Bill Text: NY S06177 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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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: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-30 - PRINT NUMBER 6177A [S06177 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-S06177-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          6177

                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions

                    IN SENATE

                                      May 21, 2019
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  Sen.  MYRIE  -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Social Services

        AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to eliminating rent
          for homeless shelters

          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, as added by
     2  section 1 of part K of chapter 58 of the laws of 2010, the section head-
     3  ing, subdivisions 1 and 2 as amended by section 1 of part DD of  chapter
     4  56 of the laws of 2018, is amended to read as follows:
     5    § 36-c. Savings plan for the city of New York. 1. [Notwithstanding any
     6  other  provision  of  law  to the contrary, in any] In a social services
     7  district with a city having a population of five million or more,  [the]
     8  such  social  services  district  [shall]  may  conduct  a demonstration
     9  project as set forth in this section, and shall evaluate and  report  on
    10  such  project  annually,  pursuant  to  a plan approved by the office of
    11  temporary and disability  assistance  and  the  division  of  budget.  A
    12  comprehensive  report  shall  be provided to the governor, the temporary
    13  president of the senate and the speaker  of  the  assembly  by  December
    14  thirty-first, two thousand twenty-one. Such report shall include but not
    15  be  limited  to  information regarding the [program] project such as the
    16  number of participants for the previous three years; the  percentage  of
    17  participation  as measured by the number of participants making contrib-
    18  utions into such savings plan; the average amount payable to  a  partic-
    19  ipant  upon  leaving the [program] project; the average length of time a
    20  participant remained in the [program] project; and the number  of  situ-
    21  ations  in  which  the  participant  [moved out of the program] left the
    22  project but reengaged in  the  [program]  project  within  the  previous
    23  twelve months[; the number of participants leaving the program voluntar-
    24  ily and the number of participants removed due to failure to comply; and
    25  any other demonstrated outcomes of such program].

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD06131-01-9
        S. 6177                             2

     1    2.  [Such] If such social services district[, in lieu of applying that
     2  portion of a temporary  housing  assistance  recipient's  earned  income
     3  that, but for the provisions of this section, would be applied to reduce
     4  the  need  for  the  shelter  component  of temporary housing assistance
     5  provided in a temporary emergency shelter, shall direct such a recipient
     6  to  participate  in  a savings plan with such funds and, as long as such
     7  funds are not withdrawn, they shall not be applied to  reduce  the  need
     8  for  the  shelter  component of the temporary housing assistance granted
     9  for the duration of his or her residence in temporary emergency shelter;
    10  provided,] implements a savings plan demonstration project  pursuant  to
    11  this  section,  recipients  of  temporary housing assistance with earned
    12  income shall be directed to contribute no  more  than  five  percent  of
    13  their  monthly  earned  income  into  a  savings plan established by the
    14  district in accordance with subdivision three of this section.  Provided
    15  however,  that  the  provisions  of  this  section shall only apply to a
    16  person receiving temporary housing assistance  in  a  shelter  or  other
    17  facility  overseen  by the New York city department of homeless services
    18  or the New York city department of housing preservation and development.
    19  Failure by a recipient of temporary housing assistance to contribute  to
    20  such  a savings plan shall not in itself result in the discontinuance of
    21  temporary housing assistance[.  Provided  however,  such  discontinuance
    22  shall  be  immediately  curable by compliance with this section], unless
    23  the recipient separately fails to comply with conditions of  eligibility
    24  that could result in the discontinuance of temporary housing assistance.
    25    3. In such social services district, any such funds collected from the
    26  earned income of a recipient of temporary housing assistance while he or
    27  she is residing in a temporary emergency shelter pursuant to subdivision
    28  two  of  this  section, shall be deposited in a savings plan approved by
    29  the office of temporary and disability assistance and  the  division  of
    30  budget;  shall  be  payable  to the recipient for the recipient's use to
    31  facilitate his or her transition to, or stabilize his or  her  residence
    32  in,  permanent  housing  upon  his or her discharge from shelter or upon
    33  verification of such recipient's date of  discharge  from  shelter;  and
    34  shall  be  considered  exempt  as income or a resource until the twelfth
    35  month following the month in which the recipient ceases receiving tempo-
    36  rary housing assistance in temporary emergency shelter. Funds  collected
    37  in  such  savings  plans  shall  be recorded in a receipt issued to each
    38  recipient, including the date, the account, and the form of payment, and
    39  shall be pooled, tracked individually, and maintained in  a  savings  or
    40  money-market account at interest rates set by the institution with which
    41  such  funds  are  deposited.  Any  savings  and interest accrued in such
    42  account or accounts shall be distributed to a temporary housing  assist-
    43  ance  recipient upon his or her discharge from temporary emergency shel-
    44  ter or upon verification of such  recipient's  date  of  discharge  from
    45  shelter,  in  accordance  with the provisions of this section. The local
    46  social services district shall also provide each recipient  with  (a)  a
    47  monthly  accounting  of the earned income such recipient has contributed
    48  to the savings account and the  interest  accrued  on  their  individual
    49  contributions  pursuant to this section; and (b) a final accounting upon
    50  the recipient's discharge  from  temporary  emergency  shelter  or  upon
    51  verification of such recipient's date of discharge from shelter.
    52    4.  Such  social services district shall [be deemed in compliance with
    53  section one hundred thirty-one-a of this chapter  for  reimbursement  of
    54  expenditures  made  for  temporary housing assistance] not be in contra-
    55  diction to the  prohibitions  in  subdivision  sixteen  of  section  one
    56  hundred  thirty-one-a of this chapter, provided the district is conduct-
        S. 6177                             3

