(This measure has not been amended since it was reported to the Senate on November 15, 2005. The summary of that version is repeated here.)
Meeting the Housing and Service Needs of Seniors Act of 2005 - Establishes in the executive branch the independent Interagency Council on Meeting the Housing and Service Needs of Seniors, which shall identify and promote coordination of senior citizen housing, health care, and service needs.
Defines "senior" as an individual 65 years or older.
Authorizes FY2005-FY2010 appropriations.
[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 705 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 705
To establish the Interagency Council on Meeting the Housing and Service
Needs of Seniors, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 5, 2005
Mr. Sarbanes introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish the Interagency Council on Meeting the Housing and Service
Needs of Seniors, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Meeting the Housing and Service
Needs of Seniors Act of 2005''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The senior population (persons 65 or older) in this
country is rapidly growing, and is expected to increase from
34,700,000 in 2000 to nearly 40,000,000 by 2010, and then will
dramatically increase to over 50,000,000 by 2020.
(2) By 2020, the population of ``older'' seniors, those
over age 85, is expected to double to 7,000,000, and then
double again to 14,000,000 by 2040.
(3) As the senior population increases, so does the need
for additional safe, decent, affordable, and suitable housing
that meets their unique needs.
(4) Due to the health care, transportation, and service
needs of seniors, issues of providing suitable and affordable
housing opportunities differ significantly from the housing
needs of other families.
(5) Seniors need access to a wide array of housing options,
such as affordable assisted living, in-home care, supportive or
service-enriched housing, and retrofitted homes and apartments
to allow seniors to age in place and to avoid premature
placement in institutional settings.
(6) While there are many programs in place to assist
seniors in finding and affording suitable housing and accessing
needed services, these programs are fragmented and spread
across many agencies, making it difficult for seniors to access
assistance or to receive comprehensive information.
(7) Better coordination among Federal agencies is needed,
as is better coordination at State and local levels, to ensure
that seniors can access government activities, programs,
services, and benefits in an effective and efficient manner.
(8) Up to date, accurate, and accessible statistics on key
characteristics of seniors, including conditions, behaviors,
and needs, are required to accurately identify the housing and
service needs of seniors.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) The term ``housing'' means any form of residence,
including rental housing, homeownership, assisted living, group
home, supportive housing arrangement, nursing facility, or any
other physical location where a person can live.
(2) The term ``service'' includes transportation, health
care, nursing assistance, meal, personal care and chore
services, assistance with daily activities, mental health care,
physical therapy, case management, and any other services
needed by seniors to allow them to stay in their housing or
find alternative housing that meets their needs.
(3) The term ``program'' includes any Federal or State
program providing income support, health benefits or other
benefits to seniors, housing assistance, mortgages, mortgage or
loan insurance or guarantees, housing counseling, supportive
services, assistance with daily activities, or other assistance
for seniors.
(4) The term ``Council'' means the Interagency Council on
Meeting the Housing and Service Needs of Seniors.
(5) The term ``senior'' means any individual 65 years of
age or older.
SEC. 4. INTERAGENCY COUNCIL ON MEETING THE HOUSING AND SERVICE NEEDS OF
SENIORS.
(a) Establishment.--There is established in the executive branch an
independent council to be known as the Interagency Council on Meeting
the Housing and Service Needs of Seniors.
(b) Objectives.--The objectives of the Council are as follows:
(1) To promote coordination and collaboration among the
Federal departments and agencies involved with housing, health
care, and service needs of seniors in order to better meet the
needs of senior citizens.
(2) To identify the unique housing and service needs faced
by seniors around the country and to recommend ways that the
Federal Government, States, State and local governments, and
others can better meet those needs, including how to ensure
that seniors can find and afford housing that allows them to
access health care, transportation, nursing assistance, and
assistance with daily activities where they live or in their
communities.
(3) To facilitate the aging in place of seniors, by
identifying and making available the programs and services
necessary to enable seniors to remain in their homes as they
age.
(4) To improve coordination among the housing and service
related programs and services of Federal agencies for seniors
and to make recommendations about needed changes with an
emphasis on--
(A) maximizing the impact of existing programs and
services;
(B) reducing or eliminating areas of overlap and
duplication in the provision and accessibility of such
programs and services; and
(C) making access to programs and services easier
for seniors around the country.
