NY Housing Commissioner Pushes Back on Proposed Federal Cuts

At a budget hearing last week, Albany lawmakers focused on housing, which remains one of the biggest expenses for New Yorkers and plays a key role in the state's overall affordability.Governor Kathy Hochul's proposed 2025 budget continues her push to address the state's housing shortage by expanding efforts to build new housing units. This plan builds on existing initiatives while introducing new ones.The governor has allocated $500 million over the next two years to repurpose state-owned properties into 15,000 new housing units. Additionally, a new tax incentive is being proposed to help low- and middle-income families achieve homeownership by supporting homes built by nonprofits like Habitat for Humanity.However, as New York braces for reduced federal assistance due to planned cuts to national spending under the Trump administration, RuthAnne Visnauskas, Commissioner and CEO of the state Department of Homes and Community Renewal, emphasized that the state should not rely on its budget to fill gaps left by federal low-income housing programs.Visnauskas stressed that Governor Hochul, the state attorney general, and lawmakers must hold New York's congressional delegation accountable for maintaining funding for vital housing programs that have been supported by the federal government for decades.