A3990

An Act establishing the NJHousing Pilot Program to provide cash assistance to certain rent burdened households, supplementing Title 52, and making an appropriation.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. a. For the purposes of this section:

“Cash transfer” means a payment from the department to an enrolled household.

“Department” means the Department of Community Affairs.

“Enrolled household” means a qualified applicant who is selected for participation in the pilot program through the lottery conducted pursuant to subsection e. of this section, and enters into a cash transfer assistance agreement with the department.

“NJHousing cash transfer” means a sum of money, the amount of which shall be calculated by the department upon selection of a qualified applicant as an enrolled household in the pilot program, that shall be paid by the department to an enrolled household each month of the pilot program. The NJHousing cash transfer shall be in the form of cash payment and shall not be subject to any requirement or limitation on how an enrolled household spends the NJHousing cash transfer. The amount of a household’s NJHousing cash transfer shall be determined by the department pursuant to subsection f. of this section.

“Payment period” means the 24 month period during which the pilot program shall

“Pilot program” means the NJHousing Pilot Program administered by the department pursuant to subsection b. of this section.

“Qualified applicant” means a household for which a complete application meets the criteria established by the department pursuant to subsection d. of this section.

“Rent burden” means a household’s rent cost as a percent of household income.

b. There is established in the Department of Community Affairs a NJHousing Pilot Program for the purpose of providing assistance to support housing security among New Jersey renters at risk of eviction. The appropriation made to the department for the pilot program pursuant to section 2 of P.L. , c. (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall be used for the following purposes:

(1) up to $40,000 to the department for administrative costs;

(2) $20,000 for public outreach to solicit applications from New Jersey residents pursuant to subsection c. of this section;

(3) $10,000 for survey respondents pursuant to subsection g. of this section; and

(4) all remaining funds for cash transfers pursuant to subsection f. of this section.

c. On or before the first day of the fifth month next following the enactment of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), the department shall make available on the department’s Internet website an application portal for residents to apply for enrollment in the pilot program. The department shall additionally conduct a public outreach initiative to solicit applications. This outreach campaign shall include, but not be limited to: Internet advertisements; proliferation of pilot program information to local housing and human services agencies; and traditional advertisements. The department shall cease accepting applications on the first day of the sixth month next following the enactment of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

d. (1) The department shall establish criteria for pilot program eligibility. The department’s criteria shall consider: household income; risk of eviction; and rent burden. The department’s criteria may consider: history of eviction; risk of homelessness; number of dependent household members; and other criteria, as selected by the department.

(2) The department shall evaluate each submitted application for eligibility. The department shall enroll qualified applicants who meet the criteria for eligibility established by the department into the lottery pursuant to subsection e. of this section.

e. The department shall randomly select, by county and through lottery, a number of qualified applicants from each county that is proportional to the number of qualified applicants reside in each county. The department shall randomly select 300 qualified applicants to be enrolled households upon entering a cash transfer assistance agreement with the department.

f. (1) The department shall establish a formula for the amount of a household’s NJHousing cash transfer, which shall be calculated from the household’s rent burden and income.

(2) On the first day of the eighth month next following the enactment of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), the pilot program shall commence. On the first day of each month of the pilot program, the department shall provide each enrolled household with a NJHousing cash transfer.

(3) The pilot program shall conclude on the first day of the twenty-third month after the payment period begins.

g. At the conclusion of the pilot program, the department shall conduct a survey of enrolled households and qualified applicants who were not enrolled in the pilot program. Each survey respondent shall receive a cash payment for participation in the survey. The survey shall include information related to:

(1) household size;

(2) municipality and county of residence;

(3) household income;

(4) eviction filing history;

(5) housing quality;

(6) instance and reason of moving; and

(7) other information, as determined necessary by the department.

h. On or before the first day of the seventh month next following the conclusion of the pilot program, the department shall report to the Governor, and to the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1). The report shall include: the results of the pilot program; summary statistics describing the amount of NJHousing cash transfers; the sufficiency or insufficiency of funding appropriated for administrative costs and public outreach; and any other information the department deems appropriate. The department shall not make publicly available any survey data that is not aggregated in order to protect the identities and private information of survey respondents.

2. There is appropriated $6,550,000 from the General Fund to the Department of Community Affairs for the purpose of administering the NJHousing Pilot Program established pursuant to section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill). This appropriation shall be expended pursuant to section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

3. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill establishes the NJHousing pilot program (pilot program) to provide monthly cash transfers to selected households. The bill directs the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) to publish an application portal on the DCA’s Internet website and conduct a public outreach initiative to solicit applications. The bill directs the DCA to establish eligibility requirements and evaluate applications. Of the applicants who meet the eligibility requirements (qualified applicants) the department is required to randomly select 300 households, by county, for participation in the pilot program.

The pilot program would provide an NJHousing cash transfer to each selected household each month for 24 months. The amount of a household’s NJHousing cash transfer would be determined by the department based on the financial needs of the household. The NJHousing cash transfers would be subject to no requirement or limitation on how an enrolled household may spend it. At the conclusion of the pilot program, the DCA would be required to conduct a survey of recipient households and non-recipient qualified applicants. Survey respondents would receive a small cash payment for survey participation. The bill directs the DCA to report certain information concerning the efficacy and administration of the pilot program.

The bill would take effect immediately and establishes timeline requirements for stages of the pilot program. The bill appropriates $6.55 million for the NJHousing pilot program.