Florida Senate - 2009                                     SB 726
       
       
       
       By Senator Smith
       
       
       
       
       29-00856-09                                            2009726__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to housing assistance grants; amending
    3         s. 420.622, F.S.; authorizing the agencies that
    4         provide a local homeless assistance continuum of care
    5         to use homeless housing assistance grants, provided by
    6         the State Office on Homelessness within the Department
    7         of Children and Family Services, to acquire
    8         transitional or permanent housing units for homeless
    9         persons; providing an effective date.
   10         
   11  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   12         
   13         Section 1. Subsection (5) of section 420.622, Florida
   14  Statutes, is amended to read:
   15         420.622 State Office on Homelessness; Council on
   16  Homelessness.—
   17         (5) The State Office on Homelessness, with the concurrence
   18  of the Council on Homelessness, may administer moneys
   19  appropriated to it to provide homeless housing assistance grants
   20  annually to lead agencies for local homeless assistance
   21  continuum of care, as recognized by the State Office on
   22  Homelessness, to acquire, construct, or rehabilitate
   23  transitional or permanent housing units for homeless persons.
   24  These moneys shall consist of any sums that the state may
   25  appropriate, as well as money received from donations, gifts,
   26  bequests, or otherwise from any public or private source, which
   27  money is intended to acquire, construct, or rehabilitate
   28  transitional or permanent housing units for homeless persons.
   29         (a) Grant applicants shall be ranked competitively.
   30  Preference must be given to applicants who leverage additional
   31  private funds and public funds, particularly federal funds
   32  designated for the acquisition, construction, or and
   33  rehabilitation of transitional or permanent housing for homeless
   34  persons;, who acquire, build, or rehabilitate the greatest
   35  number of units;, and who acquire, build, or rehabilitate in
   36  catchment areas having the greatest need for housing for the
   37  homeless relative to the population of the catchment area.
   38         (b) Funding for any particular project may not exceed
   39  $750,000.
   40         (c) Projects must reserve, for a minimum of 10 years, the
   41  number of units acquired, constructed, or rehabilitated through
   42  homeless housing assistance grant funding to serve persons who
   43  are homeless at the time they assume tenancy.
   44         (d) No more than two grants may be awarded annually in any
   45  given local homeless assistance continuum of care catchment
   46  area.
   47         (e) A project may not be funded which is not included in
   48  the local homeless assistance continuum of care plan, as
   49  recognized by the State Office on Homelessness, for the
   50  catchment area in which the project is located.
   51         (f) The maximum percentage of funds that the State Office
   52  on Homelessness and each applicant may spend on administrative
   53  costs is 5 percent.
   54         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009.