SUBJECT:

PURPOSE:

Tuesday
December 6, 2005
2:00 pm

Assembly Hearing Room
250 Broadway
Room 1923, 19th Floor
New York, New York

ORAL TESTIMONY BY INVITATION ONLY

Please see below for a list of subjects to which witnesses may direct their testimony, and for a description of the bills which will be discussed at the hearing.

Persons wishing to present pertinent testimony to the Committee at the above hearing should complete and return the reply form as soon as possible. It is important that the reply form be fully completed and returned so that persons may be notified in the event of emergency postponement or cancellation.

Oral testimony will be limited to 15 minutes' duration. In preparing the order of witnesses, the Committee will attempt to accommodate individual requests to speak at particular times in view of special circumstances. These requests should be made on the attached reply form or communicated to Committee staff as early as possible. In the absence of a request, witnesses will be scheduled in the order in which reply forms are postmarked.

Ten copies of any prepared testimony should be submitted at the hearing registration desk. The Committee would appreciate advance receipt of prepared statements.

In order to further publicize these hearings, please inform interested parties and organizations of the Committee's interest in hearing testimony from all sources.

In order to meet the needs of those who may have a disability, the Assembly, in accordance with its policy of non-discrimination on the basis of disability, as well as the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), has made its facilities and services available to all individuals with disabilities. For individuals with disabilities, accommodations will be provided, upon reasonable request, to afford such individuals access and admission to Assembly facilities and activities.

SELECTED ISSUES TO WHICH WITNESSES MAY DIRECT THEIR TESTIMONY:

1. At what stage are the Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) in distributing the $25 million in additional housing capital dollars appropriated in the SFY 2005-06 budget? How were the two new capital programs, the Senor Housing Demonstration Project and the Urban Initiatives, structured? Who is eligible for the funds and for what activities? Does the Division expect that all $25 million will be expended in an upcoming funding round?

2. The Governor proposed no changes in the Neighborhood and Rural Preservation (NPP and RPP) programs in the SFY 2005-06 budget following a fifty percent cut in SFY 2004-05. (The Legislature restored funding to the RPPs and NPPs in SFY 2005-06.) What effect did the 2004-05 cut have on the individual preservation groups? How many groups had to close as a result of this reduced funding? Did it slow the production of affordable housing units or increase barriers to access to affordable units? Have other changes been made to the program to increase its effectiveness? What are the Division's plans for the 2006-07 NPP and RPP programs?

3. Housing developers who take advantage of the New York State Low Income Housing Tax Credit program have claimed that the inconsistency of funding for the program over the last four years has made the investors reluctant to invest in these housing credits and effectively keeps the revenue generated by the credits in the marketplace low. Have investors taken advantage of the additional $2 million in State Housing Tax Credits that were included in the SFY 2005-06 budget? Are you aware of reluctance to use these credits? If there is such reluctance, what can DHCR do overcome it?

4. What effect has the increase in funding caps to the Housing Trust Fund program and the Affordable Housing Development Fund program had?

5. What impact did the increase in housing sales in New York State have on the amount of reserves held by SONYMA? What is the projected excess to be transferred from SONYMA to the General Fund in the coming fiscal year? Do you anticipate a reduction in the amount of revenue received by the Mortgage Insurance Fund due to changes in the housing market?

6. Has the Housing Finance Agency seen an increase in its reserves over the past year?

PUBLIC HEARING REPLY FORM

Persons wishing to present testimony at the public hearing on the Impact of the 2005-06 New York State Budget are requested to complete this reply form as soon as possible and mail it to:

Caryn Canfield
Legislative Associate
Assembly Committee on Housing
Room 513 - Capitol
Albany, New York 12248
Email: canfiec@assembly.state.ny.us
Phone: (518) 455-4355
Fax: (518) 455-4128

I will address my remarks to the following subjects:

I will require assistance and/or handicapped accessibility information. Please specify the type of assistance required: