Thanks to all who took the time from their frantic schedules to meet with legislators and leadership to explain the conditions in  your community and the need for affordable housing.  Remember to follow up with thanks and requests for updates and reports of all the good work you do in the district.  One house bills expected very shortly and then negotiations on the final budget begins.  Remember, this doesn’t work without your participation!

Two New York State’s Disparity Study Community Meetings, a component of the State’s Disparity Study have been scheduled upstate in Albany and Binghamton. These meetings, led by Mason Tillman Associates, will inform the local community and businesses about the Study, which assesses the policies related to maximizing MWBE participation and outreach, its methodology and legal standard. For more information regarding the Disparity Study and statewide community meetings click here.

Capital Region
Thursday, March 10th
SUNY Polytechnic Institute
College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering
257 Fuller Road
Albany, NY 12203

Southern Tier
Wednesday, April 27th
Binghamton University’s Innovative Technologies Complex
85 Murray Hill Road
Vestal, NY 13850

New York State Homes & Community Renewal (HCR) has created a “primer”,  NYSHCR MWBE Program for Not-For-Profit Organizations to assist  compliance with AHC processes and practices on MWBE Utilization. Submit  questions and/or comments to the Office of Economic Opportunity and Partnership Development at Econ.Opportunity@nyshcr.org

In order to provide guidance on the appropriate implementation of this effort within your organization, the Office of Economic Opportunity and Partnership Department is hosting a webinar on Tuesday, March 8^th, 2016 at 10 am.

Information on how to access the webinar is listed below:

Topic: NYSHCR MWBE Program for Not-For-Profit Organizations
Date: Tuesday, March 8, 2016
Time: 10:00 am, Eastern Standard Time (New York, GMT-05:00)
Meeting Number: 645 853 077
Meeting Password: nCBHWTE4

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To join the online meeting (Now from mobile devices!)
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1. Go to https://meetny.webex.com/meetny/j.php?MTID=mbda3aa4be60734075c61a4a507d6288a
2. If requested, enter your name and email address.
3. If a password is required, enter the meeting password: nCBHWTE4
4. Click “Join”.

To view in other time zones or languages, please click the link:
https://meetny.webex.com/meetny/j.php?MTID=m1148cf4ea8cbf67921640058ffb2b8ff

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To join the audio conference only
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1. Provide your number when you join the meeting to receive a call back. Alternatively, you can call one of the following numbers:
Local: 1-518-549-0500
Toll Free: 1-844-633-8697
Alternate Toll Free – (For callers not able to call the 844 Toll Free Number): 1-866-776-3553
2. Follow the instructions that you hear on the phone.
Your Cisco Unified Meeting Place meeting ID: 645 853 077

“The settlement… includes $400 million in relief for New York consumers and $150 million in cash. The relief includes loan reductions to help New Yorkers avoid foreclosure and money to help build more affordable housing…. Morgan Stanley will be required to provide a minimum of $400 million in creditable consumer relief directly to struggling families and communities across the state. The settlement includes a menu of options for consumer relief to be provided, and different categories of relief are credited at different rates toward the bank’s $400 million obligation. Creditable dollars will go toward the creation and preservation of affordable rental housing, land banks, code enforcement, communities purchasing distressed properties, and principal reductions for homeowners.” (source: Albany Times Union)

Meeting your M/WBE contract obligations, reporting, and waiver requests will be covered in a webinar presented by the Office of Economic Opportunity in partnership with NYS Affordable Housing Corporation, NYS Rural Housing Coalition and NYS Rural Advocates, scheduled for Wednesday, Feb 24, 2016 at 10 AM. Watch your email for details.

Read the NYS Rural Advocates testimony here as presented to the Joint Legislative Public Hearing on 2016-2017 Executive Budget Proposal: Housing .  Other testimony online here

Both Senate and Assembly seemed receptive to the budget and program needs of rural areas of New York in the Q&A during the 2.1.16 joint legislative hearing on the Executive Budget.   Even before Advocates testimony was presented,  mention was made of the need to address funding for smaller scale rental units, replacement of deteriorated mobile homes, adding rental housing with Main Street revitalization and more funding addressing home ownership through the AHC program. Advocates testimony Budget Testimony 2_1_2016-2

Please check the link above to register for the NYS Rural Advocates Legislative Meeting.  This is the best year we’ve had in a while to focus on policy as well as funding levels, so plan on attending for maximum input!

NOTE: As we reconstruct the narrative, we find conflicting information  so will continue to update and add to the chart below

With a noteworthy commitment to housing the homeless we expect a significant amount of funding for the Housing Trust Fund and HHAP. Nearly 2 billion is proposed for 100,000 units along with $44,2000,000 for the Housing Trust Fund.  Here is part of the Executive Proposal we see in State Budget Documents:

RPC	$   3,539,000 + Year 2 JP Morgan Chase funds
NPC	8,479,000  +Year 2 JP Morgan Chase funds
Rural Rental Assistance	22,292,000
Rural Community Investment Fund	35,250,000
AHC	26,000,000
Access to Home	1,000,000
HHAP	78,700,000
RESTORE	1,400,000

Additional housing funds include $4,200,000Main Street with additional money allocated as part of the JP Morgan Chase fund plan

$7 billion in proposals for upstate, including transportation, energy and agriculture projects have already been announced. Also planned are ” $100 million for water infrastructure investments, a $100 million “Downtown NY” revitalization initiative in which 10 cities will win $10 million apiece in a similar vein to his annual Regional Economic Development Council competition, and a tax cut program for small businesses (defined as those with less than 100 employees)”

 

A link to the Governor’s State of the State and Budget Address, live here