AIDS Issues Update
Reenergizing The Fight For A 30 Percent Rent Cap
Legislators and low-income tenants strategize around bill that would cap rent for HASA clients at 30 percent of income
Duane plays to the crowd while Shubert watches on
Fed up with living on $11 a day, more than 200 low-income New Yorkers with HIV/AIDS packed a meeting last Friday to learn about the bill in Albany that would cap the amount of money tenants have to pay for rent at 30 percent of their income. Bill sponsors Assembly member Deborah Glick and State Senator Tom Duane roused the crowd by pledging to work with the people in the room to move the bill forward.
“Me and Deborah are going to fix this but we need your help. You need to go to Albany and tell them how you hard it is to live and pay your rent!” an emotional and energetic Duane told the crowd as he moved theatrically around the room. “Say, ‘I don’t have money for toilet paper! I don’t have money for deodorant!’ “ Duane then lifted his arms up and said he wouldn’t wear deodorant in solidarity when the HIV-positive advocates come to Albany.
One audience member called out, “I’m so poor, I can’t even vote.”
Duane got serious for a moment. “No, never say that,” he told the crowd. “Say, ‘I may not have any money, but I have a vote!’ “
Righting a wrong
The belief among legislators that poor people don’t vote is one of the reasons that the 30 percent rent cap bill has stalled for three years. The bill (A.2565 and S.2664) was first introduced by Glick and Duane in 2006 and is meant to address a cruel disparity in the state.
HIV/AIDS Service Administration (HASA) housing is the only public housing program in the state that doesn’t cap rent payments at 30 percent of a tenant’s income. All other enhanced rent assistance programs, such as Section 8 and NYCHA, receive federal funding. Federal law sensibly states that low-income tenants shouldn’t have to pay more than 30 percent of their incomes towards rent.
Because HASA is funded by New York City and State and receives no federal money, 11,000 poor HIV-positive tenants housed through HASA pay an average of 50 to 60 percent of their public assistance benefits towards rent.
“This is an inadvertent error that needs to be repaired. Some low-income people have a reasonable rent cap and some don’t. It’s infuriating,” Glick said.
The bill has passed through the Assembly Social Services committee twice but has yet to come to a full vote. The bill hasn’t had any movement in the Senate. However Glick said, despite a tough budget year, she’s optimistic that the bill could pass through this year. She is working to educate her colleagues and promises there will be more cosponsors than ever before.
The forum Friday was organized by New York City AIDS Housing Network and was attended by clients and staff from Harlem United, Gay Men’s Health Crisis, CitiWide Harm Reduction, Bailey House and other programs.
Saving money
Although legislators are loathe to vote on anything that will cost the state money right now, capping rent at 30 percent for HASA clients will actually save the city and state money, according to an analysis presented by Ginny Shubert of Shubert Botein Policy Associates.
Estimated direct savings of over $19 million from prevented evictions would easily outweigh the projected incremental rental costs of $16 million (5.6 percent of current rental assistance costs for this group), which would be shared between New York State and City. Approximately 23 percent of HASA clients on rental assistance are approved for rent arrears payments during the course of a year, at a cost of about $4.7 million. Many others simply lose their apartments and become homeless. The estimated cost of an eviction for a HASA client is $15,600, which includes the cost of an average length of stay in emergency housing, security deposits, and moving costs.
While HASA provides no public data on evictions, the number of HASA clients in emergency housing (typically the result of eviction) increased 24 percent between November 2007 and November 2008. By preventing just 1,000 evictions each year among the 11,000 severely rent burdened low-income HASA clients (a conservative estimate), the savings realized through the proposed law would fully offset the cost of the rent share cap.
By reducing evictions and prevention arrears, the law would save New York money. Shubert’s analysis is based on comparison with HASA clients in Scattered Site I housing, which had a 30 percent cap placed on rent and who were much less likely to be in arrears or be evicted than those who had the higher rent burden.
In addition to the direct cost savings, a growing body of research establishes a strong connection between stable housing and favorable health care and HIV prevention outcomes for people living with AIDS. Without stable housing, they are less likely to adhere to medication or make regular medical appointments, and they are more likely to utilize costly public services such as emergency rooms. They are also more likely to engage in HIV risk behaviors that can result in new cases of HIV. By promoting better health care and averting new HIV infections, stable housing saves both lives and money.
“This is one of the great moments where you can save money while also doing the right thing,” Shubert said.
For the forum’s moderator, and NYCAHN member James Dean, these changes need to happen soon.
Dean told the Update. “I have to forgo basic necessities like toilet paper. I use newspaper. It’s a little rough.”
For more information, and to get involved with this campaign, contact NYCAHN organizer Jaron Benjamin at jaron@nycahn.org or 718-864-3932.
