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.
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.