LeadingAge NY Weighs in on 2022-23 State Budget for Housing
LeadingAge NY has submitted written testimony calling for the appropriation of $5 million to establish an Affordable Independent Senior Housing Resident Assistance Program in State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2022-23 in response to the Legislature’s Jan. 31st joint hearing to examine the Executive’s proposed budget for the Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR).
Modeled after the successful federal program, the Resident Assistance Program would provide grants to affordable independent senior housing properties to support staff who would connect aging residents with existing community programs and resources that could help them age safely in place. LeadingAge NY proposes making these funds available both to State- and federally assisted properties not already benefiting from the federal program.
LeadingAge NY further recommends targeting resources for broadband expansion efforts to affordable senior housing and highlights its support for the inclusion of $300 million in capital over five years to fund the construction or preservation of more affordable units for low-income older New Yorkers.
Led by Assembly Ways and Means Chair Helene Weinstein, Senate Finance Chair Liz Krueger, and Housing Committee Chairs Steven Cymbrowitz and Brian Kavanagh, the Jan. 31st hearing found legislators and witnesses generally supportive of the Governor’s capital and policy proposals to “unlock” additional opportunities for affordable housing development but critical of the lack of detailed language or data available to ensure that the State is held accountable as it executes its plan to address the affordable housing crisis. Noticeably absent from the Executive’s proposal and called for in 30-day amendments were public housing funding, funding to support Neighborhood and Rural Preservation companies, and moderate increases for existing programming to assist low-income rural and senior renters and homeowners.
Join LeadingAge NY policy staff on Thurs., Feb. 3rd at 2 p.m. for a member-focused Budget and Advocacy Day Prep Call to learn more about the housing-related proposals in the Executive Budget and their potential impact on senior housing providers. All the latest on the Prep Call and our 2022 Virtual Advocacy Days can be found here.
Contact: Annalyse Komoroske Denio, akomoroskedenio@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8866