PRINTER'S NO. 1535
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No.
1168
Session of
2024
INTRODUCED BY HUGHES, COSTA, HAYWOOD, SAVAL, SANTARSIERO, KANE,
FONTANA, BREWSTER, DILLON AND SCHWANK, APRIL 22, 2024
REFERRED TO URBAN AFFAIRS AND HOUSING, APRIL 22, 2024
AN ACT
Amending the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.343, No.176), entitled
"An act relating to the finances of the State government;
providing for cancer control, prevention and research, for
ambulatory surgical center data collection, for the Joint
Underwriting Association, for entertainment business
financial management firms, for private dam financial
assurance and for reinstatement of item vetoes; providing for
the settlement, assessment, collection, and lien of taxes,
bonus, and all other accounts due the Commonwealth, the
collection and recovery of fees and other money or property
due or belonging to the Commonwealth, or any agency thereof,
including escheated property and the proceeds of its sale,
the custody and disbursement or other disposition of funds
and securities belonging to or in the possession of the
Commonwealth, and the settlement of claims against the
Commonwealth, the resettlement of accounts and appeals to the
courts, refunds of moneys erroneously paid to the
Commonwealth, auditing the accounts of the Commonwealth and
all agencies thereof, of all public officers collecting
moneys payable to the Commonwealth, or any agency thereof,
and all receipts of appropriations from the Commonwealth,
authorizing the Commonwealth to issue tax anticipation notes
to defray current expenses, implementing the provisions of
section 7(a) of Article VIII of the Constitution of
Pennsylvania authorizing and restricting the incurring of
certain debt and imposing penalties; affecting every
department, board, commission, and officer of the State
government, every political subdivision of the State, and
certain officers of such subdivisions, every person,
association, and corporation required to pay, assess, or
collect taxes, or to make returns or reports under the laws
imposing taxes for State purposes, or to pay license fees or
other moneys to the Commonwealth, or any agency thereof,
every State depository and every debtor or creditor of the
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Commonwealth," in emergency COVID-19 response, further
providing for Housing Options Grant Program; and making
appropriations.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Section 196-C of the act of April 9, 1929
(P.L.343, No.176), known as The Fiscal Code, added July 11, 2022
(P.L.540, No.54), is amended to read:
Section 196-C. Housing Options Grant Program.
(a) Establishment.--The agency shall establish a grant
program to be known as the Housing Options Grant Program.
(b) Purpose.--
(1) The program shall make grants available from amounts
appropriated for COVID Relief - ARPA - Affordable Housing
Construction for the development of affordable housing units,
including, but not limited to, building new units, rehabbing
existing properties to make them affordable housing units or
preserving existing affordable units.
(2) The program shall make grants or loans from money
made available to the agency for the development of
affordable housing units, including building new housing
units, rehabilitating existing properties to make them
affordable housing units or preserving existing affordable
housing units.
(b.1) Funding.--
(1) No later than July 15, 2024, the sum of $100,000,000
shall be appropriated from the General Fund to the agency to
provide grants or loans through the program.
(2) No later than July 15, 2025, the sum of $100,000,000
shall be appropriated from the General Fund to the agency to
provide grants or loans through the program.
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(3) No later than July 15, 2026, the sum of $100,000,000
shall be appropriated from the General Fund to the agency to
provide grants or loans through the program.
(4) No later than July 15, 2027, the sum of $100,000,000
shall be appropriated from the General Fund to the agency to
provide grants or loans through the program.
(5) No later than July 15, 2028, the sum of $100,000,000
shall be appropriated from the General Fund to the agency to
provide grants or loans through the program.
(c) Duties.--The agency shall make grants or loans available
to developers or nonprofit organizations consistent with the
purposes of this section.
(d) Requirements.--A grant or loan shall be made to a
developer or a nonprofit organization for a project that meets
the requirements for an award under the Federal Low Income
Housing Tax Credit. The agency shall establish a maximum income
limit for eligible tenants at a threshold that the agency deems
appropriate, which does not exceed those amounts published
annually for Low Income Housing Tax Credit-financed properties
in the respective county. To be eligible for a grant or loan
under this section, a developer or nonprofit organization must
agree to provide matching funds of at least 25% of the grant or
loan amount to be awarded for the development. All grants made
in accordance with subsection (b)(1) shall be awarded no later
than December 31, 2024.
(e) Diversity.--The agency shall ensure that the grants are
geographically diverse across the Commonwealth.
(f) Reporting.--No later than June 30, 2023, and each June
30 thereafter, the agency shall report to the Governor and the
General Assembly and post on the agency's publicly accessible
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Internet website:
(1) The number of grants awarded to a developer and
nonprofit organization.
(2) The county in which each grant is awarded.
(3) The total number of applications received in the
previous fiscal year and the amount of funds request.
(4) Any other information the agency deems necessary.
(g) Definitions.--As used in this section, the following
words and phrases shall have the meanings given to them in this
subsection unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Agency." The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency.
"Program." The Housing Options Grant Program established
under subsection (a).
Section 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
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