•  Summary 
  •  
  •  Actions 
  •  
  •  Committee Votes 
  •  
  •  Floor Votes 
  •  
  •  Memo 
  •  
  •  Text 
  •  
  •  LFIN 
  •  
  •  Chamber Video/Transcript 

A08495 Summary:

BILL NOA08495
 
SAME ASSAME AS S08054
 
SPONSORHunter
 
COSPNSRBurdick, Taylor
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Amd §§1203 & 1200, Priv Hous Fin L (as proposed in S.3139-A & A.1686-A)
 
Requires the division of housing and community renewal to provide an annual report on the New York access to home programs.
Go to top    

A08495 Actions:

BILL NOA08495
 
01/04/2024referred to housing
01/17/2024reported
01/18/2024advanced to third reading cal.237
01/22/2024passed assembly
01/22/2024delivered to senate
01/22/2024REFERRED TO RULES
01/23/2024SUBSTITUTED FOR S8054
01/23/20243RD READING CAL.44
01/23/2024PASSED SENATE
01/23/2024RETURNED TO ASSEMBLY
01/26/2024delivered to governor
01/26/2024signed chap.2
Go to top

A08495 Memo:

NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION
submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A8495
 
SPONSOR: Hunter
  TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the private housing finance law, in relation to requir- ing the division of housing and community renewal to provide an annual report on the New York access to home programs   PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL: The purpose of this bill is to make amendments to Chapter 633 of the Laws of 2023.   SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: Section one of the bill amends the contents of the annual report to require the report include the number of applications received to become a local administrator, the number of applications selected for award and contract, the amount of funding awarded to local administrators, the geographic area to be served by local administrators, the number of beneficiaries awarded, the average award to beneficiaries, and the number of potential beneficiaries who applied and were deemed' ineligi- ble for an award. Section two of the bill amends requirements to promote the program to clarify the program shall be promoted to potentially eligible local administrators and removes a requirement to gauge unmet need. Section three of the bill relates to the effective date.   JUSTIFICATION: The New York State Access to Home Program provides grants to eligible applicants to make permanent accessibility modifications to existing owner-occupied or rental dwelling units occupied by low-income individ- uals with disabilities. Grants are made to municipalities and eligible not-for-profit entities that have experience in adapting or retrofitting homes for persons with disabilities. Some of the eligible activities include the installation of ramps, or lifts, modifications to kitchens and bathrooms to provide access, or other interior accessibility modifi- cations. Currently, the Access to Home program receives only $100 million per year for the entire State of New York. This funding is broken up by regions and each eligible region is to receive a maximum of $125,000. Recent applicants who have attempted to access this funding have been told of a waitlist over 100 individuals long. Modifications are extreme- ly costly. Ramps to facilitate access to a home can range from as $7,000 to $8,000. The Division of Housing and Community Renewal (HCR) has not been able to provide critical information regarding the number of people served through the Access to Home program or how many projects were paid for in recent years. This legislation will increase transparency by requiring the division to issue an annual report on the access to home programs regarding certain data and program progress for the previous year and publishing this information on their website. Throughout the years, the Access to Home program has had great success in providing individuals with disabilities with the opportunity to stay in their homes rather. It is of paramount importance that there be abso- lute transparency between HCR and the public regarding the progress of the Access to Homes program of each previous year   PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: This is a new bill.   FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS: Undetermined.   EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect on the same date and in the same manner as a chapter of the laws of 2023 amending the private housing finance law relating to requiring the division of housing and community renewal to provide an annual report on the New York access to home programs, as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 3139-A and A.1686-A, takes effect.
Go to top

A08495 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                          8495
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                     January 4, 2024
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced by M. of A. HUNTER -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on Housing
 
        AN  ACT to amend the private housing finance law, in relation to requir-
          ing the division of housing and community renewal to provide an annual
          report on the New York access to home programs
 
