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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Jonathan Eber, Program Officer of Public Policy & External Affairs at Enterprise Community Partners
3:51:29
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137 sec
Jonathan Eber from Enterprise Community Partners testifies in support of allocating at least $21 million to the Commission on Civil and Human Rights (CCHR) to address fair housing issues in New York City, particularly source of income discrimination. He emphasizes the importance of robust enforcement given federal rollbacks of fair housing protections.
- Highlights the pervasiveness of source of income discrimination despite existing laws
- Cites statistics showing concentration of voucher holders in low-income areas and difficulties in finding housing
- Calls for greater reporting transparency and exempting CCHR from future budget cuts (PEGs)
Jonathan Eber
3:51:29
Good afternoon.
3:51:30
My name is Jonathan Eber.
3:51:31
I'm a program officer at Enterprise Community Partners.
3:51:34
We are an affordable housing nonprofit nationwide, but I do state and local policy work in New York.
3:51:39
Thank you, Chair Williams, for the opportunity to testify today.
3:51:43
I join members of the Human Rights Law Working Group in calling for the council to allocate $21,000,000 at least $21,000,000 in this session to CCHR.
3:51:54
A well funded CCHR is really crucial to fulfilling New York's commitment to fair housing in New York.
3:52:01
In 2019, Enterprise co led a coalition to ban SOI discrimination statewide.
3:52:08
And in New York City, those laws have been on the books for even longer than that.
3:52:12
And yet it's still a very pervasive issue.
3:52:14
It's the second most common complaint type reported by CCHR.
3:52:19
Vouchers are really meant to give New Yorkers affordable housing choices and reduce segregation in New York, but they're failing to do so because of SOI discrimination.
3:52:29
Recent analysis by city limits found that cityfeps voucher holders are overwhelmingly concentrated in just a handful of zip codes and that the top 10 zip codes for voucher holders all had a median income below $40,000 Additional analysis by the NYU Furman Center found that in 2022 only 53% of NYCHA Section eight voucher holders found housing within the allotted one hundred and eighty days, which also just suggests discrimination as a major barrier.
3:52:58
It's a really crucial time executive actions in Washington are already rolling back fair housing protections, including HUD's AFFH rule, and they've slashed the fair housing initiatives program which provides non profits sort of supplemental doing supplemental work to CCHR's anti discrimination work cut those budgets.
3:53:16
So it all speaks to the need for adequate and robust enforcement.
3:53:20
Dollars 21,000,000 will help bring staffing levels back to pre pandemic levels and will also help invest in the mediation program at CCHR which can help quickly reduce the backlog of cases.
3:53:32
We also call for greater reporting transparency and that the council exempt CCHR from future pegs and the two for one allotment process similar to other public safety agencies.
3:53:44
Thanks very much for your time.