Landmark HIV/AIDS Affordable Housing Bill Passes NY Senate

Wednesday August 05, 2009 | New York City

New York – A coalition of low-income people living with HIV/AIDS and housing providers praised the New York Senate for passing a bill designing to prevent homelessness among low-income people living with AIDS.  The bill, introduced by Senator Tom Duane and sponsored by thirteen of his colleagues, would ensure low-income people with AIDS receiving public housing assistance pay no more than 30% of their disability income towards their rent.  It passed with bipartisan support and despite the absence of four Democratic Senators.

“New York City’s rental assistance program for low-income people with AIDS leaves me with $11 per day, with the rest of my check going to rent each month.  That means I have to choose between basic necessities like going to the doctor, buying groceries, keeping my phone turned on or paying rent. This bill would not only give me a fighting chance at a decent quality of life, it would help me survive,” commented Gustavo Pedroza, a campaign leader with the NYC AIDS Housing Network (NYCAHN).

An independent analysis by Shubert-Botein Policy Associates concluded that the bill could save New York money by preventing costly arrears, evictions and emergency housing placements.  A growing body of research also documents that stable housing is essential to effective HIV/AIDS healthcare and prevention, including increasing adherence to medication, reducing hospitalizations and ER visits, and reducing HIV risk behaviors. 

The bill remained bottled up in the Assembly Ways & Means committee before the end of their regular session, although the Assembly is expected to come back in the fall to pass reconciliation bills and budget modifications.  Assembly Member Deborah Glick introduced companion legislation with forty cosponsors, including Ways & Means Committee Chair Denny Farrell.  Advocates called on Speaker Silver and Governor Paterson to prioritize enacting the bill into law during any future legislation sessions in 2009.

“The Assembly went home without passing urgently needed legislation that would help me keep my home.  We need Speaker Silver to take responsibility and prioritize this vital legislation when they come back to Albany,” said NYCAHN leader James Dean.

 

ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND

New York City’s HIV/AIDS Services Administration (HASA), a division of HRA, administers the state's only disability rental assistance program that does not cap the tenant's rent share at 30% of income.  Nearly 11,000 HASA clients who receive both rental assistance and federal disability income (SSDI, SSD, Veteran’s benefits) end up paying between 50-80% of their monthly income towards their rent, which has driven up the rate of evictions and emergency shelter placements. All of these clients are allowed to retain only $330/month of their disability benefits - just $11/day - to meet all non-rent expenses, including utilities, food, clothing and other bare essentials - no matter how much supplemental disability income they are entitled to receive. 

The bill is urgently needed now to address the rising rates of homelessness among New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS. According to HASA, emergency shelter placements for homeless low-income people with AIDS are up 26% between May 2007 and May 2009 despite no increase in the overall number of clients. This indicates high rates of recurring homelessness due to the extreme rent share burden.