Neither Home Stability Support (HSS) nor any new rent subsidies for homeless residents were included in the final New York State fiscal year 2021 budget on April 2. By refusing to fund rent subsidy programs, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo missed an opportunity to reduce homelessness at a time of unprecedented need. The Coalition for the Homeless, an NLIHC state partner, highlighted the urgent need for HSS, which would have protected the lowest-income New Yorkers during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Even before the COVID-19 crisis, more than 80,000 households in the state were on the brink of homelessness, with state policies failing to match the need. And now the COVID-19 pandemic is triggering a new wave of displacement and putting countless people in imminent danger. Without secure housing, New Yorkers are at even greater risk of both contracting and transmitting the virus, exacerbating the crisis and making it clearer than ever that housing is health care. Coronavirus is claiming lives and livelihoods every day.
HSS would have bridged the difference between inadequate public-assistance shelter allowances and actual rents, keeping the lowest-income renters safely housed and enabling homeless New Yorkers to move out of shelters. The assistance would have been available only to public-assistance recipients who are at the greatest risk of homelessness due to their extremely low incomes. The statewide rental subsidy would have replaced the patchwork of local rental subsidies and allowed a higher maximum rent than many existing subsidies. New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer projected in 2017 that HSS could reduce New York City’s shelter population by 80% among families with children and 40% among single adults in a decade by allowing people to remain in their homes and move out of the shelter system, which costs New York taxpayers billions of dollars each year.
The New York State legislature has sought funds for HSS since 2016, but Governor Cuomo has consistently thwarted these efforts. This year HSS had broad bipartisan support, with more than 200 state and local lawmakers from both parties advocating for the rental subsidy. Congressional representatives, faith leaders, and advocacy groups also expressed support for HSS. The Coalition for the Homeless launched the “Say Yes to HSS” campaign which included a rally at the State Capitol to urge Governor Cuomo to include HSS in the State budget. Campaign advocates also made over 2,800 calls and emails to the governor’s office.
“The only way we will begin to address our record homelessness crisis is by implementing long-term, preventative, morally sound solutions to keep New Yorkers in their homes, and our State leaders failed to provide that assistance,” said Shelly Nortz, deputy executive director for policy at the Coalition for the Homeless. “Home Stability Support would have provided thousands of families and at-risk New Yorkers the help they need to maintain permanent housing, prevent eviction, and move out of shelters, saving taxpayers millions. By omitting Home Stability Support from the final budget, Governor Cuomo and our State leaders have once again, and at an unprecedented moment of skyrocketing need, missed a critical opportunity to help end the cycle of homelessness. Although the HSS bill received broad, statewide bi-partisan support, the reality is that we all will have to work even harder to make Governor Cuomo understand that in order to fight the homelessness crisis, we must tackle the problem at the root: the lack of affordable housing. The Coalition for the Homeless and thousands of our allies will continue to fight for our homeless neighbors and New Yorkers at risk, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic sparks a new wave of displacement and adds suddenly to the ranks of those without a stable home, leaving them even more vulnerable.”
Read statements of support for HSS at: https://bit.ly/39TOfTH