code in the state. If the commissioner finds such maximum rent amounts 146
are insufficient for such purpose, the commissioner shall adjust such 147
maximum rent levels so that such rent levels are sufficient for such 148
purpose. Such assessment shall be made publicly available on the 149
Internet web site of the Department of Housing. 150
(d) Any certificate issued pursuant to chapter 138a of the general 151
statutes, and to the extent permissible by federal law, as applicable, any 152
housing voucher may be used for housing in any municipality in the 153
state. The commissioner shall inform certificate holders and housing 154
voucher holders that a certificate or housing voucher may be used in 155
any municipality and, to the extent practicable, the commissioner shall 156
assist certificate holders and housing voucher holders in finding 157
housing in the municipality of their choice. 158
(e) The commissioner shall administer the program in such a way that 159
ensures that no certificate holder or housing voucher holder shall be 160
displaced as a result of the application of the provisions of subsection (f) 161
of section 8-345 of the general statutes, as amended by this act. 162
(f) The commissioner shall adopt regulations in accordance with the 163
provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes to carry out the purposes 164
of this section. 165
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2024 8-345
Sec. 2 October 1, 2024 New section Raised Bill No. 146
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Statement of Purpose:
To modify the rental assistance program to (1) increase the effective
duration of rental assistance program certificates, (2) reduce eligible unit
inspection periods, (3) require that program payments to landlords
begin within ten days of the commencement of a qualifying tenancy, (4)
provide for the electronic signature and electronic submission of all
program documents, (5) create an online tool that allows interested
parties to calculate housing authority payments under the program, (6)
allow the Commissioner of Housing to adjust maximum rent levels for
certain housing assistance programs, and (7) notify prospective tenants
of the portability of rental assistance program certificates and other
housing vouchers.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]