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Advocates, Providers Keep Pressure on Cuomo Over Housing Funds


cuomo speech abny

Gov. Cuomo (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Governor's Office)


While the 2016 legislative session may be finished, the battle over how the state will allocate $1.9 billion in funds earmarked for supportive and affordable housing is not. Neither is the feud between Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio, which includes a front over the housing funds.

After the end-of-session deal-making among Cuomo and legislative leaders yielded an agreement to release only $150 million of the $1.9 billion pledged in this year’s budget, housing advocates plan to protest in front of Cuomo’s Manhattan office at 11 a.m. Tuesday. They’re calling on the governor to work with Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan to agree on additional funding allocations for the entire sum. Advocates say they expect the last-minute protest, which de Blasio’s office is supportive of, to draw 200 or more participants.

Developers say that without more certainty about how much state funding will be available and when, new supportive housing projects simply aren’t going to move forward and that will compound the already multi-year waits for homeless and other populations that rely on the housing, which includes social services for people with mental illness, substance abuse problems, and other impediments.

“The New York Housing Conference urges State leaders to continue negotiating the terms of a statewide 5-year housing plan to allocate the full $2 billion of enacted housing dollars for programmatic use,” reads the newsletter from The New York Housing Conference announcing the Tuesday rally. The statement goes on to detail the challenges developers face in planning housing projects if their funding is not in place. “Developing affordable housing is often a multi-year planning process and the industry depends on funding certainty and programmatic direction to shape projects that will meet community needs and policy goals of the anticipated statewide housing plan,” it says.

Advocates for affordable and supportive housing came together in the last weeks of session to demand Cuomo and the Legislature sign a required memo of understanding, or MOU, agreeing how to allocate the $1.9 billion. A coalition of groups called The Campaign 4 NY/NY housing sent out a series of scathing press releases, held rallies, and pressured lawmakers, but by the last day of session Cuomo and the Legislature settled on releasing $150 million of the $1.9 billion.

The Cuomo administration touted $570 million being made available for supportive housing in an end-of-session press release, but it appears most of that funding was already available through service funding and tax credits secured in this year’s budget. The administration points out that $600 million of the $1.9 billion is dedicated to supportive housing and that the housing plan is designed to stretch over five years, therefore making $150 million an appropriate amount to release for supportive housing during the first year of the program. Administration officials say the rest of the $570 million will go to funding the operational costs of the supportive units.

“Today’s agreement includes the execution of a memorandum of understanding to make more than $570 million in state resources available to advance capital construction and operating on the first 1,200 units of supportive housing under the Governor’s sweeping $20 billion Housing and Homelessness plan,” reads the Cuomo administration’s Friday statement. “The funding will be released to the Division of Housing and Community Renewal and is available immediately to be awarded in conjunction with other resources including state and federal tax credits to support construction costs for the new supportive housing units.”

Advocates are not completely critical of the governor, but plan to push further, especially while the end of session lingers in the news. “We are happy some of the money was made available for supportive housing,” said Rachel Fee, executive director of the New York Housing Conference. “It’s an important issue but we really need leaders to come together to sort out the entire plan. I’m really hopeful there will be a deal before next year's budget because I think there is a lot of common ground on housing between the leaders.”

Some of the most outspoken advocates from the NY/NY Campaign also use one of de Blasio’s main political consultancies, BerlinRosen. A campaign spokesperson for de Blasio also represents affordable housing groups.

Advocates say the $150 million should jump-start the stalled affordable housing pipeline but they are anxious to get a look at the MOU lining out how even that money will be allocated. “It is really important we see what it says,” said Shelly Nortz, deputy executive director for policy for The Coalition for the Homeless.

Gotham Gazette spoke to three individuals representing different firms that are involved in affordable and supportive housing development. Discussing the machinations of their industry on the condition of anonymity, they said that the $150 million in capital funding will get existing projects moving, but without future funding solidified and agreed to “there is no window into the future of what capital will be available.”

They expect most firms to wait to see what kind of agreement the often unpredictable denizens of the state Capitol come up with before moving on new projects because both capital funding and social services funding are necessary to build and run supportive housing projects. Two of the individuals noted that a NY/NY city-state agreement was easily reached under Republican Governor George Pataki, with one noting that Cuomo once led the federal housing agency, something the governor regularly cites when discussing his expertise on housing issues.

They noted that developers want a return to the NY/NY partnership between the city and state that provided a reviewable document outlining what funds for capital and support services would be available and when.

Nortz issued a series of blistering press releases questioning Cuomo’s commitment to housing and homelessness last week. “The Governor's pathetic offer to provide a tiny fraction of what he promised underscores the shallowness of his commitment to housing our homeless neighbors,” wrote Nortz.

