Housing Battle: Hochul vs. NY Dems
Housing Battle: Hochul vs. NY Dems
Updates on Good Cause Eviction + Good Cause Eviction tracker!
It is budget season in NY State! That means the governor gets to work with lawmakers across the state to identify the policy priorities for the upcoming year that will receive funding. As expected - Good Cause Eviction makes its appearance (If you haven’t already - DEFINITELY go check out my updated Good Cause Eviction tracker to see the evolution of the policy in NY State). The budget can help us to understand which housing issues are the most important for the upcoming year. Below, I break down what some of these key issues are and where the Governor and state lawmakers agree and/or disagree.
The different budget proposals
Commentary:
In their responses, the NY Senate and State Assembly made concerted efforts to limit state powers over housing decisions. This is interesting first because a fair chunk of multifamily housing decisions roll up to the state level today. DHCR must be consulted anytime building owners anywhere in NY State are performing renovations to apartments and buildings and want to raise their rents as a consequence. Second, if you have been following my Good Cause Eviction tracker, you may have noticed that all local forms of Good Cause have been knocked down in appellate courts (except for Kingston NY). Judges stated that Good Cause laws must be organized at the state level because otherwise they will conflict with existing state laws. Hochul wants more state control over housing, judges are hinting that the state must decide on Good Cause, and tenant advocates are rooting to reduce state housing powers. That doesn’t make sense. Is this a negotiation tactic to let Hochul have some of the state authority over housing in exchange for weaving in some form of Good Cause into that state power? Voting yes for Good Cause which needs to be done at the state level to be legal, and no for state powers doesn’t seem to work. The budget is due this Friday, March 31st. The deadline can also be extended. It will be interesting to see what the final version looks like!
Sources: City Limits, Olean Times