Bill Text: NY A07612 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Relates to eliminating rent for homeless shelters; provides that a homeless individual or family applying for or receiving temporary housing assistance shall not be required to pay room and board or contribute any earned or unearned income, available benefits or resources to eliminate their need for temporary housing assistance or as a condition to receive temporary housing assistance from such provider.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 17-2)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-02-11 - reported referred to codes [A07612 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A07612-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                         7612--A

                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                      May 14, 2019
                                       ___________

        Introduced by M. of A. HEVESI -- read once and referred to the Committee
          on  Social Services -- recommitted to the Committee on Social Services
          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 social services law, in relation to eliminating rent
          for homeless shelters; and to repeal certain provisions  of  such  law
          relating thereto

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. Section 36-c of the social services law is REPEALED.
     2    § 2. Section 131 of the social services law is amended by  adding  two
     3  new subdivisions 21 and 22 to read as follows:
     4    21.  The  office of temporary and disability assistance shall prohibit
     5  any publicly funded provider of temporary housing assistance,  including
     6  but  not  limited to those defined in subdivision sixteen of section one
     7  hundred thirty-one-a of this title from  requiring  recipients  of  such
     8  assistance  to participate in work activities, including but not limited
     9  to those defined in section three hundred thirty-six of this chapter, as
    10  a condition to receive temporary housing assistance from such provider.
    11    22. a. Any temporary housing assistance provider found to be  collect-
    12  ing  income,  room  and  board  or  any  other  type  of contribution in
    13  violation of subdivision sixteen of section one hundred thirty-one-a  of
    14  this  title,  shall,  after notice and an opportunity to be heard by the
    15  department, be required to return any funds collected  in  violation  of
    16  this section to such recipient and may be subject to a civil penalty not
    17  to  exceed five hundred dollars for each violation. The department shall
    18  adopt procedures in accordance with the state  administrative  procedure
    19  act for assessment of penalties pursuant to this section. Such procedure
    20  shall include the opportunity for an administrative appeal. Any provider
    21  found  to  have  violated  this section and who is subsequently found to

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD06131-02-0
        A. 7612--A                          2

     1  have violated this section five or more times within  one  year  of  the
     2  initial  finding  may be determined, at the discretion of the department
     3  and taking into consideration the  geographic  availability  of  similar
     4  services, to be ineligible to receive public funding for a period not to
     5  exceed five years.
     6    b.  Any  provider  which  has been deemed ineligible to receive public
     7  funding pursuant to this section may apply  to  the  department  for  an
     8  order  discontinuing  such  disqualification.  The application shall set
     9  forth the grounds, including that  the  provider  has  taken  sufficient
    10  actions to remove from responsibility officers and employees who engaged
    11  in the actions that formed the basis of the violation, that the provider
    12  has  taken appropriate and sufficient actions to ensure that the actions
    13  that formed the basis of the violation are unlikely to recur,  and  that
    14  it will not be in the public interest to continue the disqualification.
    15    §  3.  Section 131-a of the social services law is amended by adding a
    16  new subdivision 16 to read as follows:
    17    16. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, rule or regulation  to
    18  the  contrary, a homeless individual or family applying for or receiving
    19  temporary housing assistance shall not be required to pay room and board
    20  or contribute any earned  or  unearned  income,  available  benefits  or
    21  resources to eliminate their need for temporary housing assistance or as
    22  a  condition to receive temporary housing assistance from such provider.
    23  For the purposes of this subdivision, any provider of temporary  housing
    24  assistance or short-term housing shall include, but not be limited to, a
    25  family shelter, a cluster site apartment, a shelter for adults, a United
    26  States Department of Housing and Urban Development assisted transitional
    27  housing  shelter,  a  public  home,  a  hotel, an emergency apartment, a
    28  domestic violence shelter, a runaway and homeless youth shelter, a  room
    29  and  board  shelter, a safe haven shelter, a veterans short-term housing
    30  shelter, a criminal justice short-term housing shelter, or a safe  house
    31  for  refugees,  asylees,  or  trafficking  victims operating in New York
    32  state.
    33    § 4. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day  after  it  shall
    34  have become a law.