Bill Text: NJ S162 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced

New Jersey Senate Bill 162 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Requires DCA to collect information about State residents seeking affordable housing in State and provide that information to COAH.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-14 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee [S162 Detail]

Download: New_Jersey-2020-S162-Introduced.html

SENATE, No. 162

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

219th LEGISLATURE

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2020 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Senator GERALD CARDINALE

District 39 (Bergen and Passaic)

Senator ROBERT W. SINGER

District 30 (Monmouth and Ocean)

SYNOPSIS

Requires DCA to collect information about State residents seeking affordable housing in State and provide that information to COAH.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.

An Act requiring DCA to collect and share certain affordable housing information and supplementing P.L.1985, c.222 (C.52:27D-301 et al.).

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. a. The Department of Community Affairs shall establish a program for the collection of information about residents of the State seeking affordable housing in the State.

b. (1) The department shall post information about the program and solicit the submission of forms from State residents on the Internet website of the department.

(2) The department shall prescribe the forms to be used by State residents for the purposes of the program, which forms shall, at a minimum, require residents to provide the following information:

(a) the current municipality of residence;

(b) the current municipality of employment, if any; and

(3) The department shall make the forms available on the Internet website of the department and shall furnish copies of the form upon request.

c. The department shall retrieve the information as provided in paragraph (2) of subsection b. of this section, to the fullest extent possible based upon availability, from State and local government agencies, including municipalities and housing authorities, that receive applications for affordable housing.

d. The commissioner shall, by January 31 of each year, prepare a report compiling all the information collected in the prior year under the program, categorized by municipality for which affordable housing is desired, and shall provide a copy of the report to the Council on Affordable Housing, or its successor, to help the council ascertain the demand for affordable housing that currently exists in each municipality in the State.

2. This act shall take effect on the first day of the third month next following the date of enactment.

STATEMENT

This bill would require the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) to collect information about State residents seeking affordable housing in the State and provide that information to the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH). The bill requires DCA to establish a program to collect information about where these State residents currently live and work, and where they would want to

live if provided an affordable housing option. On an annual basis, DCA would prepare a report compiling all the information collected under this program from the prior year and would provide a copy of the report to COAH or its successor. This would help the agency in charge of assigning affordable housing obligations across the State ensure that affordable housing is developed in locations where there is a demand for it, and in sufficient amounts, based on actual expressed interest from those in need of affordable housing.