Senate Bill S9430A

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S9430A

SPONSOR: KAVANAGH
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the public housing law, in relation to priority appli-
cants and inspection of units under the housing access voucher pilot
program

 
PURPOSE:

This bill clarifies that households who are in danger of losing their
home because they are losing access to certain rent subsidies may be
prioritized for the Housing Access Voucher Program to the same degree as
households currently experiencing homelessness and enables program
administrators to inspect apartments participating in the program in a
manner consistent with State standards.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill amends subdivision 3 of section 608 of the Public
Housing Law to specify that the Housing Access Voucher Program shall
              

prioritize both applicants who are homeless and applicants who are at
risk of losing their federal rental subsidy due to the imminent termi-
nation, reduction of funding, or changes in eligibility in federal law
or policy of the federal program that provides such rental subsidy.

Section 2 of the bill amends section 613 of the Public Housing Law to
direct housing access voucher local administrators to inspect units in a
manner consistent with State standards. This provision does not apply to
units that are owned by a housing access voucher local administrator and
which have separate inspection guidelines under section 616, which is
not amended by this bill.

Section 3 of the bill sets forth the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

The Housing Access Voucher Program (HAVP) was enacted in the Fiscal Year
2025-2026 Adopted Budget with a $50 million appropriation for the first
year; the Executive, the Senate, and the Assembly have all proposed
additional funding for the FY 2026-2027 budget. This bill would enable
New York housing agencies to use HAVP as a resource when a household's
housing stability is threatened by the imminent loss of federal rental
assistance, making HAVP a more versatile tool, consistent with the
program's goal of providing housing affordability and stability for
households in need. This bill also directs local administrators to
inspect units that they do not own (local-administrator-owned units
follow separate inspection guidelines outlined in Section 616); these
inspections would be conducted in accordance with State standards rather
than following federal inspection guidelines, which may be in flux.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

This is a new bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that the
amendments to sections 608 and 613 of the public housing law made by
sections one and two of this act shall not affect the expiration of such
sections and shall expire therewith.