AMENDMENTS TO RURAL HOUSING PROGRAMS.

SEC. 599C. AMENDMENTS TO RURAL HOUSING PROGRAMS. (a) Permanent Extension of Underserved Areas Program.— Section 509(f)(4)(A) of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C.1479(f)(4)(A)) is amended— (1) in the first sentence, by striking “fiscal year 1998”and inserting “each fiscal year”; and (2) in the second sentence, by striking “such fiscal year” and inserting “each fiscal year”. (b) Permanent Extension of Section 515 Program.— (1) Authority to make loans.— Section 515(b) of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1485(b)(4)) is amended— (A) by striking paragraph (4); and (B) by redesignating paragraphs (5), (6), and (7) as paragraphs (4), (5), and (6), respectively. (2) Set-aside for nonprofit entities.— The first sentence of section 515(w)(1) of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1485(w)(1)) is amended by striking “fiscal year 1998” and inserting “each fiscal year”. (c) Loan Guarantee Program for Multifamily Rental Housing in Rural Areas.— Section 538 of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1490p-2) is amended— (1) in subsection (t), by striking “fiscal year 1998” and inserting “each fiscal year”; and (2) by striking subsection (u) and inserting the following new subsection: “(u) Tax-Exempt Financing.— The Secretary may not deny a guarantee under this section on the basis that the interest on the loan or on an obligation supporting the loan for which a guarantee is sought is exempt from inclusion in gross income for purposes of chapter I of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.”. (d) Farm Labor Housing Eligibility for Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Financing.— The first sentence of section 514(a) of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1484(a)) is amended by inserting “, or any nonprofit limited partnership in which the general partner is a nonprofit entity,” after “private nonprofit organization”. (e) Optional Conversion of Rental Assistance Payments to Operating Subsidy for Migrant Farmworker Projects.— (1) In general.— Section 521(a) of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1490(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: “(5) Operating assistance for migrant farmworker projects.— “(A) Authority.— In the case of housing (and related facilities) for migrant farmworkers provided or assisted with a loan under section 514 or a grant under section 516, the Secretary may, at the request of the owner of the project, use amounts provided for rental assistance payments under paragraph (2) to provide assistance for the costs of operating the project. Any project assisted under this paragraph may not receive rental assistance under paragraph (2). “(B) Amount.— In any fiscal year, the assistance provided under this paragraph for any project shall not exceed an amount equal to 90 percent of the operating costs for the project for the year, as determined by the Secretary. The amount of assistance to be provided for a project under this paragraph shall be an amount that makes units in the project available to 112 STAT. 2662migrant farmworkers in the area of the project at rates not exceeding 30 percent of the monthly adjusted incomes of such farmworkers, based on the prevailing incomes of such farm-workers in the area. “(C) Submission of information.— The owner of a project assisted under this paragraph shall be required to provide to the Secretary, at least annually, a budget of operating expenses and estimated rental income, which the Secretary may use to determine the amount of assistance for the project. “(D) Definitions.— For purposes of this paragraph, the following definitions shall apply: “(i) The term ‘migrant farmworker’ has the same meaning given such term in section 516(k)(7). “(ii) The term ‘operating cost’ means expenses incurred in operating a project, including expenses for— “(I) administration, maintenance, repair, and security of the project; “(II) utilities, fuel, furnishings, and equipment for the project; and “(III) maintaining adequate reserve funds for the project.”. (2) Conforming amendments.— Title V of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1471 et seq.) is amended— (A) in section 502— (i) in subsection (c)(1)(A)(i), by striking “or (a)(2)”and inserting “, (a)(2), or (5)”; (ii) in subsection (c)(4)(B)(ii), by inserting before the period at the end the following: “, or additional assistance or an increase in assistance provided under section 521(a)(5)”; (iii) in subsection (c)(4)(B)(iii), by “or 521(a)(5)”after “section 521(a)(2)”; (iv) in subsection (c)(4)(B)(v), by inserting before the period at the end the following: “, or current tenants of projects not assisted under section 521(a)(5)”; (v) in subsection (c)(5)(C)(iii)— (I) by striking the second comma; and (II) by inserting “or any assistance payments received under section 521(a)(5),” before “with respect”; and (vi) in subsection (c)(5)(D), by inserting before the period at the end the following: “or, in the case of housing assisted under section 521(a)(5), does not exceed the rents established for the project under such section”; (B) in the second sentence of subparagraph (A) of section 509(f)(4), by striking “an amount of section 521 rental assistance” and inserting “from amounts available for assistance under paragraphs (2) and (5) of section 521(a), an amount”; (C) in section 513(c)(2)— (i) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by inserting “or contracts for operating assistance under section 521(a)(5)” after “section 521(a)(2)(A)”; (ii) in subparagraph (A), by inserting “or operating assistance contracts” after “contracts”; 112 STAT. 2663 (iii) in subparagraph (B), by striking “rental” each place it appears; and (iv) in subparagraph (C), by inserting “or operating assistance contracts” after “contracts”; (D) in section 521(a)(2)(B)— (i) by inserting “or paragraph (5)” after “this paragraph”; and (ii) by striking “which shall” and all that follows through the period at the end and insert in the following: “, The budget (and the income, in the case of a project assisted under this paragraph) shall be used to determine the amount of the assistance for each project.”; (E) in section 521(c), by striking “subsection (a)(2)”and inserting “subsections (a)(2) and (a)(5)”; (F) in section 521(e), by inserting after “recipient” the following: “or any tenant in a project assisted under subsection (a)(5)”; and (G) in section 530, by striking “rental assistance payments with respect to such project under section 521(a)(2)(A)” and inserting “assistance payments with respect to such project under section 521(a)(2)(A) or 521(a)(5)”. (f) Rural Housing Guaranteed Loans.— Section 502(h)(6)(C) of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1472(h)(6)(C)) is amended by striking “, subject to the maximum dollar amount limitation of section 203(b)(2) of the National Housing Act” each place it appears. (g) Applicability.— The amendments made by this section are made on, and shall apply beginning upon, the date of the enactment of this Act.