Establishes an affordable independent senior housing assistance program which shall provide grants within amounts appropriated or otherwise available therefor to affordable independent senior housing properties to establish and operate resident assistance programs.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
956
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE(Prefiled)
January 8, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sens. KAVANAGH, CLEARE, HOYLMAN-SIGAL, JACKSON, KRUEGER,
MAY, RIVERA, SEPULVEDA, STAVISKY -- read twice and ordered printed,
and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Housing,
Construction and Community Development
AN ACT to amend the private housing finance law, in relation to estab-
lishing an affordable independent senior housing assistance program
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The private housing finance law is amended by adding a new
2 article 29-A to read as follows:
3 ARTICLE XXIX-A
4 AFFORDABLE INDEPENDENT SENIOR HOUSING ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
5 Section 1265. Affordable independent senior housing assistance program.
6 § 1265. Affordable independent senior housing assistance program. 1.
7 Establishment. The commissioner, in conjunction with the commissioner of
8 health, shall develop an affordable independent senior housing assist-
9 ance program, which shall provide grants within amounts appropriated or
10 otherwise available therefor to affordable independent senior housing
11 properties to establish and operate resident assistance programs. The
12 grants shall be distributed by the commissioner of health.
13 2. Definitions. For purposes of this article, the following terms
14 shall have the following meanings: (a) "affordable independent senior
15 housing property" shall mean apartment buildings or apartment complexes
16 occupied by individuals over sixty years of age, who live independently
17 and at least eighty percent of whom have a total household income that
18 does not exceed sixty percent of the area median income; and
19 (b) "resident assistance" shall mean support offered to residents of
20 affordable independent senior housing properties to help promote healthy
21 living by extending independence and improving quality of life.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02348-01-5
S. 956 2
1 3. Assistance. Resident assistance shall be determined by the commis-
2 sioner of health; provided however, that the provision of such assist-
3 ance shall not include any services or assistance that requires the
4 property to be licensed as an adult care facility pursuant to article
5 seven of the social services law or an assisted living residence pursu-
6 ant to article forty-six-B of the public health law. Prior to issuing
7 any grants pursuant to this article, the department of health shall
8 solicit input from various stakeholders to determine what would consti-
9 tute assistance to ensure that such assistance would not require such
10 licensure. A summary of such input and the determination by the depart-
11 ment of health as to whether the assistance provided by the grant appli-
12 cant would require licensure as an adult care facility or assisted
13 living residence shall be in writing and shared with the various stake-
14 holders prior to the approval of any grants pursuant to this section.
15 4. Allocation. Sixty percent of the total funds awarded pursuant to
16 this article in any fiscal year shall be allocated to projects located
17 in urban areas of the state, as such term is defined in subdivision four
18 of section twelve hundred thirty-one of this chapter. Forty percent of
19 the total funds awarded pursuant to this article in any fiscal year
20 shall be allocated to projects located in rural areas of the state, as
21 such term is defined in subdivision three of section twelve hundred
22 thirty-one of this chapter. Any funds appropriated or otherwise avail-
23 able therefor for the program may be transferred to the department of
24 health. A portion of any amounts appropriated or otherwise available
25 therefor may be used by the commissioner of health to administer the
26 program.
27 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
