Committee Statement to Assembly No. 3956 - Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Committee (May 7, 2020)

Summary

Statement to Assembly, No. 3956, with committee amendments, dated May 7, 2020, in which the Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Committee of the State of New Jersey reports Assembly Bill No. 3956 favorably. As amended, the bill establishes a temporary emergency rental assistance program for residential tenants who have suffered an income loss due to the COVID-19 crisis and appropriates $100 million. It directs the Commissioner of Community Affairs to implement the program along the lines of the Homelessness Prevention Program, including aid to medium-income tenants and to tenants before they face eviction. The statement says the bill is identical to Senate Bill No. 2332 and that the committee amendments address uncommitted, unexpended CDBG-DR funds.

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ASSEMBLY COMMERCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
                COMMITTEE

                          STATEMENT TO

                     ASSEMBLY, No. 3956
                         with committee amendments



       STATE OF NEW JERSEY
                             DATED: MAY 7, 2020

          The Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Committee
      reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Bill No.
      3956.
          This bill, as amended by the committee, establishes a temporary
      emergency rental assistance program for residential tenants who have
      suffered an income loss due to the COVID-19 crisis. The bill, as
      amended, appropriates $100 million to provide rental assistance to
      tenants across the State.
          The bill, as amended, directs the Commissioner of Community
      Affairs to implement this program along the lines of the Homelessness
      Prevention Program, (HPP), however, for the purpose of this new
      program, the bill requires the commissioner to modify current HPP
      rules and guidelines in several ways in order to address the needs of
      tenants who are in difficult financial circumstances because of the
      COVID-19 crisis. Notably, the bill directs the commissioner to
      modify current HPP rules so to provide rental assistance to tenants
      before they face eviction, and so to provide rental assistance to tenants
      of medium-income (in addition to tenants of low- and moderate-
      income). Medium-income refers to persons and households with
      greater than 80 percent of Area Median Income (AMI) and up to 120
      percent of AMI.
          The bill, as amended, directs the Commissioner of Community
      Affairs to distribute an amount of program funds for each county and
      applicant based, in part, on the fair market rents in each county,
      according to the most recent fair market rents published by the U.S.
      Department of Housing and Urban Development. Under the bill, the
      commissioner would provide funds to each HPP agency to be used
      exclusively for providing emergency rental assistance payments for
      eligible tenants. However, for the purposes of this program, the bill
      authorizes the commissioner to designate an additional agency or
      agencies to process applications and disburse emergency rental
      assistance payments in more populated, and more densely populated
      counties.
          The program would pay certain amounts of rent due and owing on
      behalf of tenants who: 1) are at least 30 days past due on a rent
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payment; 2) are unable to pay rent without assistance; and 3) have
suffered a demonstrable loss in income due to the COVID-19 crisis.
    The bill, as amended, directs HPP agencies to verify with the
landlord the amount of rent due and owing before disbursing program
funds, and requires landlords to cooperate with and respond to
inquiries from a HPP Agency. Upon verification of the amount of rent
due and owing, and a determination that an application satisfies all
program requirements, a HPP Agency would disburse a payment of
program funds, to the extent funds are available, directly to the
landlord on the tenant’s behalf and provide a copy of the disbursement
directly to the tenant.
    The bill, as amended, directs the Commissioner of Community
Affairs to:
     expeditiously seek federal government approval for a
        substantial action plan amendment to reallocate
        uncommitted, unexpended Community Development Block
        Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds to the “2020
        New Jersey Emergency Rental Assistance Program,” and
     identify amounts of federal government assistance provided
        to this State with regard to the Coronavirus disease 2019
        which may be available for the purposes of this program and
        allocate those amounts to this program.
    The bill, as amended, specifies that the $100 million being credited
to the “2020 New Jersey Emergency Rental Assistance Program” shall
be funded first from assistance provided from the federal government,
to the extent not prohibited by federal law, which shall include
uncommitted, unexpended CDBG-DR funds reallocated under the bill
to the “2020 New Jersey Emergency Rental Assistance Program,” and
that the remaining amounts necessary to fund this program are
appropriated from the General Fund.
    The bill takes effect immediately. The program would expire upon
the completion of processing of all applications for assistance
submitted on or prior to the 90th day next following the end of the
eviction moratorium ordered by the Governor pursuant to Executive
Order No. 106 (2020) or modified by the Governor in a subsequent
executive order.
    As reported by the committee, this bill is identical to Senate Bill
No. 2332, which was also amended and reported by the committee on
this date.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:
    The committee amendments provide that the bill’s direction to first
fund the “2020 New Jersey Emergency Rental Assistance Program”
from assistance provided from the federal government includes
uncommitted, unexpended CDBG-DR funds reallocated under the bill
to the “2020 New Jersey Emergency Rental Assistance Program.”


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