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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES - FLOOR VERSION
STATE OF OKLAHOMA
1st Session of the 59th Legislature (2023)
HOUSE BILL 2724 By: Menz
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating to public safety; amending 63 O.S.
2021, Section 1054, which relates to the Oklah oma
Housing Authority Act; defining term; providing that
landlords or owners of property shall receive stipend
if certain conditions are met; providing for
codification; and providing an effective date .
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 63 O.S. 2021, Section 1054, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 1054. The following terms, wherever used or referred to
in this act, shall have the following respective meanings, unless a
different meaning clearly appears from the c ontext:
(a) "Authority" means any public body corporate and p olitic
created by this act.
(b) "City" means any incorporated city or town in the state.
"County" means any county in the state.
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(c) "Governing body" means, in the case of a city, the council
or other governing body of the city in whi ch is vested legislati ve
authority customarily imposed on the city council, and, in the case
of a county, the board of county commissioners.
(d) "Mayor" means the mayor of the city or the officer thereof
charged with the duties customarily imposed on the m ayor or
executive head of a city.
(e) "Clerk" means the city clerk or the county clerk, as the
case may be.
(f) "Area of operation" means:
(1) in the case of an authority of a city, the city and the area
within one (1) mile of the territorial boundaries t hereof, except
that the area of operation of an authority of any city shall not
include any area which lies within the territorial boundaries of
some other city; or
(2) in the case of an authority of a county, all of t he county
for which it is created: Provid ed, that a county au thority shall not
undertake any project within the boundaries of any city unless a
resolution shall have been adopted by the governing body of the city
and by any authority which shall have been theretofore established
and authorized to exercise its powers in the city declaring that
there is need for the county authority to exercise its powers within
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that city. No authority shall operate in any area in wh ich an
authority already established is op erating without the consent by
resolution of the authority already operating therein.
(g) "Federal government" includes the United States of America,
the Public Housing Administration, or any other agency or
instrumentality, corporate or otherwise, of the United States of
America.
(h) "Slum" means any area where dwe llings predominate which by
reason of dilapidation, overcrowding, faulty arrangement or design,
lack of ventilation, light, or sanitary facilities, or an y
combination of these factors, are detri mental to safety, health and
morals.
(i) "Housing project" or "project" means any work or undertaking
on contiguous or noncontiguous sites:
(1) to demolish, clear, or remove buildings from any slum
area;
(2) to provide or assist in providing (by any suita ble method,
including but not limited to: rental; sale of individual units in
single or multifamily structures under conventional, condominium, or
cooperative sales contract; lease -purchase agreement; loans; or
subsidizing of rentals or charges) decent, sa fe and sanitary urban
or rural dwellings, apartments, or other living accommodations for
persons of low income; or
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(3) to accomplish a combination of the foregoing. Such work or
undertaking may include buildings, land, equipment, facilities, and
other real or personal property for necessary, con venient or
desirable appurtenances; streets, sewers, water service, utilities,
parks, site preparation, and landscaping; and facilities for
administrative, community, health , recreational, welfare, or other
purposes. The term "housing project" or "project" also may be
applied to the planning of the buildings and improvements, the
acquisition of property or any interest therein, the demolition of
existing structures, the cons truction, reconstruction,
rehabilitation, alteration or repair of the improvements and all
other work in connection therewith; and the term shall include all
other real and personal property and all tangible or intangible
assets held or used in connection with the housing project.
(j) "Persons of low income" shall mean persons or familie s who
lack the amount of income which is necessary (as determined by the
authority undertaking the housing project) to enable them, without
financial assistance, to live in decent, safe and sanitary
dwellings, without overcrowding, however, the local housi ng
authority shall not exceed the guidelines in establishing incomes
set forth by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
(k) "Bonds" means any bonds, notes, interi m certificates,
debentures, or other oblig ations issued by an authority pursuant to
this act.
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(l) "Real property" includes all lands, including improvements
and fixtures thereon, and property of any nature appurtenant
thereto, or used in connection therewi th, and every estate, interest
and right, legal or equitable, therein including ter ms for years.
(m) "Obligee of an authority" or "obligee" includes any
bondholder, agent or trustee for any bondholder, or lessor demising
to the authority property used in c onnection with a project, or any
assignee or assignees of such lessor 's interest or any part thereof,
and the federal government when it is a party to any contract with
the authority.
(n) "Persons engaged in national defense activities " means
persons in the Armed Forces of the United States; emplo yees of the
Department of Defense; and wo rkers engaged or to be engaged in
activities connected with national defense. The term also includes
the families of the persons, employees, and workers who reside with
them.
(o) "Major disaster" means any flood, drought, fire, hurricane,
tornado, earthquake, storm, or other catastrophe which, in the
determination of the governing body, is of sufficient severity and
magnitude to warrant the use of available resources of the federal,
state, and local governments to a lleviate the damage, hardship, or
suffering caused thereby.
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(p) "State public body" means any city, county, municipal
corporation, commission, district, authority, agency, subdivision,
or public body of the state.
(q) "Housing Choice Voucher Program" means the tenant-based
assistance program unde r section 8(o) of the United States Housing
Act of 1937 that is locally administered by the Oklahoma Public
Housing Authority.
SECTION 2. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1076.1 of Title 63, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
Landlords or owners of property who maintain decent, safe, and
sanitary dwellings for persons of low income shall receive a one-
time Two Hundred Dollar ($200.00) remittance for each tenant who has
leased with the landlord for a period of three (3) years and who
participates in the Hous ing Choice Voucher P rogram.
SECTION 3. This act shall become effective November 1, 2023.
COMMITTEE REPORT BY: COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY - CIVIL, dated
03/02/2023 - DO PASS.