NEW YORK (WBEN) — New York State lawmakers are scheduled to hold a special legislative session this week to vote on an extension to the state’s eviction moratorium.
Sources confirmed to WCBS 880’s Steve Burns that lawmakers will likely meet Wednesday to vote on an extension to the ban on evictions, which expires Aug. 31.
If approved, the moratorium will likely be extended through January 2022.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has been urged to extend the moratorium in recent weeks, especially after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Biden administration’s temporary federal ban on evictions.
On Friday, she announced that she was in talks with the New York State Senate Majority Leader and Assembly Speaker to call a special session to address the “impending eviction crisis.”
In the meantime, New York has been working since the spring to dole out more than $2.4 billion to provide up to 12 months of past-due rent directly to landlords on behalf of eligible low- and moderate-income renters.
The program, however, got off to a slow start and as of last Monday, the state had only distributed $200 million to 15,500 households.
Another $600 million worth of aid has been approved based on applications from tenants but, has not been distributed.
On her first day in office, Gov. Hochul said she wanted the cash to go out faster “with no more excuses and delays.”
It remains unclear if she has taken any steps to do so, but she did promise to hire more staff if necessary and to assemble teams to identify and remove barriers that have stalled the release of funds.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)