Melissa DeRosa, Cuomo’s chief of staff, responded in kind, tweeting on Friday, “$570M for first year of 5 year pledge fulfilled. Learn to take yes for an answer or stop being credible.”

Cuomo told The New York Times over the weekend that the MOU represented just an installment in a five-year plan.

The private battle over the housing funds between Cuomo and legislative leaders appears to stem from Senate Republicans’ desire to renew the controversial 421-a tax credit for developers, which is supposed to yield some affordable housing. The measure lapsed at the start of this year after Cuomo put negotiations in the hands of labor and real estate, insisting certain wage requirements needed to be part of any deal. There have been stop-and-start negotiations over the renewal for many months, but they have not yielded a deal. Holding on to the housing funds could give Republicans the bargaining chip they need to get 421-a renewed next year, or even sooner.

Cuomo administration officials stress that they feel securing the $1.9 billion in the budget was the hard part and getting it out the door will be much easier.

However, the public battle over the MOU is more centered in the feud between Cuomo and de Blasio. The state and city have traditionally come together in agreement to fund supportive housing (the series of three NY/NY deals), but no deal has materialized under Cuomo and de Blasio. “In the past we had a long-term commitment to create supportive housing that gave investors the reassurance they needed,” said Kristin Miller, director of CSH, an organization that helps find financing for supportive housing projects.

Last fall, de Blasio announced he would commit $3 billion over the next 15 years to create 15,000 units of supportive housing in New York City. Advocates saw it as a way of pressuring Cuomo to deliver his own commitment. De Blasio, his top officials and allies have repeatedly called on the governor to do so, and Cuomo appeared to answer that call during his January State of the State address.

Cuomo made homelessness and supportive housing a major part of that speech and the accompanying budget and policy book. Committing $20 billion over five years to create 100,000 new units of affordable housing and 6,000 units of supportive housing across the state, Cuomo also outlined a number of programs that appeared designed to take away de Blasio’s ability to fund and control the construction of affordable housing while inserting more checks and balances over the city’s shelter system. Some of that plan wound up being jettisoned in budget negotiations.

“The Governor promised 6,000 units and anything short of that is going to be met with disappointment,” said Carla Rabinowitz of Community Access, who is organizing the Tuesday protest at Cuomo’s office. “I know people who have been waiting three to ten years to get into supportive housing and now you’re telling them they have to wait more because of politics? It isn’t acceptable.”

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by David King, Albany editor, Gotham Gazette
     

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Despite Expectations, Design-Build for New York City Not Approved in Albany


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a rendering of the New NY Bridge, via The Governor's Office


It is bipartisan legislation that steadily built momentum since its introduction a year ago, gaining support from state legislators, New York City Hall, labor unions, good government groups, and the private sector along the way. But despite proponents’ expectations, the New York City Public Works Investment Act—which would have extended the authority to use “design-build” contracts to some New York City agencies—was not passed by the end of Albany’s legislative session.

The bill, introduced last June, would have allowed five city agencies, including the Department of Transportation and the Department of Environmental Protection, to use the project delivery method known as “design-build” in which a single contractor is responsible for both a project’s design and construction. Both DOT and DEP, as well as a Mayoral spokesperson, have said that design-build would save millions of dollars more annually over traditional “design-bid-build” methods that mandate agencies hire separate entities for design and construction, thereby almost always assuming additional costs.

Initially seen as contentious due to early objections from labor unions, the bill was tweaked to guarantee project labor agreements and was eventually backed by labor and trades groups including the New York Building Congress, Partnership for New York City, the Real Estate Board, the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, the NYC Central Labor Council, DC 37, and the General Contractors Association.

Design-build also has support from several think tanks and good government groups like Citizens Budget Commission, the Center for an Urban Future, the New York University Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management, and the Bipartisan Policy Center.

State Assembly Member Michael Benedetto, a Bronx Democrat who sponsored the Assembly version of the bill, had collected memos from the above groups and delivered them to members of the Assembly Cities Committee, which Benedetto chairs. Earlier this month, with weeks remaining in the legislative session, Benedetto told Gotham Gazette that he was confident the bill would pass the committee and “hoping against hope” it would reach Cuomo’s desk. Instead, the end-of-session deadline came and went, and the bill remains in the Cities Committee and Rules Committee in the Assembly and Senate, respectively.

“It was, admittedly, a little bit depressing,” Benedetto said on Monday, the first business day after the session ended in the wee hours of Friday night into Saturday morning. “I thought everyone could have been satisfied from this and the city could have saved some money, but it wasn’t to be.”

