Provides for adjustment of the maximum income threshold for eligibility for SCRIE, DRIE, SCHE and DHE by any increase in the consumer price index

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Brian Kavanagh says this is needed

The SCRIE (Senior Citizens Rent Increase Exemption) and DRIE (Disabled Rent Increase Exemption) programs serve seniors and people with disabil- ities whose household income is no more than $50,000 a year, live in rent-regulated apartments, and pay more than one-third of their income in rent, by freezing tenants' rent at the rent they paid when they entered the program. While these programs have helped keep thousands of seniors and people with disabilities in their homes, many tenants in SCRIE and DRIE are still severely rent-burdened and struggle to get by in the face of decades of rent and price increases without a correspond- ing increase in retirement and social security benefits. According to a 2016 study by LiveOn New York, 60% of seniors who are enrolled in the SCRIE program pay over 50% of their income in rent, which leads to many having to skip meals to pay their rent and stay in their homes. Recognizing the rising cost of living for New Yorkers and the continued need for SCRIE/DRIE/SCHE/DHE programs for seniors and people with disa- bilities, this bill increases the maximum income threshold to $75,000 and indexes the threshold thereafter to annual consumer price index increases for the New York-Newark-Jersey City metropolitan area - the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U). The CPI-U indexing will affect New York City and localities within Dutchess, Nassau, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Suffolk, and Westchester counties that have adopted SCRIE/DRIE/SCHE/DHE. For localities outside of this area, they would index the increases according to the CPI-Northeast Region consumer price index. As with all changes to SCRIE/DRIE/SCHE/DHE enacted over the years, localities that wish to adopt this legislation's changes would have to do so via passing local laws, resolutions, or ordinances. SCRIE/DRIE maximum income thresholds are also subject to an expiration date and must be extended periodically by amending the affected statute. The bill would eliminate this expiration date for setting the maximum income threshold for both SCRIE and DRIE, allowing the increase to $75,000 to become permanent and any subsequent increases that may be enacted in the future.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.