Codifies the disparate impact standard in the human rights law

• Democratic49

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Brian Kavanagh says this is needed

The federal Fair Housing Act (Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968) protects people from discrimination when they are renting or buying a home, getting a mortgage, seeking housing assistance, or engag- ing in other housing-related activities. At the state level, it is enforced by the New York State Attorney General and the Division of Human Rights ("DHR"). The Attorney General and DHR also can take action against housing discrimination under the New York State Human Rights Law. The "disparate impact" (or "discriminatory effects") standard is essen- tial to the enforcement of the Fair Housing Act, given that discrimi- nation often hides behind facially neutral policies and practices. Disparate impact is longstanding doctrine, supported by case law, that provides for enforcement based on outcome-based evidence of housing discrimination against protected classes, rather than requiring proof of intent to discriminate. The disparate impact standard was codified as a Federal agency rule by HUD during the Obama Administration. The first Trump Administration approved a new rule to effectively repeal disparate impact and make it far more difficult, if not impossible, to prove housing discrimination. In late 2020, however, the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts enjoined implementation of the Trump rule. President Biden then restored the Obama-era rule. While the U.S. Supreme Court upheld disparate impact in its 2015 deci- sion in Texas v. Inclusive Communities, its 5-4 majority included Justices Kennedy and Ginsburg, both of whom have been replaced on the Court by more conservative justices. More broadly, in its 2024 decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, the Supreme Court overruled 40 years of precedent (established in the 1984 Chevron decision) under which federal courts had extended deference to federal agencies' reason- able interpretations of statutes they enforced. In the years ahead, disparate impact is almost certain to come under attack, either from the second Trump Administration, or through liti- gation, or both - and, as a result, fair housing enforcement nationwide may be jeopardized. This bill aims to protect New Yorkers from this outcome. Despite the role that disparate impact has historically played in housing discrimi- nation cases brought in New York, the standard itself is not currently codified in the Human Rights Law. By doing so, we can ensure that robust enforcement action against housing discrimination in New York can continue under State law, come what may in Washington and in the courts.

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.