Senate Bill S5719

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S5719

SPONSOR: KENNEDY
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public housing law, in relation to veterans' eligi-
bility for public housing

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

The legislation amends the eligibility provisions of the public housing
law to expand eligibility to veterans, and their surviving spouses, who
served or are serving in United States Armed Forces from September 14,
2001 to December 31, 2024. The legislation also requires public housing
authorities to grant preference to eligible veterans or families of
veterans who have a military service related disability.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill amends subparagraph 1 of paragraph b of subdivi-
sion I of section 156 of the public housing law, as amended by chapter
179 of the laws of 2006, by expanding the eligibility requirements to
              

veterans who served in the armed forces of the United States for a peri-
od of at least six months between the fourteenth day of September 2001
and the thirty-first day of December 2024.

Section 2 of the bill amends Section 156 of the public housing law by
adding a new subdivision 8 that will require public housing authorities
to grant a preference in the selection of tenants to veterans or fami-
lies of veterans who have a military service connected disability
provided that such veterans or families of veterans otherwise qualify
for occupancy in such an authority's projects and provided that the
authority has complied with the provisions of section 960.206 of title
24 of the code of federal regulations relating to such preferences.

Section 3 provides for this act to take effect on the 120 day after it
becomes law.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Under current public housing law, veterans who served during the period
covered by the Vietnam War (1961-1975) are afforded specific eligibility
into public housing projects at income levels slightly higher than the
income levels set for the general public. This legislation will extend
those eligibility provisions to veterans who have served or are serving
in the armed forces from September 14, 2001 through December 31, 2024
reflecting the period from the Joint Resolution authorizing the use of
force against those responsible for the September 11th terrorist attacks
through December 31, 2024 which will hopefully coincide with the time
that all United States armed forces are no longer engaged in active
combat duties.

This bill will also mandate that an admission preference be given to
veterans or families of veterans who have a military service connected
disability provided they are otherwise eligible for admission as tenants
to a public housing project. Currently, public housing authorities are
authorized under federal law to implement various admission preferences
including an admission preference for veterans and veterans' families.
However, many public housing authorities, including the New York City
Housing Authority (NYCHA), have chosen not include such preferences in
their agency plans that must be submitted to the federal Department of
Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for approval. (1) Given the incredi-
ble sacrifice, which is made by our military. personnel serving during a
time of war, and which was made during prior military conflicts, it
seems more than appropriate that we mandate and extend these specific
eligibility provisions and preferences to veterans and their families.

Men and women of the United States military have made, and continue to
willingly make, incredible personal sacrifices on behalf of this country
in terms of their own personal safety, the emotional and financial well
being of their families and their long-term futures.

During the present conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, many active mili-
tary personnel are currently serving, their fourth, fifth and even sixth
tour of duty within the past several years. They face prolonged periods
away from their families and deal with daily anxiety about their fami-
lies' ability to cope with their absence on a financial as well as
personal level. Many soldiers serving are reservists who were pulled
from their families and established careers and must won-y daily about
their family's financial stability and their own future. Extension of
the veterans' eligibility and preference provisions for public housing
will not take these soldiers out of harm's way, or alleviate the suffer-
ing of those who served in prior conflicts, but it will help to ease
their concerns for their families' financial futures. And just maybe
this little bit of solace will help them endure the difficulties that
they face every day in their efforts to protect us.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2021-22: S.3945 (Passed Senate)/A.8301

2019-20: S.234 Referred to Veterans, Homeland Security, and Military
Affairs

2017-2018: S.1482 (Avella)/A.3337 (DenDekker)

2015: S.932-AJA.7811-A - Passed Senate

2013-14: S1702

2011-12: S.5867

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred and twentieth day after it
shall have become a law.
FOOTNOTE (1) However, NYCHA, for example, has recently established pref-
erences for victims of domestic violence and other categories including
"substandard housing, homelessness, high mat burden, working families
and those unable to work because of age or disability and residents who
live and/or work in the jurisdiction"'among others in its PHA Annual
Plan for Fiscal Year 2011. (See http://home2.nyc.gov/html/nycha/html/
about/agencvplan.shiml)