§ 80-a. Anti-discrimination in housing fund. 1. There is hereby
established in the custody of the state comptroller a special fund to be
known as the "anti-discrimination in housing fund".

2. The anti-discrimination in housing fund shall consist of moneys
appropriated thereto, moneys transferred from any other fund or sources,
and fifty percent of all fines and forfeitures collected pursuant to
paragraph (a) of subdivision one of section four hundred forty-one-c of
the real property law. Nothing contained in this section shall prevent
the state from receiving grants, gifts or bequests for the purposes of
the fund as defined in this section and depositing them into the fund
according to law.

3. The moneys in the anti-discrimination in housing fund shall be kept
separate from and shall not be commingled with any other moneys in the
custody of the state comptroller. Such moneys shall be made available to
the office of the attorney general, for fair housing testing through
allocation of grants to duly applying county, city, town or village
human rights commissions, or other duly applying county, city, town,
village or not-for-profit entities specializing in the prevention of
unlawful discrimination in housing, to detect unlawful discrimination in
housing.

4. The attorney general shall establish the application criteria and
qualifications for the entities for the purposes of the fund as defined
in subdivision three of this section that will conduct testing. The
attorney general may enter into contracts with such qualified fair
housing entities which may thereafter be renewed, extended or succeeded
by new contracts from year to year in the discretion of the attorney
general.

5. The monies shall be payable from the fund on the audit and warrant
of the comptroller on vouchers approved and certified by the attorney
general.

6. No later than the fifteenth day of January of each year the
attorney general shall report to the governor, the temporary president
of the senate and the speaker of the assembly on activities undertaken
by the attorney general and any grantee pursuant to this section in the
preceding year. The report shall include, but not be limited to, the
current amount of funds available as well as the amount of money granted
to any entity that will conduct testing to detect unlawful
discrimination in housing for the purposes identified in this section.
Results, data, findings, and other relevant information existing,
collected, detected, modified or developed by the attorney general or
grantee under this section shall be provided in such annual report
following the completion of the obligations in the contract.