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State hearing presses for statewide housing-access vouchers to prevent evictions and homelessness
Summary
Advocates, researchers and city officials told state senators a New York-funded Housing Access Voucher Program (HAVP) could stabilize thousands of households, but implementation design, long-term funding and landlord participation must be addressed.
State senators and housing experts on both sides of the aisle pressed for a New York‑funded voucher program to reduce evictions and homelessness at a joint public hearing focused on rental assistance.
Senator Brian Kavanagh, chairing the joint hearing, opened by naming the housing access voucher program as one of three priority topics lawmakers planned to scrutinize. “So today, we are focusing on the critical need for, increased availability of rental assistance in New York state. We’re gonna particularly focus on 3 programs that are intended to provide that. 1 is, the proposed housing access voucher program,” he said.
Why it matters: Witnesses said vouchers modeled on successful state programs elsewhere could prevent homelessness, reduce child poverty and keep people in their homes while the larger task of producing more housing continues. Ellen Davidson of the Legal Aid Society summarized the case for a statewide voucher fund that could be used both to prevent evictions and to place people in permanent housing: “The housing access voucher program is a program that was modeled on what Connecticut has had for decades,” she said, adding advocates want the state to make the program a priority this year.
Research and numbers: NYU’s Furman Center and other analysts told the committees a voucher program can produce measurable benefits but also requires durable funding. Brad Greenberg of the Furman Center warned a voucher commitment is a multi‑year budget obligation: “As rents continue to increase at a higher level relative to incomes ... the program gets more expensive.” He and other researchers noted that because vouchers keep existing households housed as well as help people come out of shelter, costs should be weighed against ongoing shelter and other public costs.
Nelson of provider and city officials: City agencies told senators they support efforts to expand access to vouchers but urged careful program design. Ahmed Tigani, first deputy commissioner at NYC’s Department of Housing Preservation & Development, and Lakisha Miller of NYCHA both said vouchers remain a critical tool — but emphasized the need for concurrent steps on housing supply and landlord incentives so voucher holders can actually find apartments. Andrea Reid, deputy commissioner at the city Department of Social Services, also urged the state version be structured so New York City can participate and so city systems can plug into it.
Providers and operators: Nonprofit and provider witnesses described models that lift barriers to lease‑up. Laura Lazarus of Anthos Home discussed a program that proactively reserves and prepares apartments, pays move‑in costs and furnishes units to speed placements. Chris Mann of WIN argued vouchers have broad downstream savings: his group’s analysis finds a $250 million state investment would support roughly 13,000 households statewide and generate emergency‑shelter savings in the first year alone.
Design tradeoffs: Testimony repeatedly returned to three design issues: who receives priority (people in shelter vs. people at imminent risk, or both); payment rules (how much of local Fair Market Rent to cover and whether to allow higher payment standards in expensive areas); and permanence (whether the state will provide long‑term renewal funding). Advocates also urged pairing the program with aggressive anti‑discrimination enforcement and housing navigation services to help voucher holders find units.
What senators said they’ll do next: Committee members emphasized they plan to press for a funded version of HAVP in the budget negotiations and to continue working through details on program eligibility, payment standards and landlord protections. Several witnesses also urged the state to move in concert with city and federal partners so the new vouchers do not displace existing recipients or merely intensify competition for scarce units.
Ending note: Supporters urged quick action to add a state‑level safety net for households that federal vouchers don’t reach. As Ellen Davidson put it: “We need more support. And so, as we go into negotiations, … we’re coming to ask that it, not be a priority of many, but maybe move to the top of the list.”