(5) To increase the efficiency and effectiveness of
existing housing and service related programs and services
which serve seniors.
(6) To establish an ongoing system of coordination among
and within such agencies or organizations so that the housing
and service needs of seniors are met in a more efficient
manner.
(c) Membership.--The Council shall be composed of the following:
(1) The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development or a
designee of the Secretary.
(2) The Secretary of Health and Human Services or a
designee of the Secretary.
(3) The Secretary of Agriculture or a designee of the
Secretary.
(4) The Secretary of Transportation or a designee of the
Secretary.
(5) The Secretary of Labor or a designee of the Secretary.
(6) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs or a designee of the
Secretary.
(7) The Secretary of the Treasury or a designee of the
Secretary.
(8) The Commissioner of the Social Security Administration
or a designee of the Commissioner.
(9) The Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services or a designee of the Administrator.
(10) The Administrator of the Administration on Aging or a
designee of the Administrator.
(11) The head (or designee) of any other Federal agency as
the Council considers appropriate.
(12) State and local representatives knowledgeable about
the needs of seniors as chosen by the Council members described
in paragraphs (1) through (11).
(d) Chairperson.--The Chairperson of the Council shall alternate
between the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and the
Secretary of Health and Human Services on an annual basis.
(e) Vice Chair.--Each year, the Council shall elect a Vice Chair
from among its members.
(f) Meetings.--The Council shall meet at the call of its
Chairperson or a majority of its members at any time, and no less often
than quarterly. The Council shall hold meetings with stakeholders and
other interested parties at least twice a year, so that the opinions of
such parties can be taken into account and so that outside groups can
learn of the Council's activities and plans.
SEC. 5. FUNCTIONS OF THE COUNCIL.
(a) Relevant Activities.--In carrying out its objectives, the
Council shall--
(1) review all Federal programs and services that assist
seniors in finding, affording, and rehabilitating housing,
including those that assist seniors in accessing health care,
transportation, supportive services, and assistance with daily
activities, where or close to where seniors live;
(2) monitor, evaluate, and recommend improvements in
existing programs and services administered, funded, or
financed by Federal, State, and local agencies to assist
seniors in meeting their housing and service needs and make any
recommendations about how agencies can better work to house and
serve seniors; and
(3) recommend ways--
(A) to reduce duplication among programs and
services by Federal agencies that assist seniors in
meeting their housing and service needs;
(B) to ensure collaboration among and within
agencies in the provision and availability of programs
and services so that seniors are able to easily access
needed programs and services;
(C) to work with States to better provide housing
and services to seniors by--
(i) holding individual meetings with State
representatives;
(ii) providing ongoing technical assistance
to States in better meeting the needs of
seniors; and
(iii) working with States to designate
State liaisons to the Council;
(D) to identify best practices for programs and
services that assist seniors in meeting their housing
and service needs, including model--
(i) programs linking housing and services;
(ii) financing products offered by
government, quasi-government, and private
sector entities;
(iii) land use, zoning, and regulatory
practices; and
(iv) innovations in technology applications
that give seniors access to information on
available services;
(E) to collect and disseminate information about
seniors and the programs and services available to them
to ensure that seniors can access comprehensive
information;
(F) to hold biannual meetings with stakeholders and
other interested parties (or to hold open Council
meetings) to receive input and ideas about how to best
meet the housing and service needs of seniors;
(G) to maintain an updated website of policies,
meetings, best practices, programs, services, and any
other helpful information to keep people informed of
the Council's activities; and
(H) to work with the Federal Interagency Forum on
Aging Statistics, the Census Bureau, and member
agencies to collect and maintain data relating to the
housing and service needs of seniors so that all data
can be accessed in one place and to identify and
address unmet data needs.
(b) Reports.--
(1) By members.--Each year, the head of each agency that is
a member of the Council shall prepare and transmit to the
Council a report that describes--
(A) each program and service administered by the
agency that serves seniors and the number of seniors
served by each program or service, the resources
available in each, as well as a breakdown of where each
program and service can be accessed;
(B) the barriers and impediments, including
statutory or regulatory, to the access and use of such
programs and services by seniors;
(C) the efforts made by each agency to increase
opportunities for seniors to find and afford housing
that meet their needs, including how the agency is
working with other agencies to better coordinate
programs and services; and
(D) any new data collected by each agency relating
to the housing and service needs of seniors.