     1  ing the project fully in accordance with the provisions of this section.
     2  Unearned income of a recipient of temporary housing assistance  in  such
     3  social  services  district shall not be applied to the savings plan, and
     4  shall not be required to be applied to that portion of the shelter costs
     5  not  paid  for  with  public  assistance.   Temporary housing assistance
     6  recipients shall not be required to contribute to the cost of such shel-
     7  ter, as provided for in this section.  Such project shall not be  imple-
     8  mented so as to compromise the federal benefits of a recipient or any of
     9  his or her household members.
    10    §  2.  Section 131 of the social services law is amended by adding two
    11  new subdivisions 21 and 22 to read as follows:
    12    21. The office of temporary and disability assistance  shall  prohibit
    13  any  publically funded provider of temporary housing assistance, includ-
    14  ing but not limited to those defined in subdivision sixteen  of  section
    15  one hundred thirty-one-a of this title from requiring recipients of such
    16  assistance  to participate in work activities, including but not limited
    17  to those defined in section three hundred thirty-six of this chapter, as
    18  a condition to receive temporary housing assistance from such provider.
    19    22. a. No such provider of temporary housing assistance, as defined in
    20  subdivision sixteen of section one hundred thirty-one-a of  this  title,
    21  shall  require  recipients of such assistance to contribute to a savings
    22  plan, except as required pursuant to section thirty-six-c of this  chap-
    23  ter.
    24    b.  Any  temporary  housing assistance provider found to be collecting
    25  income, room and board or any other type of contribution in violation of
    26  this section or subdivision sixteen of section one hundred  thirty-one-a
    27  of this title, shall, after notice and an opportunity to be heard by the
    28  department,  be  required  to return any funds collected in violation of
    29  this section to such recipient and may be subject to a civil penalty not
    30  to exceed five hundred dollars for each violation. The department  shall
    31  adopt  procedures  in accordance with the state administrative procedure
    32  act for assessment of penalties pursuant to this section. Such procedure
    33  shall include the opportunity for an administrative appeal. Any provider
    34  found to have violated this section and who  is  subsequently  found  to
    35  have  violated  this  section  five or more times within one year of the
    36  initial finding may be determined, at the discretion of  the  department
    37  and  taking  into  consideration  the geographic availability of similar
    38  services, to be ineligible to receive public funding for a period not to
    39  exceed five years.
    40    c. Any provider which has been deemed  ineligible  to  receive  public
    41  funding  pursuant  to  this  section  may apply to the department for an
    42  order discontinuing such disqualification.  The  application  shall  set
    43  forth  the  grounds,  including  that  the provider has taken sufficient
    44  actions to remove from responsibility officers and employees who engaged
    45  in the actions that formed the basis of the violation, that the provider
    46  has taken appropriate and sufficient actions to ensure that the  actions
    47  that  formed  the basis of the violation are unlikely to recur, and that
    48  it will not be in the public interest to continue the disqualification.
    49    § 3. Paragraph a of subdivision 8  of  section  131-a  of  the  social
    50  services  law  is  amended  by  adding  a new subparagraph ix to read as
    51  follows:
    52    (ix) all earned income of a recipient of temporary housing  assistance
    53  payable to such recipient pursuant to section thirty-six-c of this chap-
    54  ter  of the social services law for twelve months preceding the time the
    55  recipient ceases to receive temporary housing assistance in a  temporary
    56  emergency shelter.
        S. 6177                             4

     1    §  4.  Section 131-a of the social services law is amended by adding a
     2  new subdivision 16 to read as follows:
     3    16.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, rule or regulation to
     4  the contrary, a homeless individual or family applying for or  receiving
     5  temporary housing assistance shall not be required to pay room and board
     6  or  contribute  any  earned  or  unearned  income, available benefits or
     7  resources to eliminate their need for temporary housing assistance or as
     8  a condition to receive temporary housing assistance from such  provider.
     9  For  the purposes of this subdivision, any provider of temporary housing
    10  assistance or short-term housing shall include, but not be limited to, a
    11  family shelter, a cluster site apartment, a shelter for adults, a United
    12  States Department of Housing and Urban Development assisted transitional
    13  housing shelter, a public home,  a  hotel,  an  emergency  apartment,  a
    14  domestic  violence shelter, a runaway and homeless youth shelter, a room
    15  and board shelter, a safe haven shelter, a veterans  short-term  housing
    16  shelter,  a criminal justice short-term housing shelter, or a safe house
    17  for refugees, asylees, or trafficking  victims  operating  in  New  York
    18  state.
    19    §  5.  This  act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall
    20  have become a law; provided, however, that the amendments to subdivision
    21  3 of section 36-c of the social services law made by section one of this
    22  act shall be deemed to have been in full force and effect on  and  after
    23  April 1, 2018. Provided, further, that the amendments to section 36-c of
    24  the social services law made by section one of this act shall not affect
    25  the repeal of such section and shall be deemed repealed therewith.