Housing should be seen by New York State as a fundamental human right. All people deserve safe, healthy housing they can afford in the community where they want to live. Unfortunately, for far too many people in Cortland and Tompkins Counties, this is a dream and not a reality.

In the 125th Assembly District we face a diverse set of housing challenges in each of our unique communities. Rural towns and hamlets, walkable villages, and the cities of Cortland and Ithaca each struggle with different housing issues that must be addressed. In the City of Ithaca, there is a historically low vacancy rate creating an unstable market with high housing prices and rents, insufficient housing of all housing types (affordable, senior, homeowner occupied, student, and rental), and an aging housing stock. In the City of Cortland, there is a shortage of affordable housing and an aging housing stock, which makes maintenance a concern for many households. Rural areas in the 125th have higher levels of homeownership but many homeowners struggle with low quality housing and housing costs that they cannot afford – especially when factoring in the cost of transportation to a job or necessary services, like a grocery store, doctor’s office, or school.  

As the chair of the Tompkins County Legislature’s Housing and Economic Development Committee and as a member of the Community Housing Development Fund, Anna worked collaboratively with community partners for years to promote mixed-income housing developments and increase local development of permanently affordable housing.  In her first two terms as a Member of the Assembly, she has consistently pushed for the sustainable construction of affordable housing as well as, and just as importantly, expanded rights for renters across New York State. While it is important to increase the number of homes available for rent, it is absolutely critical that tenants gain common sense protections from predatory rent increases and evictions without good cause.

Tenant Protection

• Support tenants’ organizations, formed to establish community and improve conditions in rental properties, by formally defining standards for their development and practice in law and the rights provided to them (A7057, Kelles)

Increased Housing Availability

• Allow local zoning boards to approve affordable housing development, and create a State zoning board of appeals within the existing office of New York State Homes and Community Renewal (A3111, Kelles)

• Prohibit the use of exclusionary zoning practices, which restrict lower income families and individuals access to affordable housing (A5700, Kelles)

• Develop effective safety and design codes for single stair buildings outside of New York City, which allow for larger, more affordably priced rooms in apartment buildings (A7322, Kelles)

Repair and reinvigorate existing housing: The best investments are in housing that already exists. Don’t allow deterioration to become the only path to affordability!

• Expand programs to repair substandard housing, to improve safety and accessibility

• Invest in energy efficiency, to improve long-term affordability while reducing greenhouse gas emissions

• Create a solution to the “split incentive,” so that efficiency improvements benefit renters who pay monthly utility bills, but owners, making a long-term investment in their own property, pay for those improvements.

Stop Displacement

• Support the Fair Housing Law and enforce the Prohibition of Source of Income Discrimination.

• Good Cause Eviction: Build more housing in walkable mixed use communities while also protecting the people who are already there from displacement and eviction without reason.

Create and Support Programs for Rental and Homeowner Assistance

• Fund a Housing Access Voucher program, to enable individuals and families to transition out of shelters or unsustainable housing situations into stable housing

• Boost funding for the Homeowner Protection Program and first time homeowner program 

State support is needed to encourage more housing construction:

• Promote public-private partnerships, such as the Community Housing Development Fund that establishes a partnership between Tompkins County, the City of Ithaca, and Cornell University. 

• Prioritize transportation-efficient locations, with a mix of housing types and uses.

• Encourage zoning that makes it easier to build affordably and in the right places. 

• Fund mixed income publicly owned housing in communities with housing shortages.

• Increase funding for supportive housing for populations with special needs.