(2) By the council.--Each year, the Council shall prepare
and transmit to the President, the Senate Committee on Banking,
Housing, and Urban Affairs, the Senate Committee on Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions, the House Financial Services
Committee, and the House Committee on Education and the
Workforce a report that--
(A) summarizes the reports required in paragraph
(1);
(B) utilizes recent data to assess the nature of
the problems faced by seniors in meeting their unique
housing and service needs;
(C) provides a comprehensive and detailed
description of the programs and services of the Federal
Government in meeting the needs and problems described
in subparagraph (B);
(D) describes the activities and accomplishments of
the Council in working with Federal, State, and local
governments, and private organizations in coordinating
programs and services to meet the needs described in
subparagraph (B) and the resources available to meet
those needs;
(E) assesses the level of Federal assistance
required to meet the needs described in subparagraph
(B); and
(F) makes recommendations for appropriate
legislative and administrative actions to meet the
needs described in subparagraph (B) and for
coordinating programs and services designed to meet
those needs.
SEC. 6. POWERS OF THE COUNCIL.
(a) Hearings.--The Council may hold such hearings, sit and act at
such times and places, take such testimony, and receive such evidence
as the Council considers advisable to carry out the purposes of this
Act.
(b) Information From Agencies.--Agencies which are members of the
Council shall provide all requested information and data to the Council
as requested.
(c) Postal Services.--The Council may use the United States mails
in the same manner and under the same conditions as other departments
and agencies of the Federal Government.
(d) Gifts.--The Council may accept, use, and dispose of gifts or
donations of services or property.
SEC. 7. COUNCIL PERSONNEL MATTERS.
(a) Compensation of Members.--All members of the Council who are
officers or employees of the United States shall serve without
compensation in addition to that received for their services as
officers or employees of the United States.
(b) Travel Expenses.--The members of the Council shall be allowed
travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates
authorized for employees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57
of title 5, United States Code, while away from their homes or regular
places of business in the performance of services for the Council.
(c) Staff.--
(1) In general.--The Council shall, without regard to civil
service laws and regulations, appoint and terminate an
Executive Director and such other additional personnel as may
be necessary to enable the Council to perform its duties.
(2) Executive director.--The Council shall appoint an
Executive Director at its initial meeting. The Executive
Director shall be compensated at a rate not to exceed the rate
of pay payable for level V of the Executive Schedule under
section 5316 of title 5, United States Code.
(3) Compensation.--With the approval of the Council, the
Executive Director may appoint and fix the compensation of such
additional personnel as necessary to carry out the duties of
the Council. The rate of compensation may be set without regard
to the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter II of chapter 53
of title 5, United States Code, relating to classification of
positions and General Schedule pay rates, except that the rate
of pay may not exceed the rate payable for level V of the
Executive Schedule under section 5316 of such title.
(d) Temporary and Intermittent Services.--In carrying out its
objectives, the Council may procure temporary and intermittent services
of consultants and experts under section 3109(b) of title 5, United
States Code, at rates for individuals which do not exceed the daily
equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay prescribed for level V of
the Executive Schedule under section 5316 of such title.
(e) Detail of Government Employees.--Upon request of the Council,
any Federal Government employee may be detailed to the Council without
reimbursement, and such detail shall be without interruption or loss of
civil service status or privilege.
(f) Administrative Support.--The Secretary of Housing Urban
Development and the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall
provide the Council with such administrative and supportive services as
are necessary to ensure that the Council can carry out its functions.
SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act,
$1,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2005 through 2010.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S3207-3208)
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. (text of measure as introduced: CR S3208-3210)
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 109-670.
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Reported by Senator Shelby with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 109-178.
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Reported by Senator Shelby with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. With written report No. 109-178.
Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 285.
Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent.(consideration: CR S13253-13260; text as passed Senate: CR S13253-13256)
Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S13253-13260; text as passed Senate: CR S13253-13256)
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Received in the House.
Held at the desk.
Message on Senate action sent to the House.