BILL NUMBER: S8850

SPONSOR: KAVANAGH
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend chapter 56 of the laws of 2021, establishing the
"COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Program of 2021", in relation to
the eligibility of occupants of public housing authorities for rental
assistance

 
PURPOSE:

This bill is intended to ensure that residents of public housing and
certain other federal- or state-subsidized housing can apply for relief
from New York's COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Program on the same
basis as any other tenant; under current law, these residents and the
agencies managing the properties are last in line for emergency rental
assistance.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill amends a provision of the COVID-19 Emergency
              

Rental Assistance Program of 2021 to eliminate a restriction that limits
eligibility and delays rental assistance to occupants of federal- or
state-funded public housing authorities and certain other federal or
state funded subsidized housing.

Section 2 sets forth the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Program of 2021 was established
to mitigate the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and related
public health measures. Applicants to the state's Emergency Rental
Assistance Program (ERAP) can receive funds to cover their COVID-related
rent and utility arrears and are protected from eviction while their
applications are under review.

Through April 20, 2022, ERAP received over 325,000 applications and
obligated over $2 billion in rental assistance. As the program was
originally conceived, residents of public housing and other federal- and
state-subsidized housing that limits a household's rent to a certain
percentage of annual income could receive emergency rental assistance
only after ERAP served all other eligible applicants. The rationale for
this appears to be that households in these housing developments can
apply for rent reductions when their income declines, while tenants in
other housing types do not have this ability to adjust their rent obli-
gations. Yet for public housing authorities that operate this public and
subsidized housing, there is no relief in sight for the rental arrears
that their residents accrued over the course of the pandemic because of
insufficient ERAP funding and their "last in line" status. In addition,
ERAP may cover certain tenants who would not qualify for a rent adjust-
ment, such as those who were unable to pay their rent because of signif-
icant COVID-related expenses.

The Governor and the Legislature allocated nearly $1 billion in new ERAP
funds in the most recent budget, and New York is expected to receive
additional funds from future rounds of federal reallocation of emergency
rental assistance. As emergency rental assistance funds are once again
being obligated, it is necessary to remove the program restriction on
public and subsidized housing residents so that public housing authori-
ties and their residents can benefit from this essential program on
equal footing with private landlords and their tenants.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that the
amendments to subpart A of part BB of chapter 56 of the laws of 2021
made by section one of this act shall not affect the expiration of such
subpart and shall be deemed repealed therewith.