RURAL HOUSING VOUCHER PROGRAM.

SEC. 706. RURAL HOUSING VOUCHER PROGRAM. Title V of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 501 et seq.) is amended— (1) in the last sentence of section 533(a) (42 U.S.C. 1490m(a)), by inserting after “1937” the following: “or section 542 of this title”; and (2) by adding at the end the following new section: “SEC. 542. RURAL HOUSING VOUCHER PROGRAM. “(a) In General.—To such extent or in such amounts as are approved in appropriation Acts, the Secretary shall carry out a 106 STAT. 3836rural housing voucher program to assist very low-income families and persons to reside m rental housing in rural areas. For such purposes, the Secretary may provide assistance using a payment standard based on the fair market rental rate established by the Secretary for the area. The monthly assistance payment for any family snail be the amount by which the payment standard for the area exceeds 30 per centum of the family’s monthly adjusted income, except that such monthly assistance payment shall not exceed the amount which the rent for the dwelling unit (including the amount allowed for utilities in the case of a unit with separate utility metering) exceeds 10 per centum of the family’s monthly gross income. “(b) Coordination and Limitation.—In carrying out the rural housing voucher program under this section, the Secretary shall— “(1) coordinate activities under this section with activities assisted under sections 515 and 533 of this title; and “(2) enter into contracts for assistance for not more than 5000 units in any fiscal year.”.