Bill Text: NY A02585 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced
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 13-2)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-05 - referred to social services [A02585 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-A02585-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2585 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 19, 2021 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. HEVESI, REYES, LAVINE, CRUZ, JOYNER, MONTESANO, GOTTFRIED, NIOU, SIMON, HUNTER, EPSTEIN, SEAWRIGHT -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. FRONTUS, J. M. GIGLIO -- read once and referred to the Committee on Social Services 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 Section 36-c of the social services law is REPEALED. 2 § 2.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 22 have violated this section five or more times within one year of the EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD01514-01-1A. 2585 2 1 initial finding may be determined, at the discretion of the department 2 and taking into consideration the geographic availability of similar 3 services, to be ineligible to receive public funding for a period not to 4 exceed five years. 5 b. Any provider which has been deemed ineligible to receive public 6 funding pursuant to this section may apply to the department for an 7 order discontinuing such disqualification. The application shall set 8 forth the grounds, including that the provider has taken sufficient 9 actions to remove from responsibility officers and employees who engaged 10 in the actions that formed the basis of the violation, that the provider 11 has taken appropriate and sufficient actions to ensure that the actions 12 that formed the basis of the violation are unlikely to recur, and that 13 it will not be in the public interest to continue the disqualification. 14 § 3. Section 131-a of the social services law is amended by adding a 15 new subdivision 16 to read as follows: 16 16. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, rule or regulation to 17 the contrary, a homeless individual or family applying for or receiving 18 temporary housing assistance shall not be required to pay room and board 19 or contribute any earned or unearned income, available benefits or 20 resources to eliminate their need for temporary housing assistance or as 21 a condition to receive temporary housing assistance from such provider. 22 For the purposes of this subdivision, any provider of temporary housing 23 assistance or short-term housing shall include, but not be limited to, a 24 family shelter, a cluster site apartment, a shelter for adults, a United 25 States Department of Housing and Urban Development assisted transitional 26 housing shelter, a public home, a hotel, an emergency apartment, a 27 domestic violence shelter, a runaway and homeless youth shelter, a room 28 and board shelter, a safe haven shelter, a veterans short-term housing 29 shelter, a criminal justice short-term housing shelter, or a safe house 30 for refugees, asylees, or trafficking victims operating in New York 31 state. 32 § 4. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall 33 have become a law.
