Washington, DC—Congressman Randy Neugebauer’s bill to ease regulatory burdens on rural public housing authorities (PHAs) passed the House late Monday evening.

   “My bill will have a positive impact for public housing authorities in the 19th District as well as rural areas across the country,” Neugebauer said.  “Reducing unnecessary paperwork and reporting will help small PHAs better serve their communities and focus on their mission of providing affordable housing to rural residents in need.”

   Neugebauer’s legislation, H.R. 3067, exempts PHAs with 250 or fewer public housing units and Section 8 vouchers combined from the requirement of submitting an annual plan to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.  These regulations are a result of the 1992 Public Housing Reform Act which required PHAs to submit five-year and annual plans to HUD.  Submitting these plans requires a significant amount of time and resources for PHAs.  This process can be especially tough on small PHAs, which have limited staff and often are single person operations.

   As a result of its widespread support, Neugebauer’s bill cleared the House by voice vote.

   Approximately 2,300 small PHAs administering over 215,000 public housing units and Section 8 vouchers nationwide will be impacted by this legislation.  In the 19th District, 15 public housing authorities will be eligible for this exemption, including those located in Baird, Breckenridge, Cisco, Cross Plains, Floydada, Levelland, Merkel, Newcastle, Olney, Post, Ranger, Rising Star, Rotan, Seagraves, and Slaton.

   “One of my goals in Congress is to look at federal regulations and weed out those which may be unnecessary or overly burdensome, especially for rural regions,” Neugebauer said.  “After looking at this particular regulation, I concluded that it fit the bill on both counts.  And I’m pleased that so many of my colleagues in the House agreed with this common sense reform.”

   Now that his legislation has been approved by the House, Neugebauer will look to work with Senators so that the bill can garner support in the other chamber.