# Green New Deal for Public Housing Act

This bill aims to transform public housing across the country by making it more energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable while improving living conditions for residents. The legislation would provide federal funding to help public housing authorities upgrade their buildings with things like better insulation, solar panels, efficient heating and cooling systems, and other green technologies. The goal is to reduce energy costs for housing authorities, cut down on pollution, and create healthier living environments for the roughly 2 million Americans who live in public housing.

The bill would also require that these green upgrades create jobs and training opportunities, particularly for people living in or near public housing communities. This means residents could potentially get hired for construction, maintenance, and other work related to these improvements, helping them build skills and earn income. Additionally, the legislation includes provisions to make sure that public housing residents have a say in how these projects are planned and implemented in their communities.

For taxpayers and the broader public, this represents an investment in fixing aging public housing infrastructure that has been neglected for decades. Many public housing buildings are in poor condition, which costs more money to maintain and creates health problems for residents. By upgrading these properties now with energy-efficient systems, the government could save money on utilities and maintenance in the long run. The bill essentially treats public housing modernization as both a social issue and an environmental opportunity, combining efforts to help low-income families with efforts to reduce carbon emissions and create green jobs.

Green New Deal for Public Housing Act

Sanders, Bernard

Green New Deal for Public Housing Act This bill addresses energy efficiency and workforce development in the context of public housing. Specifically, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) must award grants to public housing agencies (PHAs) and other eligible entities under a variety of new programs, including programs for <ul> <li>facilitating workforce development and high-income employment transition; </li> <li>conducting physical needs assessments and subsequent energy efficiency retrofits; and </li> <li>making upgrades, replacements, and improvements for energy efficiency, building electrification, and water quality upgrades.</li> </ul> Recipients of these grants must provide relocation assistance for residents who are displaced during construction and must ensure that they can return to their homes once retrofitting is completed. A certain percentage of the employment positions generated by these grant programs and other specified federal grant programs must be filled by low-income individuals, and a specified percentage of certain contracts associated with these programs must be awarded to businesses owned by residents of public housing. The bill also repeals a provision that prohibits a PHA from using HUD funds to construct or operate new public housing units if doing so would result in the PHA owning or operating more units than it did on October 1, 1999.