Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

                              STATE OF OKLAHOMA
                  1st Session of the 59th Legislature (2023)
  HOUSE BILL 2724                        By: Menz
4
5
                                AS INTRODUCED
         An Act relating to public safety; amending 63 O.S.
            2021, Section 1054, which relates to the Oklahoma
         Housing Authority Act; defining term; providing that
            landlords or owners of property shall receive stipend
         if certain conditions are met; providing for
            codification; and providing an effective date.
10
11
12
 BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
     SECTION 1.       AMENDATORY     63 O.S. 2021, Section 1054, is
 amended to read as follows:
     Section 1054.    The following terms, wherever used or referred to
 in this act, shall have the following respective meanings, unless a
 different meaning clearly appears from the context:
     (a) "Authority" means any public body corporate and politic
 created by this act.
     (b) "City" means any incorporated city or town in the state.
 "County" means any county in the state.
     (c) "Governing body" means, in the case of a city, the council
 or other governing body of the city in which is vested legislative
     Req. No. 6858                                                    Page 1
  authority customarily imposed on the city council, and, in the case
  of a county, the board of county commissioners.
      (d) "Mayor" means the mayor of the city or the officer thereof
  charged with the duties customarily imposed on the mayor or
  executive head of a city.
      (e) "Clerk" means the city clerk or the county clerk, as the
  case may be.
      (f) "Area of operation" means:
      (1) in the case of an authority of a city, the city and the area
 within one (1) mile of the territorial boundaries thereof, except
 that the area of operation of an authority of any city shall not
 include any area which lies within the territorial boundaries of
 some other city; or
     (2) in the case of an authority of a county, all of the county
 for which it is created: Provided, that a county authority shall not
 undertake any project within the boundaries of any city unless a
 resolution shall have been adopted by the governing body of the city
 and by any authority which shall have been theretofore established
 and authorized to exercise its powers in the city declaring that
 there is need for the county authority to exercise its powers within
 that city.     No authority shall operate in any area in which an
 authority already established is operating without the consent by
 resolution of the authority already operating therein.
24
     Req. No. 6858                                                       Page 2
      (g) "Federal government" includes the United States of America,
  the Public Housing Administration, or any other agency or
  instrumentality, corporate or otherwise, of the United States of
  America.
      (h) "Slum" means any area where dwellings predominate which by
  reason of dilapidation, overcrowding, faulty arrangement or design,
  lack of ventilation, light, or sanitary facilities, or any
  combination     of these factors, are detrimental to safety, health and
  morals.
     (i) "Housing project" or "project" means any work or undertaking
 on contiguous or noncontiguous sites:
     (1) to demolish, clear, or remove buildings from any slum
 area;
     (2) to provide or assist in providing (by any suitable method,
 including but not limited to: rental; sale of individual units in
 single or multifamily structures under conventional, condominium, or
 cooperative sales contract; lease-purchase agreement; loans; or
 subsidizing of rentals or charges) decent, safe and sanitary urban
 or rural dwellings, apartments, or other living accommodations for
 persons of low income; or
     (3) to accomplish a combination of the foregoing.    Such work or
 undertaking may include buildings, land, equipment, facilities, and
 other real or personal property for necessary, convenient or
 desirable appurtenances; streets, sewers, water service, utilities,
     Req. No. 6858                                                     Page 3
  parks, site preparation, and landscaping; and facilities for
  administrative, community, health, recreational, welfare, or other
  purposes.   The term "housing project" or "project" also may be
  applied to the planning of the buildings and improvements, the
  acquisition of property or any interest therein, the demolition of
  existing structures, the construction, reconstruction,
  rehabilitation, alteration or repair of the improvements and all
  other work in connection therewith; and the term shall include all
  other real and personal property and all tangible or intangible
 assets held or used in connection with the housing project.
     (j) "Persons of low income" shall mean persons or families who
 lack the amount of income which is necessary (as determined by the
 authority undertaking the housing project) to enable them, without
 financial assistance, to live in decent, safe and sanitary
 dwellings, without overcrowding, however, the local housing
 authority shall not exceed the guidelines in establishing incomes
 set forth by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
     (k) "Bonds" means any bonds, notes, interim certificates,
 debentures, or other obligations issued by an authority pursuant to
 this act.
     (l) "Real property" includes all lands, including improvements
 and fixtures thereon, and property of any nature appurtenant
 thereto, or used in connection therewith, and every estate, interest
 and right, legal or equitable, therein including terms for years.
     Req. No. 6858                                                     Page 4
      (m) "Obligee of an authority" or "obligee" includes any
  bondholder, agent or trustee for any bondholder, or lessor demising
  to the authority property used in connection with a project, or any
  assignee or assignees of such lessor's interest or any part thereof,
  and the federal government when it is a party to any contract with
  the authority.
      (n) "Persons engaged in national defense activities" means
  persons in the Armed Forces of the United States; employees of the
  Department of Defense; and workers engaged or to be engaged in
 activities connected with national defense.   The term also includes
 the families of the persons, employees, and workers who reside with
 them.
     (o) "Major disaster" means any flood, drought, fire, hurricane,
 tornado, earthquake, storm, or other catastrophe which, in the
 determination of the governing body, is of sufficient severity and
 magnitude to warrant the use of available resources of the federal,
 state, and local governments to alleviate the damage, hardship, or
 suffering caused thereby.
     (p) "State public body" means any city, county, municipal
 corporation, commission, district, authority, agency, subdivision,
 or public body of the state.
     (q)   "Housing Choice Voucher Program" means the tenant-based
 assistance program under section 8(o) of the United States Housing
24
     Req. No. 6858                                                    Page 5
  Act of 1937 that is locally administered by the Oklahoma Public
  Housing Authority.
      SECTION 2.       NEW LAW       A new section of law to be codified
  in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1076.1 of Title 63, unless there
  is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
      Landlords or owners of property who maintain decent, safe, and
  sanitary dwellings for persons of low income shall receive a one-
  time Two Hundred Dollar ($200.00) remittance for each tenant who has
  leased with the landlord for a period of three (3) years and who
 participates in the Housing Choice Voucher Program.
     SECTION 3.   This act shall become effective November 1, 2023.
12
     59-1-6858        CMA       01/14/23
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
     Req. No. 6858                                                      Page 6