1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Public Housing Emergency Response Act . 2. Findings The Congress finds the following: (1) Housing is a foundational determinant of health and has been recognized as such since the early days of public health. (2) Poor housing conditions contribute to a broad range of infectious diseases, chronic diseases, injuries, childhood development complications, nutrition issues, and mental health challenges. (3) The United States Housing Act of 1937 ( Public Law 75–412 ) charges the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) with providing residents with a decent, safe, and affordable place to live, including those that live in public housing. (4) While public housing is a federally created program overseen by HUD, the properties are owned and managed at the local level by quasi-governmental public housing authorities under contract with the Federal Government. (5) Thus, the public housing program is governed in part by Federal rules and regulations and in part by policies enacted at the local level. (6) Passage of the United States Housing Act of 1937 sought to address the needs of low-income people through public housing. At the time of passage of such Act, the Nation’s housing stock was of very poor quality. Public housing was a significant improvement for those who had access to it. (7) However, over the years the living conditions in public housing began to deteriorate as the operational needs of the units and costs necessary to remedy major capital deficiencies began to outpace the level of funding provided by the Federal Government and the residents’ rent contributions. (8) By 1990, no significant investment in housing affordable to the lowest-income individuals had been made by the Federal Government in more than 30 years. (9) In 1998, the enactment of the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 (title V of Public Law 105–276 ) prohibited public housing authorities from using any Federal capital funding or operating funding to develop net new housing.