Kathy Hochul’s State of the State summary
Governor Hochul recently delivered her State of the State Address, laying out her priorities for the 2024 State Legislative Session. As the Governor prepares to formalize her Executive Budget proposal later this month, the Real Estate Board of New York will continue to monitor activity related to any proposals that may affect the real estate industry.
As expected, the Governor’s remarks covered several issues. Below are some of the key highlights impacting the real estate industry:
HOUSING: The Governor again proposed several supply-side tools for New York City to address the severe housing shortage and affordability crisis. The proposals included:
an extension of the 421a completion deadline and a new tax tool for housing production that includes affordable housing requirements and wage standards for building service and construction workers;
providing the City of New York with flexibility to increase residential capacity by permitting local action that would allow greater residential density above the existing 12 FAR cap via rezoning; and
creating a tax incentive to facilitate affordable housing in commercial conversions.
The Governor also proposed funds to launch a new enforcement unit to resolve complaints of housing discrimination related to Section 8 vouchers, a ban on insurers refusing to cover or charging higher premiums to affordable housing, an examination of the state environmental review process, a $500 million fund to support up to 15,000 new units of housing on State-owned sites, and funds for transitional and supportive housing initiatives.
PUBLIC SAFETY/QUALITY OF LIFE: Several proposals of interest include providing more authority to officials to close unlicensed cannabis storefronts and addressing organized retail theft. The Governor also put forward new initiatives to support those with mental illness by opening new psychiatric inpatient beds, increasing transitional and specialized housing, funding crisis intervention training, and expanding mental health court and related specialists. The Governor indicated that she will advance legislation to ban sales of lithium-ion batteries that do not meet minimum safety standards.
SUSTAINABILITY: To further the State’s climate and resiliency plans, the Governor proposed legislation to transition buildings away from natural gas by eliminating rules that enable the expansion of natural gas systems, speeding up environmental review, and permitting of major renewable energy and transmission facilities, a “Blue Buffers” program to facilitate voluntary buyouts in communities most vulnerable to flooding, and planting 25 million trees over the next 10 years to help mitigate extreme heat.
PUBLIC TRANSIT INFRASTRUCTURE: The Governor called for an expansion of the Second Avenue Subway along 125th Street to Broadway to facilitate connections between the east and west sidelines, along with proceeding with the next phase of work for the Interborough Express (IBX), with the MTA initiating the formal design and engineering of the project.
SUPPORT FOR WORKING FAMILIES: The Governor proposed expanding access to childcare, establishing stronger protections against wage theft, and plans to institute the country’s first paid prenatal leave program.
In response to the Governor's State of the State address, The Real Estate Board of New York’s President James Whelan said: “Governor Hochul is to be commended for once again putting forth proposals to spur much-needed rental housing production.”
To read the full book, or watch the speech, click the links below.
Summary Courtesy of the Real Estate Board of New York
