Read 1st time January 21, 1997, and 1,000 copies ordered printed.

Read 2nd time January 29, 1997, and referred to the Committee on Public Health and Welfare.

Reported from the Committee February 17, 1997, with recommendation that the bill do pass and be placed on the Consent Calendar.

Taken up February 25, 1997. Read 3rd time and placed upon its final passage; bill passed.

TERRY L. SPIELER, Secretary.

S0975.03P

To repeal sections 67.1065 and 67.1070, RSMo 1994, relating to homeless assistance programs in certain counties, and to enact in lieu thereof two new sections relating to the same subject.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:

     Section A. Sections 67.1065 and 67.1070, RSMo 1994, are repealed and two new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 67.1065 and 67.1070, to read as follows:

     67.1065. The governing body of the county shall designate in the order or ordinance imposing the fees, as provided in sections 67.1063 and 67.1064, [an appropriate board, commission, agency, or other body of the county,] a homeless assistance board, commission or agency as the authority to administer the allocation and distribution of the funds to agencies, in the manner provided in sections 67.1062 to 67.1071. The members of the designated authority may be reimbursed from the special fund for moneys actually and necessarily expended in the performance of their duties under the provisions of sections 67.1062 to 67.1071, but such reimbursement shall not exceed more than two and one-half percent of the fees collected pursuant to sections 67.1063 and 67.1064.

     67.1070. 1. Funds shall be allocated to:

     (1) Agencies offering or proposing to offer the broadest range of housing-related services to persons in the community served, including:

     (a) Emergency short-term and long-term shelter for the homeless;

     (b) Prevention of residential foreclosures and evictions;

     (c) Coordination of existing community services for the homeless; and

     (d) Projects to encourage self-sufficiency of participants and facilitate transition from dependency on subsidized housing;

     (2) Other agencies offering or proposing to offer services specifically to homeless persons.

     2. Projects which directly serve homeless persons shall be given priority over all other projects authorized under this section. No funds shall be allocated to a project not directly serving homeless persons unless shelter is currently provided for any homeless needing it.