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Councilmember Robert C. White, Jr. 2
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A PROPOSED RESOLUTION 6
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IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 9
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To declare an emergency with respect to the need to amend the District of Columbia Housing 12
Authority Act of 1999 to allow applicants for local rent supplement vouchers to self-13
certify eligibility factors; and to prohibit the Housing Authority from inquiring into an 14
applicant’s immigration status or prior criminal arrests, convictions, or pending criminal 15
matters. 16
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RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this 18
resolution may be cited as the “Local Rent Supplement Program Eligibility Emergency 19
Declaration Resolution of 2023”. 20
Sec. 2. (a) The District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA) administers the Local 21
Rent Supplement Program (LRSP), which uses local funds to provide lower-income residents of 22
the District with various housing supports, including tenant-based vouchers, project-based 23
subsidies, and sponsor-based subsidies. 24
(b) While the LRSP is modeled in part on the federal Housing Choice Voucher Program 25
(HCVP), some HCVP eligibility criteria do not fully address the District’s housing subsidy 26
goals. 27
(c) Specifically, the HCVP’s exclusion of individuals with certain criminal records or 28
charges and individuals who are not citizens or lawful permanent residents of the United States 29
overlooks the reality that these individuals and their families continue to need housing support, 30
and that failure to provide such support can contribute to costly social problems for all residents 31
of the District. 32 (d) Furthermore, the HCVP’s requirement of formal documentation of various eligibility 33
criteria poses a barrier to individuals who, for various reasons such as periods of homelessness, 34
lose track of vital records. 35
(e) The Local Rent Supplement Program Enhancement Amendment Act of 2021, 36
effective November 13, 2021 (D.C. Law 24- 45) amended the District of Columbia Housing 37
Authority Act of 1999 to require DCHA to issue administrative rules allowing self -certification 38
of eligibility factors for LRSP assistance “when an applicant cannot easily obtain verification 39
documentation.” The same legislation prohibited DCHA from using “immigration status, prior 40
criminal convictions, or pending criminal matters” as eligibility criteria for LRSP assistance. 41
(f) In July 2022, in response to concerns that DCHA and its partner agencies had not fully 42
complied with the Local Rent Supplement Program Enhancement Amendment Act of 2021, the 43
Council passed the Local Rent Supplement Program Eligibility Emergency Amendment Act of 44
2022 and substantively identical temporary legislation. This legislation reinscribed the prior 45
legislation’s directives not to exclude would- be LRSP beneficiaries based on their citizenship; 46
immigration status; prior criminal arrests, convictions, or pending matters; or inability to access 47
vital records. 48
(g) Council Chairman Phil Mendelson introduced substantively identical permanent 49
legislation on January 19, 2023. The permanent bill is pending before the Committee on 50
Housing. 51
(h) The LRSP eligibility temporary legislation currently in effect is scheduled to expire 52
on July 26, 2023. 53
(i) Emergency action is needed to prevent a lapse in the existing temporary law’s 54
important protections. 55 Sec. 3. The Council of the District of Columbia determines that the circumstances 56
enumerated in section 2 constitute an emergency making it necessary that the Local Rent 57
Supplement Program Eligibility Emergency Amendment Act of 2023 be adopted after a single 58
reading. 59
Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately. 60