The bill ultimately died when members of the Assembly and Senate, negotiating possible amendments to the bill, were unable to reach a consensus. The Senate Cities Committee voted unanimously to pass the bill in its current state, but according to Benedetto, some Assembly members took issue with the bill’s provisions, or lack thereof, for minority and women-owned businesses.

Under the bill’s current language, city agencies would be allowed to consider consultants’ record of compliance with laws “concerning minority and women-owned business enterprise participation” and would have to follow “objectives and goals” for hiring such businesses outlined in the city’s administrative code. But some Assembly members saw these measures as insufficient for ensuring design-build contracts would involve minority and women-owned businesses, according to Benedetto.

State Senator Andrew Lanza, a Staten Island Republican who sponsored the Senate version of the bill, did not respond to a request for comment.

Proponents of design-build expressed surprise and frustration that the bill was not passed. In a statement to Gotham Gazette, a spokesperson for Mayor Bill de Blasio said design-build would be “the single most effective step” to update aging infrastructure and build new schools and public housing.

“The City looks forward to continuing work with the incredible coalition who supported the legislation—including industry, labor and advocates—to get it passed during the next Albany session,” the spokesperson said. Legislators will return to the capital in January after this fall’s elections for all 150 Assembly and 63 Senate seats.

Design-Build Institute of America Executive Director and CEO Lisa Washington said the institute was “incredibly disappointed” in a statement to Gotham Gazette, and pointed to a DBIA report published in April that reflects steadily increasing use of design-build by state agencies. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has regularly praised use of design-build by the state.

“We have no reason to believe the bill failed on the merits,” Washington said. “We are confident that similar bipartisan legislation can pass the New York Legislature next session, and we will be working hard to make sure that happens.”

Citizens Budget Commission Vice President Maria Doulis told Gotham Gazette she was disappointed with the outcome, and said that the state is “moving very slowly in the area of updating and modernizing its procurement.” She added that, in her opinion, a dispute over language accounting for women and minority-owned businesses could have been easily solved.

“Honoring that consideration has not impeded this from going forward in other places,” Doulis said. “You can do it by maintaining flexibility but also including some requirements for subcontractors.”

Although it will remain off-limits for city agencies for now, certain state agencies are authorized to use design-build thanks to a law that was passed in 2011 and renewed in 2015. Ironically, the latest state agency to exercise this power will do so in Manhattan—Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Monday that the state’s billion-dollar expansion of the Jacob J Javits Center will use a design-build contract.

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by Aaron Holmes, Gotham Gazette

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In Extended Session, Lawmakers Vote Through Variety of Bills with Little Public Review


capitol building rally

The Capitol Building (photo: Kevin P. Coughlin, Governor's Office)


Gov. Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders finished protracted and messy end-of-session negotiations on Friday night -- one day after the scheduled end of legislative session -- not with the traditional celebratory press conference, but with a series of press releases. Sent to reporters as bills were still being negotiated, printed, and voted upon Friday night, Cuomo’s public schedule for Saturday put him in the New York City area with no events.

A press release announcing an agreement on a five-point “ethics reform plan” was sent out at about 7 p.m., though actual bill language wasn’t available until about 1:45 a.m., with legislators expected to vote on the varied measures immediately thereafter.

At a few minutes after 8 p.m., the framework of a deal on a wider variety of issues was announced - dealing with issues like mayoral control of New York City schools; funding for housing homeless people; lead testing in schools; funding for CUNY and SUNY schools; and much more.

Legislators from both houses, many somewhat delirious after consecutive late nights of session followed by early mornings -- some of whom had even taken to sleeping at their desks -- learned of outlines of deals second- or third-hand. Negotiations were largely held by Cuomo, Republican Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan, Democratic Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, and Independent Democratic Conference head Jeff Klein, with the three legislative leaders reporting back to their conferences.

A long evening at the Capitol building did not end until after 3 a.m., with a strong sense of disorganization and confusion throughout. Even without knowing much about what they were voting on, state Senators voted through the ethics package 60-2 and the "big ugly" mash-up of other bills 61-1.

For the public, many legislators and watchdog groups, this year was defined by the corruption convictions of former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, as well as the broad federal investigation into Cuomo’s economic development programs across the state. However, legislators resisted any major reforms that would directly address the issues involved in those cases.

Instead, the Friday deal agreed to by Cuomo and legislative leaders addressed the use of independent expenditure committees; tightened rules on what would be improper coordination between candidate campaigns and committees; did away with a rule from the Joint Commission on Public Ethics that forced lobbyists to disclose their interactions with newspaper editorial boards; and will begin the process of amending the state constitution to strip lawmakers convicted of corruption of their pensions - this measure is an amendment to the state constitution and will therefore have to be passed by a second consecutive state legislature (following this fall’s elections), placed on the ballot, and approved by voters, likely in November, 2017.

