Reyes, Tapia, Cruz, Burdick, Steck, Seawright, Lee
MLTSPNSR
Add Art 29-A §1265, Priv Hous Fin L
Establishes an affordable independent senior housing assistance program which shall provide grants within amounts appropriated or otherwise available therefor to affordable independent senior housing properties to establish and operate resident assistance programs.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A1948A
SPONSOR: Rosenthal TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the private housing finance law, in relation to estab-
lishing an affordable independent senior housing assistance program
PURPOSE:
Establishes an affordable senior housing program to be administered by
the Division of Housing and Community Renewal.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section One: Section 1265 establishes the Affordable Independent Senior
Housing Assistance Program and criteria for eligibility.
Section Two: Establishes the effective date.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORIGINAL AND AMENDED VERSION (IF APPLICABLE):
The A print clarifies the program will be administered by the Division
of Housing and Community Renewal in consultation with the Department of
Health.
JUSTIFICATION:
New York State has historically financed independent housing designed
for seniors. In recent years, priorities have shifted and senior housing
units have been included as a small set aside within larger supportive
housing projects serving people with a broad range of special needs.
This does not always achieve the objective of creating senior communi-
ties with amenities and services for the aging population. The Social
Security Administration estimates that 10,000 Americans are turning 65
every day. With that, the demand for age-targeted affordable housing
developments with amenities and services geared for residents 62 and
older is on the rise. Many of these seniors are anticipated to have
limited retirement savings and will need subsidized rental housing to
live safely and independently in the community. The U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Section 202 program, which built
over 100,000 units of senior housing in New York, was discontinued in
2011, and now only provides ongoing rental assist- ance to existing
developments. Creating a new statewide Affordable Independent Senior
Housing Assistance Program will help address the demand for safe, decent
affordable housing for seniors, while also ensuring that seniors are not
unnecessarily placed in more costly and restrictive institutional
settings. This program will also provide optional basic healthy aging
services for residents.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2022-23: A.4716 - Referred to Housing
2021-22: A.3531 - Referred to Housing; S.3006 (Kavanagh) - Housing
2019-20 A.4974 Referred to Housing; S.5269 Kavanagh
2017-18: A.6804 - Referred to Housing, Referred to Ways & Means.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None. This program would be subject to annual appropriations.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1948--A
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 14, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ROSENTHAL, REYES, TAPIA, CRUZ, BURDICK, STECK,
SEAWRIGHT, LEE -- read once and referred to the Committee on Housing
-- recommitted to the Committee on Housing in accordance with Assembly
Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered
reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the private housing finance law, in relation to estab-
lishing an affordable independent senior housing assistance program
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The private housing finance law is amended by adding a new
2 article 29-A to read as follows:
3 ARTICLE XXIX-A
4 AFFORDABLE INDEPENDENT SENIOR HOUSING ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
5 Section 1265. Affordable independent senior housing assistance program.
6 § 1265. Affordable independent senior housing assistance program. 1.
7 Establishment. The commissioner, in conjunction with the commissioner of
8 health, shall develop an affordable independent senior housing assist-
9 ance program, which shall provide grants within amounts appropriated or
10 otherwise available therefor to affordable independent senior housing
11 properties to establish and operate resident assistance programs. The
12 affordable independent senior housing assistance program shall be admin-
13 istered by the division.
14 2. Definitions. For purposes of this article, the following terms
15 shall have the following meanings: (a) "affordable independent senior
16 housing property" shall mean any residential project which contains
17 dwelling units that are affordable to residents at a specific income
18 level pursuant to a statute, regulation, restrictive declaration, or
19 regulatory agreement with a local, state, or federal government entity
20 that is occupied by individuals over sixty years of age, who live inde-
21 pendently and at least eighty percent of whom have a total household
22 income that does not exceed sixty percent of the area median income;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02348-02-6
A. 1948--A 2
1 (b) "resident assistance" shall mean services or support offered to
2 residents of affordable independent senior housing properties to help
3 promote healthy living by extending independence and improving quality
4 of life; and
5 (c) "division" shall mean the state division of housing and community
6 renewal.
7 3. Assistance. Allowable resident assistance shall be determined by
8 the commissioner in consultation with the commissioner of health;
9 provided however, that the provision of such resident assistance shall
10 not include any services or support that requires the property to be
11 licensed as an adult care facility pursuant to article seven of the
12 social services law or an assisted living residence pursuant to article
13 forty-six-B of the public health law. Prior to issuing any grants pursu-
14 ant to this article, the division and the department of health shall
15 solicit input from various stakeholders to determine what would consti-
16 tute resident assistance to ensure that such resident assistance would
17 not require such licensure. A summary of such input and the determi-
18 nation by the division as to whether the assistance provided by the
19 grant applicant would require licensure as an adult care facility or
20 assisted living residence shall be in writing and shared with the vari-
21 ous stakeholders prior to the approval of any grants pursuant to this
22 section.
23 4. Allocation. Sixty percent of the total funds awarded pursuant to
24 this article in any fiscal year shall be allocated to projects located
25 in urban areas of the state, as such term is defined in subdivision four
26 of section twelve hundred thirty-one of this chapter. Forty percent of
27 the total funds awarded pursuant to this article in any fiscal year
28 shall be allocated to projects located in rural areas of the state, as
29 such term is defined in subdivision three of section twelve hundred
30 thirty-one of this chapter. Up to ten percent of any amounts appropri-
31 ated or otherwise available therefor may be used by the commissioner to
32 administer the program.
33 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