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  Section 1203 of the private housing finance law, as added
     2  by a chapter of the laws of 2023 amending the  private  housing  finance
     3  law  relating to requiring the division of housing and community renewal
     4  to provide an annual report on the New York access to home programs,  as
     5  proposed  in  legislative  bills  numbers  S.  3139-A  and A. 1686-A, is
     6  amended to read as follows:
     7    § 1203. Report. 1. The division of housing and community renewal shall
     8  issue an annual report on the access to home programs regarding  certain
     9  data and program progress for the previous year, provided that reporting
    10  on  paragraphs  (e),  (f)  and  (g)  of this subdivision shall relate to
    11  contracts that have concluded in the previous year, as applicable.  Such
    12  report shall include, but not be limited to:
    13    (a)  the number of [contracts the corporation entered into with eligi-
    14  ble applicants and the amount of funding both awarded  and  expended  by
    15  successful applicants] received applications to become local administra-
    16  tors;
    17    (b)  the number of [projects each eligible recipient completed] appli-
    18  cations to become local administrators selected for award and contract;
    19    (c) the [types of  projects  completed  by  each  eligible  recipient,
    20  including  the  average  cost of each type of project] amount of funding
    21  awarded to local administrators;
    22    (d) the geographic [diversity of the beneficiaries of  each  completed
    23  project;
    24    (e) the demographic information of the beneficiaries of each completed
    25  project, including differentiating between renters and homeowners;
    26    (f) the unmet demand for access to home programs who applied for fund-
    27  ing through an access to home programs;

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD05162-04-4

        A. 8495                             2

     1    (g)  how  many  persons  with  eligible properties were denied and the
     2  demographic information regarding such denied individuals; and
     3    (h)  the  average  timeline for completion of each project] area to be
     4  served by local administrators;
     5    (e) the number of beneficiaries awarded;
     6    (f) the average award to beneficiaries; and
     7    (g) the number of potential beneficiaries who applied for an award and
     8  were deemed ineligible for such award.
     9    2. Such report required pursuant to subdivision one  of  this  section
    10  shall  be  posted and made publicly available on the division of housing
    11  and community renewal's website in a clear and conspicuous manner.
    12    § 2. Section 1200 of the private housing finance law, as amended by  a
    13  chapter  of  the  laws  of 2023 amending the private housing finance law
    14  relating to requiring the division of housing and community  renewal  to
    15  provide  an  annual  report  on the New York access to home programs, as
    16  proposed in legislative bills  numbers  S.  3139-A  and  A.  1686-A,  is
    17  amended to read as follows:
    18    § 1200. Statement of legislative findings and purpose. The legislature
    19  hereby  finds and declares that there exists in New York state a serious
    20  need for financial and technical resources to assist renters and proper-
    21  ty owners to make dwelling units accessible for low and moderate  income
    22  persons  with disabilities. Providing assistance with the cost of adapt-
    23  ing homes will enable many New Yorkers with disabilities to  safely  and
    24  comfortably  continue to, or return to, live in their residences instead
    25  of residing in an institutional setting. The  division  of  housing  and
    26  community  renewal  shall  undertake  an  ongoing  effort to promote the
    27  availability of the access to home programs to all potentially  eligible
    28  [applicants  and  persons  with  eligible properties, as those terms are
    29  defined under this article,  both]  local  administrators  to  encourage
    30  participation in the program [and gauge unmet need].  Such actions shall
    31  include  working  with any other state agencies that provide services to
    32  persons with disabilities to promote the access to home  programs.  Such
    33  actions  shall also include but are not limited to providing contact and
    34  application information on the website for the division of  housing  and
    35  community  renewal  for  eligible  [applicants] local administrators and
    36  [persons with eligible properties]  potentially  eligible  beneficiaries
    37  which shall be updated annually.
    38    §  3.  This  act  shall  take  effect on the same date and in the same
    39  manner as a chapter of the laws of 2023  amending  the  private  housing
    40  finance  law relating to requiring the division of housing and community
    41  renewal to provide an annual report on  the  New  York  access  to  home
    42  programs,  as  proposed  in  legislative  bills numbers S. 3139-A and A.
    43  1686-A, takes effect.
Go to top