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A00819 Summary:

BILL NOA00819
 
SAME ASSAME AS S02668
 
SPONSORGibbs
 
COSPNSRTaylor, Glick, Reyes, Forrest
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Add §402-g, Pub Hous L; amd §29, NYC Chart
 
Authorizes the New York city council to oversee the activities of the New York city housing authority.
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A00819 Actions:

BILL NOA00819
 
01/11/2023referred to housing
01/03/2024referred to housing
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A00819 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A819
 
SPONSOR: Gibbs
  TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the public housing law and the New York city charter, in relation to authorizing the New York city council to oversee the activ- ities of the New York city housing authority   PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL: This legislation grants the New York City Council greater oversight over the activities of the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) by giving the council the ability to mandate that NYCHA produce reports and provide information to the Council.   SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: Section one amends the public housing law by adding a new section 402d that gives the NYC Council the power to mandate that NYCHA produce reports about any of its operations by passing a local law. Such a local law shall determine the information to be included in the report, wheth- er it is a recurring report or not, and to whom it will be issued. The commissioner of the Division of Housing and Community Renewal shall be given copies of any such reports, and the reports shall be treated as public documents.Section two amends section twenty-nine of the NYC Char- ter by granting the NYC Council the same oversight powers over NYCHA that it currently has over any agency of the NYC government. Section three sets an effective date of thirty days after this act shall have become law.   DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORIGINAL AND AMENDED VERSION (IF APPLICABLE): Check here to enter text.   JUSTIFICATION: NYCHA is the largest housing authority in the United States, and its over 179,000 units are home to more than 400,000 New Yorkers, which represents almost 5% of the population of New York City as a whole. Unfortunately, the local elected legislators representing these resi- dents have little oversight powers over NYCHA. While NYCHA as an entity is chartered under State law, the Mayor of NYC has complete control over its board, appointing all seven members and choosing the chair at his or her discretion. Essentially NYCHA functions as an agency of NYC, but the ability of the Council to oversee the operations of NYCHA are strictly limited because it was established as an authority by the State. This legislation is meant to grant the NYC Council and its members greater oversight powers over NYCHA. This bill would grant the NYC Council the same power to review the operations of NYCHA on a continuous basis that it has over city agencies. The legislation would also give the NYC coun- cil the power to mandate the creation of reports by NYCHA through the passage of a local law. Currently the NYC Council cannot mandate that NYCHA produce any reports on its operations. Giving the local elected legislators of NYCHA's residents greater powers to oversee the Authori- ties operations will increase the voice of resi- dents and hopefully make NYCHA's operations more transparent.   PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: A8968 2017/18 referred to housing, A3610 2019/20, A2319 2020/21, A9414 2021/22   FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS: Click here to enter text   EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have become a law.
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A00819 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                           819
 
                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                    January 11, 2023
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  GIBBS, TAYLOR, GLICK, REYES -- read once and
          referred to the Committee on Housing
 
        AN ACT to amend the public housing law and the New York city charter, in
          relation to authorizing the New  York  city  council  to  oversee  the
          activities of the New York city housing authority

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section 1.  The public housing law is amended by adding a new  section
     2  402-g to read as follows:
     3    §  402-g.  New York city council oversight.  The New York city council
     4  as established in section twenty-one of the New  York  city  charter  is
     5  empowered  to  mandate  that the New York city housing authority produce
     6  reports about any facets of its  operations  or  the  condition  of  the
     7  projects under its management, including any project based section eight
     8  voucher  developments  in  which  the  authority has an ownership stake,
     9  through the passage of a local law. Such a  law  shall  determine  which
    10  information  is  to  be  included  in  the  report, the deadline for the
    11  production of the report, whether the reporting mandate applies once  or
    12  is  recurring,  and which local authorities shall receive copies. A copy
    13  of any such reports must be provided to the commissioner  and  shall  be
    14  considered  an  agency  document  for the purposes of article six of the
    15  public officers law.
    16    § 2. Subdivision a of section 29 of the  New  York  city  charter,  as
    17  added  by  a  vote  of the people of the city of New York at the general
    18  election held in November 1989, is amended to read as follows:
    19    a. The council, acting as a committee of the whole, and each  standing
    20  or special committee of the council, through hearings or otherwise:
    21    1.  [may] May investigate any matters within its jurisdiction relating
    22  to the property, affairs, or government of the city  or  of  any  county
    23  within the city, or to any other powers of the council, or to the effec-
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD01902-01-3

        A. 819                              2
 
     1  tuation of the purposes or provisions of this charter or any laws relat-
     2  ing to the city or to any county within the city.
     3    2.  [shall]  Shall review on a regular and continuous basis the activ-
     4  ities of the agencies of the city, including  their  service  goals  and
     5  performance  and  management efficiency.   Each unit of appropriation in
     6  the adopted budget of the city shall be assigned to a  standing  commit-
     7  tee.    Each  standing  committee of the council shall hold at least one
     8  hearing each year relating to the activities of  each  of  the  agencies
     9  under its jurisdiction.
    10    3.  Shall  review  on a regular and continuous basis the activities of
    11  the New York  city  housing  authority,  including  the  service  goals,
    12  performance  and management efficiency of such authority. Such authority
    13  shall be assigned to a standing committee. Such  standing  committee  of
    14  the  council  shall  hold at least one hearing each year relating to the
    15  activities of the New York city housing authority.
    16    § 3. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day  after  it  shall
    17  have become a law.
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