Bill Text: NY A01948 | 2025-2026 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: 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.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-14 - referred to housing [A01948 Detail]

Download: New_York-2025-A01948-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          1948

                               2025-2026 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    January 14, 2025
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  ROSENTHAL  --  read once and referred to the
          Committee on Housing

        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  grants shall be distributed by the commissioner of health.
    13    2. Definitions. For purposes of  this  article,  the  following  terms
    14  shall  have  the  following meanings: (a) "affordable independent senior
    15  housing property" shall mean apartment buildings or apartment  complexes
    16  occupied  by individuals over sixty years of age, who live independently
    17  and at least eighty percent of whom have a total household  income  that
    18  does not exceed sixty percent of the area median income; and
    19    (b)  "resident  assistance" shall mean support offered to residents of
    20  affordable independent senior housing properties to help promote healthy
    21  living by extending independence and improving quality of life.
    22    3. Assistance. Resident assistance shall be determined by the  commis-
    23  sioner  of  health; provided however, that the provision of such assist-
    24  ance shall not include any services  or  assistance  that  requires  the
    25  property  to  be  licensed as an adult care facility pursuant to article

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02348-01-5
        A. 1948                             2

     1  seven of the social services law or an assisted living residence  pursu-
     2  ant  to  article  forty-six-B of the public health law. Prior to issuing
     3  any grants pursuant to this article,  the  department  of  health  shall
     4  solicit  input from various stakeholders to determine what would consti-
     5  tute assistance to ensure that such assistance would  not  require  such
     6  licensure.  A summary of such input and the determination by the depart-
     7  ment of health as to whether the assistance provided by the grant appli-
     8  cant would require licensure as  an  adult  care  facility  or  assisted
     9  living  residence shall be in writing and shared with the various stake-
    10  holders prior to the approval of any grants pursuant to this section.
    11    4. Allocation. Sixty percent of the total funds  awarded  pursuant  to
    12  this  article  in any fiscal year shall be allocated to projects located
    13  in urban areas of the state, as such term is defined in subdivision four
    14  of section twelve hundred thirty-one of this chapter. Forty  percent  of
    15  the  total  funds  awarded  pursuant  to this article in any fiscal year
    16  shall be allocated to projects located in rural areas of the  state,  as
    17  such  term  is  defined  in  subdivision three of section twelve hundred
    18  thirty-one of this chapter. Any funds appropriated or  otherwise  avail-
    19  able  therefor  for  the program may be transferred to the department of
    20  health. A portion of any amounts  appropriated  or  otherwise  available
    21  therefor  may  be  used  by the commissioner of health to administer the
    22  program.
    23    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.