Also included is a measure to increase disclosure by 501(c)(4) organizations that take money from 501(c)(3) organizations, a move seen by many as an attack on good government groups that use the latter for funding their advocacy work. Cuomo administration officials have repeatedly referred to good government groups as “shadow lobbyists” while the governor has regularly worked with them on ethics and campaign finance reform measures.

The five-point plan falls significantly short of what Cuomo outlined in his January State of the State speech and of what good government groups and reform-minded legislators have been calling for. In a twist of irony, the ethics related bills were given almost virtually no public review before being moved through.

“For the first time, independent expenditure groups and PACs will be required to adhere to unprecedented disclosure requirements, and New York will have the nation’s strongest rules defining and governing coordination and independence,” Cuomo said in a statement.

Missing from the ethics deal are many of Cuomo’s major proposals he made in January - proposals that include limiting outside income for legislators; closing a loophole that allows corporations to subvert campaign contribution limits by creating multiple LLCs; and measures to prevent campaign accounts controlled by political parties from taking in unlimited donations.

Meanwhile, New York City issues remained major sticking points as leaders hashed out their final deal. It appeared that a breakthrough was reached after Mayor Bill de Blasio told Heastie, de Blasio’s main Albany ally, that he could live with another one-year renewal of mayoral control that mandates the city spell out exactly how much money it is spending on each school.

That renewal is a blow to de Blasio even though the administration calls it as a victory - de Blasio was looking for mayoral control to be made permanent, or at least extended for three years. “This extension is a recognition of the unprecedented progress and achievements mayoral control has delivered for our school system,” Austin Finan, a spokesperson for de Blasio, told The Wall Street Journal.

The deal clearly weakens the city’s independent control of schools and sets de Blasio up for another renewal fight next year when he will be up for reelection. It also empowers charter schools, which de Blasio has often been at odds with to the chagrin of Cuomo and Flanagan, to seek authorizations from SUNY Charter Schools Institute, which is seen as very pro-charter.

One positive for de Blasio was that the Senate approved some of his CUNY nominees and approved two of his MTA nominees, Veronica Vanterpool and David R. Jones, who had been waiting for over a year for confirmation. City Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez, the third of three de Blasio nominees to the MTA awaiting confirmation, had not been confirmed at the time this article was published.

Another major city issue came to something of a resolution on Friday night as Cuomo and legislative leaders announced they would make available $570 million in capital funding for supportive housing for homeless people. On Thursday a figure of $150 million was floated out of the $2 billion in funds set aside for supportive and affordable housing construction and maintenance in the budget, but not yet allocated. “The Governor's pathetic offer to provide a tiny fraction of what he promised underscores the shallowness of his commitment to housing our homeless neighbors,” said Shelly Nortz, executive director for policy at the Coalition for the Homeless, in reaction to the offer. Groups were not much happier with the $570 figure released on Friday, they want to see the full $1.9 billion allocated by Cuomo, Heastie, and Flanagan.

Deals announced leading up to and on Friday also included moves to improve safety at railroad crossings; fight heroin and opioid addiction; provide $50 million in additional capital funds to CUNY and SUNY; accelerate construction at the Javits Convention Center, and more. Legislation legalizing and regulating daily fantasy sports was passed through the Assembly Friday afternoon and made its way, somewhat surprisingly, to the Senate floor after 2 a.m., where it was passed. It will now go to the governor's desk.

This end-of-session “big ugly” package of legislation appears to have occurred in similar fashion to this year’s budget, with an agreement reached because the parties walked away from the negotiating table. In both cases, as is the tradition, bills were passed with such little review by legislators, advocates, and journalists alike that days of unpacking are ahead.

Not dealt with before the end of session was renewal of the 421-a real estate property tax break meant to spur afforable housing development in New York City and expansion of car-hailing apps like Uber and Lyft to Albany and other parts of the state.

Legislators will now return to their districts to run for reelection facing polls that show voters around the state want sweeping government ethics reform. Cuomo will likely look to bounce back from what has been an up-and-down year that saw him celebrate the political high of winning passage of a $15 minimum wage plan and paid family leave that earned him national attention and accolades from the left yet have members of his inner circle and his administration subpoenaed in a corruption probe. Much of the focus of the months ahead will be on that federal investigation and how the fall elections affect which party controls the state Senate.

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by David King, Albany editor, Gotham Gazette
     

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