Senate housing committee reports 16 bills to finance and the floor amid budget season

The New York State Senate Committee on Housing, Construction and Community Development on Feb. 2025 advanced a slate of housing-related bills, reporting 16 separate measures either to the Senate finance committee or to the floor as lawmakers prepare for the state budget due in four weeks.

Chairman Senator Brian Kavanaugh, chair of the Senate Committee on Housing, Construction and Community Development, opened the session by noting the compressed calendar: "The state budget is due 4 weeks from today," he said, and the committee moved steadily through items on its agenda.

The bills the committee reported ranged from new housing-finance tools to tenant-protections and code-enforcement measures. Notable items included S733 (sponsored by Senator May), which would establish a housing project revolving loan program and fund; S956 (sponsored by Senator Kavanaugh), creating an affordable independent senior housing assistance program; and several measures (S4534, S4535, S4852) tied to updating and enforcing the State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code and the State Energy Conservation Construction Code. The committee also advanced bills affecting New York City rent regulation statutes, including extensions to answer periods for major capital improvement rent increase applications (S1461) and inspection rules for requested rent increases (S4099).

On several bills committee discussion was brief; on others members asked policy clarifying questions. For S733, the sponsor and supporters flagged high current borrowing costs as motivation for a revolving loan fund to reduce financing expenses for housing construction. During debate on S956 (the senior services proposal), a committee member asked why the bill proposes a 60/40 urban-to-rural distribution of program funds; a staff explanation said the split reflects the cumulative locations of existing subsidized senior housing stock and that the bill focuses on funding on-site services rather than new construction. On S2320 (real property tax exemption for capital improvements), members raised concerns about potential benefits to property flippers and whether local adoptions could add guardrails; staff said localities could adopt additional restrictions as they implement the exemption.

Several bills originated from prior committee work or joint hearings. Kavanaugh reminded members the committee had held joint hearings in February on rental assistance programs and on housing elements of the executive budget, and that testimony and written records are available online.

Votes and next steps: the committee reported each bill to either the Senate finance committee or to the Senate floor (the committee record shows motions to report and seconds for each item). Where dissenting votes were recorded in the transcript, individual senators were noted as voting in the negative; otherwise the motions were reported. The committee concluded after clearing the agenda and without objection.

The committee's actions move the bills into the next stages of review as Albany approaches the budget deadline.