BILL NUMBER: S3251
SPONSOR: SALAZAR
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the executive law, in relation to prohibiting housing
discrimination based on criminal legal system involvement
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This bill seeks to end housing discrimination on the basis of prior
criminal legal system involvement, by adding this as an additional
protected class. under the NYS Human Rights Law.
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 - This act shall be known as the "housing for an equitable
reentry and opportunity (HERO) act."
Section 2 - Amends section 292 of the executive law by adding a new
subdivision 42 which defines the term "criminal legal system involve-
ment" broadly to include conviction, arrest, charge, citation, partic-
ipation in a diversion program, and record of an offense that has been
sealed, expunged, vacated, or pardoned, and youthful offender adjudi-
cations or juvenile delinquency determinations.
Section 3 - Amends subdivision 2-a of section 296 of the executive law
to include "criminal legal system involvement" as a protected class in
regard to housing.
Section 4 - Amends paragraph (a) of subdivision 5 of section 296 of the
executive law to add "criminal legal system involvement" as a protected
class in regard to housing.
Section 5 - Severability clause.
Section 6 - Effective date of 180th day after this bill shall have
become law.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
This bill will add criminal legal system involvement as a protected
characteristic under New York State's human rights law, protecting indi-
viduals from widespread housing discrimination. The intent of this
legislation is to create equitable and safe housing opportunities for
New Yorkers.
Housing insecurity impacts millions of households in numerous ways,
ranging from homelessness, unaffordability, substandard conditions,(1)
increased stress, and mental and physical health problems.(2) Access to
housing is a crucial part of successful reentry, yet New Yorkers exiting
detention facilities and individuals who have interacted with the crimi-
nal legal system face significant barriers to accessing housing and are
more likely to experience homelessness or unsafe housing situations.(3)
Discrimination based on criminal legal involvement is often used as an
alternative method or pretext to reject housing applicants based on race
and national origin, given that the criminal legal system disproportion-
ately impacts people of color. In New York State, Black people consti-
tute 15 percent of the state's residents but makeup 43 percent of the
jail population and 48 percent of the prison population.(4) People exit-
ing incarceration are 10 times more likely to experience homelessness,
and this is particularly true for women and people of color.(5) Black
and Latina women are particularly likely to be single heads of house-
holds and, as single heads of households, are more likely to experience
poverty.(6) Without a place to live, parents or caretakers often
encounter difficulty finding employment which harms their children's
educational prospects.(7) Compounding these effects with housing
discrimination based on criminal and legal history harms people of
color, children, families, and communities. Adding criminal legal system
involvement as a protected characteristic will give New York residents
who served their time access to fair and safer housing.
Research has shown the ample benefits of maintaining housing security.
A reliable and secure home is the cornerstone of economic well-being,
educational growth,preserving good health,(8) and reducing recidiv-
ism.(9) This legislation will support individuals and their families so
that they are able to attain a stable home, reintegrate into society,
and prevent homelessness and reincarceration. This will ultimately
result in cost savings for state and local governments which can be used
to fund vital programs across out state.(10)
"Criminal history is not a good predictor of housing success. A study of
housing outcomes among tenants participating in an intervention based on
the Housing First model found that the performance of tenants with a
criminal history was similar to that of participants without a criminal
history."(11)
The denial or exclusion of housing choices due to a person's criminal
record will not provide a chance at living a healthy, productive life-
style. People with records must live somewhere. Denying housing to
people with criminal records makes expectations of recidivism a self-
fulfilling prophecy and makes everyone less safe. Having a home keeps
people on the right path.(12) New York State has made clear its commit-
ment to ensuring formerly incarcerated individuals have access to public
housing by enacting Chapter 750 of 2022 (56895A/A7053A). Further, the
passage of this legislation will continue to reaffirm the state's
commitment to Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing as enacted by Chap-
ter 690 of 2021 (S.1353-A/A.5428-A) by ensuring greater fair housing
protections.
 
RACIAL JUSTICE IMPACT:
Discrimination based on criminal legal involvement is often used as an
alternative method to reject housing applicants based on race and
national origin, given that the criminal legal system disproportionately
impacts people of color. In New York State, Black people constitute 15
percent of the state's residents but makeup 43 percent of the jail popu-
lation and 48 percent of the prison population. This legislation will
reduce this disproportionate impact by expanding access to housing for
those with a history of criminal legal system involvement.
 
GENDER JUSTICE IMPACT:
Black and Latina women are particularly likely to be single heads of
households and, as single heads of households, are more likely to expe-
rience poverty. Without a place to live, parents or caretakers often
encounter difficulty finding employment which harms their children's
educational prospects. In addition, data compiled by the Vera Institute
of Justice shows that 16 percent of trans-identified adults have been
incarcerated, compared to 2.7 percent of cisgender adults.(13) Compound-
ing these effects with housing discrimination based on criminal and
legal history harms people of color, children, families, and communi-
ties. Adding criminal legal system involvement as a protected character-
istic will give New York residents who served their time access to fair
and safer housing.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.
(1) 
HOUSING AS A SAFETY NET (URBAN.ORG)
(2)  
LINKING HOUSING AND HEALTH CARE WORKS FOR CHRONICALLY HOMELESS
PERSONS / HUD USER
(3) Housing Up (August 2022), THE UNDENIABLE LINK BETWEEN INCARCERATION
& HOMELESSNESS. Urban Institute (2022), Five Charts That Explain the
Homelessness-Jail Cycle-and How to Break It.
(4) Institute (May 11, 2017), The Vera Institute of Justice, "Incarcera-
tion Trends in New York"
(5) Lucius Couloute, Nowhere to go: Homelessness among formerly incar-
cerated people, Prison Policy Initiative (Aug. 1, 2018).
(6) Sarah Damaske, Jennifer L. Bratter & Adrianne Frech, Single Mother
Families and Employment, Race, and Poverty in Changing Economic Times,
Soc. Sci. Res. (Feb. 2018); see also Valerie Wilson, African American
women stand out as working moms play a larger economic role in families,
Economic Policy
(7) Cunningham, Mary K., and Graham MacDonald. 2012. "Housing as a Plat-
form for Improving Education Outcomes among Low-Income Children." Wash-
ington, DC: Urban Institute
(8)  
PROMOTING MENTAL HEALTH THROUGH HOUSING STABILITY / HUD USER
(9) Richard P. Seiter & Karen R. Kadela, Prisoner Reentry: What Works,
What Does Not, and What Is Promising, Crime & Delinquency (Jul. 1,
2003).
(10) For instance, the cost for New York City to incarcerate a person
for one (1) year was $556,539 in 2021, according to a Dec. 6, 2021 press
release by the New York City Comptroller.
(11)  
TENANT SCREENING. WITH CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS: PREDICTIONS AND
PERCEPTIONS ARC NOT CAUSALITY
(12)  
LIMITS OF RECIDIVISM, P. 86
(13(https://www.vera.orginews/gender-and-justice-in-america/
transgender-people-at-higher-risk-for-justicesystem-involvement

Statutes affected:
S3251: 292 executive law, 296 executive law, 296(5) executive law