NEW YORK, NY – With today’s passage of the Fiscal Year 2027 Budget, which includes a historic agreement to expand rental assistance and end the CityFHEPS litigation, NYC Council Member Pierina Sanchez, Chair of the Committee on Housing and Buildings and lead sponsor of the contested Local Laws 101 and 102 of 2023, shared the following: 

“Today’s FY27 budget passage represents a historic win for vulnerable New Yorkers: expanding access to housing vouchers responsibly, controlling costs, and putting the City on a stronger path away from costly shelter reliance and toward permanent homes. 

“With a cumulative $300 million committed across the FY27 and FY28 City Budgets, we will deliver relief to tens of thousands of New Yorkers.  

“I am deeply grateful to Speaker Julie Menin for holding the line, to my colleagues on the Progressive Caucus for uplifting this priority, to the Homes Can’t Wait Coalition for refusing to give up on the New Yorkers they represent, and to Mayor Mamdani for staying at the table and reaching this agreement.

“Today marks a turning point—but there is more work to be done. We can and must meet the urgency of the crisis while demanding better governance, stronger oversight, and real accountability.”

BACKGROUND 

The CityFHEPS (City Fighting Homelessness and Eviction Prevention Supplement) housing voucher program was first created in 2018 to prevent evictions and serve as a pathway to stable housing for those living in shelter. 

In 2023, the City Council passed a package of legislation that would expand the CityFHEPS program. The former Mayor vetoed the bills; the Council overrode his veto. And when the Administration refused to implement the duly enacted Local Laws, the Council and Legal Aid Society took them to court. 

As a result, CityFHEPS expansion remained stuck in a two-year legal battle—until now. Through this historic agreement, the Council is enacting legislation to recodify the expansion intended in 2023 and passing a budget that will fund its implementation.

Int. 966 establishes a new rental assistance program for New Yorkers facing imminent eviction, and those living in shelter who were previously excluded from the CityFHEPS program.  

This legislation is advancing as a component of the settlement between the City Council, the Legal Aid Society, and the Mamdani Administration, who agreed to withdraw its appeal upon enactment of the local law.  

The legislation preserves key goals of the 2023 CityFHEPS Reform Laws: to keep New Yorkers facing eviction in their homes, and to remove arbitrary eligibility barriers for New Yorkers living in shelter. 

KEY COMPONENTS OF THE AGREEMENT 

  • The Mamdani Administration is withdrawing its appeal, ending more than two years of litigation. 
  • The Council legislation expands housing voucher eligibility for both New Yorkers at risk of eviction and those living in shelter — including runaway and homeless youth, those displaced by a fire or other City vacate orders, and justice-involved individuals. 
  • None of the newly eligible New Yorkers will be subject to a work requirement. 
  • The legislation creates a pathway for further expansion of eligibility in future fiscal years. 
  • To ensure fair distribution of the available vouchers, funding will be evenly allocated between in-shelter vouchers and in-community vouchers each fiscal year.
  • The FY27 Adopted Budget includes $175M exclusively for implementation of the expansion. Starting with the Mayor’s FY28 Executive Budget Plan, a minimum of $125M will be baselined.

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