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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 146
February Session, 2024
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 1
is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 2
October 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" or "housing unit" means any house or building, or 9
portion thereof, which is occupied, designed to be occupied, or rented, 10
leased or hired out to be occupied, exclusively as a home or residence of 11
one or more persons; and 12
(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 Substitute Bill No. 146
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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, a 24
housing unit shall [comply] be in compliance with any applicable state 25
and local health, housing, 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
racial and economic integration.] 45
(f) The commissioner shall affirmatively seek to expend all funds 46 Substitute Bill No. 146
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appropriated for the program on an annual basis without regard to any 47
population limitation established in prior years. The commissioner shall 48
establish maximum rent levels for each municipality or, at the discretion 49
of the commissioner, zip code area, in a manner that promotes the use 50
of the program in all municipalities. Any certificate issued pursuant to 51
this section may be used for housing in any municipality in the state. 52
The commissioner shall inform certificate holders that a certificate may 53
be used in any municipality and, to the extent practicable, the 54
commissioner shall assist certificate holders in finding housing in the 55
municipality of their choice. 56
(g) A certificate holder shall have a maximum period of one year from 57
the date of issuance of such certificate to locate suitable housing for 58
which to use such certificate, provided the commissioner may, upon a 59
finding of good cause, extend the maximum effective period of any such 60
certificate by an additional one hundred eighty days. 61
(h) If the commissioner requires an inspection of a housing unit in 62
order to determine whether such housing unit is eligible for 63
participation in the program, such inspection shall be conducted not 64
more than five business days after a certificate holder submits a request 65
for the approval of such unit to the commissioner. The commissioner 66
shall send written notice containing the date of any such inspection to 67
both the owner of the housing unit and the certificate holder. If the 68
commissioner denies such approval after an inspection because of 69
defects in such unit, and the owner of such unit certifies in writing to 70
the commissioner that such defects have been corrected, the 71
commissioner shall conduct a reinspection of such unit not later than 72
three business days after receipt of such certification from the owner. 73
(i) The commissioner shall commence payments to the owner of an 74
eligible housing unit pursuant to the program not more than ten days 75
after the commencement of a tenancy in such unit by a certificate holder 76
under this section. 77
(j) Not later than June 1, 2026, the commissioner shall create an online 78 Substitute Bill No. 146
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tool accessible to the public on the Internet web site of the Department 79
of Housing that allows for (1) the calculation of the maximum allowable 80
rent, including any utility allowance, that an owner of a housing unit 81
may charge a certificate holder based on such unit's location and 82
physical characteristics, and (2) an estimate of the monthly rental 83
assistance that would be paid by the commissioner for such unit based 84
upon a monthly rent price and a calculation of a certificate holder's 85
projected contribution. 86
(k) The commissioner may adopt regulations, in accordance with the 87
provisions of chapter 54, to implement the use of electronic signatures 88
or electronic submissions of any applications, approvals, reports or 89
other agreements required for the administration of the program. Until 90
any such regulations are adopted, the commissioner shall accept any 91
electronic signature or electronic submission of any applications, 92
approvals, reports or other agreements required for the administration 93
of the program. 94
[(f)] (l) Nothing in this section shall give any person a right to 95
continued receipt of rental assistance at any time that the program is not 96
funded. 97
[(g)] (m) The commissioner shall adopt regulations in accordance 98
with the provisions of chapter 54 to carry out the purposes of this 99
section. The regulations shall establish maximum income eligibility 100
guidelines for such rental assistance and criteria for determining the 101
amount of rental assistance [which] that shall be provided to eligible 102
families. 103
[(h)] (n) Any person aggrieved by a decision of the commissioner or 104
the commissioner's agent pursuant to the program under this section 105
shall have the right to a hearing in accordance with the provisions of 106
section 8-37gg. 107
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2024) (a) As used in this section: 108
(1) "Certificate holder" means any individual or family who has been 109 Substitute Bill No. 146
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issued a rental assistance certificate by the commissioner pursuant to the 110
rental assistance program established pursuant to chapter 138a of the 111
general statutes; 112
(2) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Housing; 113
(3) "Housing" means any house or building, or portion thereof, which 114
is occupied, designed to be occupied, or rented, leased or hired out to 115
be occupied, exclusively as a home or residence of one or more persons; 116
(4) "Housing voucher" means any assistance issued to an individual 117
or a family pursuant to a housing voucher program; 118
(5) "Housing voucher holder" means any person or family entitled to 119
participate in any housing voucher program other than the rental 120
assistance program; 121
(6) "Housing voucher program" means any housing voucher 122
program, including any portion of the federal Housing Choice Voucher 123
Program, that is administered in whole or in part by the commissioner; 124
(7) "Low-income family" means an individual or family whose 125
income does not exceed fifty per cent of the median family income for 126
the area of the state in which such family lives, as determined by the 127
commissioner; and 128
(8) "Rental assistance program" or "program" means the rental 129
assistance program established by the commissioner pursuant to 130
chapter 138 of the general statutes. 131
(b) The commissioner shall administer the rental assistance program 132
established pursuant to chapter 138a of the general statutes, and any 133
other housing voucher program, to promote housing choice for 134
certificate holders and housing voucher holders and to encourage racial 135
and economic integration. 136
(c) Not less than annually, the commissioner shall undertake an 137 Substitute Bill No. 146
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assessment, based on statistically representative rental housing survey 138
data selected by the commissioner, to determine if maximum rent 139
amounts provided for in the rental assistance program established 140
pursuant to chapter 138a of the general statutes, or other housing 141
voucher programs administered in whole or in part by the 142
commissioner, are sufficient to provide certificate holders and housing 143
voucher holders with housing opportunities in each municipality or zip 144
code in the state. If the commissioner finds such maximum rent amounts 145
are insufficient for such purpose, the commissioner shall adjust such 146
maximum rent levels so that such rent levels are sufficient for such 147
purpose. Such assessment shall be made publicly available on the 148
Internet web site of the Department of Housing. 149
(d) Any certificate issued pursuant to chapter 138a of the general 150
statutes, and to the extent permissible by federal law, as applicable, any 151
housing voucher, may be used for housing in any municipality in the 152
state. The commissioner shall inform certificate holders and housing 153
voucher holders that a certificate or housing voucher may be used in 154
any municipality and, to the extent practicable, the commissioner shall 155
assist certificate holders and housing voucher holders in finding 156
housing in the municipality of their choice. 157
(e) The commissioner shall administer the program in a manner that 158
ensures that no certificate holder or housing voucher holder be 159
displaced as a result of the application of the provisions of subsection (f) 160
of section 8-345 of the general statutes, as amended by this act. 161
(f) The commissioner shall adopt regulations in accordance with the 162
provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes to carry out the purposes 163
of this section. 164
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
Substitute Bill No. 146
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Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Section 1(a)(3), "or "housing unit"" was added for clarity, Section 3(c)
was rewritten for clarity and in Section 3(e), "such a way" was changed
to "in a manner" for clarity.
HSG Joint Favorable Subst.