What's happening
This bill requires New York to conduct a biennial study calculating the income families need to meet basic needs without assistance.
Why it matters
Provides a more accurate benchmark for economic security. By calculating what families actually need to cover basic living expenses—accounting for local costs, family composition, and taxes—this study goes beyond outdated or oversimplified poverty metrics, helping policymakers understand the real challenges New Yorkers face.
Influences policy and resource allocation. The self-sufficiency standard can be used to evaluate anti-poverty programs, direct workforce development efforts, and guide investments in education, job training, and economic development, ensuring these initiatives are better targeted and more effective.
Promotes transparency and accountability. By requiring a third-party expert to conduct the analysis using reliable and standardized data, and by mandating regular public reporting, the bill aims to keep government and policymakers accountable for addressing gaps between income and basic living costs.
Empowers families and advocates. The study supports the development of public tools (like budget calculators) and counseling resources, enabling families and service providers to make informed decisions about employment, education, and the use of public/private supports to achieve economic independence.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Study Real Cost of Living
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
2 Co-sponsors
History
- Reported referred to ways and means
- Print number 339a
- Amend and recommit to social services
- Referred to social services
- Referred to social services
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Study Cost of Living Needs
In Senate Committee · Finance · Sponsor Roxanne J. Persaud
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
339--A
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY (Prefiled)
January 9, 2019
Introduced by M. of A. JOYNER, CRESPO, BARRON -- read once and referred to the Committee on Social Services -- recommitted to the Committee on Social Services in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to the creation of a self-sufficiency standard study
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The social services law is amended by adding a new section 131-bb to read as follows:
§ 131-bb. Self-sufficiency standard study. 1. (a) A self-sufficiency standard measures how much income is needed for a family of a given composition in a given geographic location to adequately meet its basic needs without public or private assistance.
(b) A self-sufficiency standard is a tool that can be used to: (i) create a benchmark for measuring the effectiveness of anti-poverty programs and policies; (ii) determine effective ways to allocate resources that will lead to economic development that results in living wage jobs; (iii) target the development of training and industries that result in higher-wage jobs for New Yorkers; (iv) enhance education, job training, and skills development programs; (v) counsel clients transitioning from welfare and unemployment, through workforce development programs and education and training, into self-sufficiency wage jobs; and (vi) enhance online "budget calculator" tools that enable users to strategize combinations of public and private supports and subsidies, with training and education, and/or employment, to increase income and economic security.
2. The department of labor shall contract with a third party, that meets the requirements in subdivision four of this section, for the
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00051-03-0
A. 339--A 2
collection and analysis of data that results in the calculation of basic needs budgets.
3. Calculation of standard of basic needs budgets. (a) Standards of basic needs budgets shall (i) measure the necessary income required to maintain self-sufficiency without additional public or private support; (ii) account for family size and composition; and (iii) utilize, to the extent such information is available, the most up to date costs of basic needs, including but not limited to housing, food, transportation, health care, and child care, as well as taxes and tax credits, including local, state and federal taxes and tax credits.
(b) In calculating the standard of basic needs budget, the contractor shall utilize, to the extent practicable, data that is nationally standardized, calculated annually, and from reliable government or academic/scholarly sources, such as the United States census bureau, United States department of housing and urban development, or any other data reported to state and federal agencies using standardized methodology. These budgets should be varied geographically, by county, and data permitting, sub-county areas, for every region in the state.
4. Third-party contractor. To the extent practicable, the third party contractor shall have the following characteristics:
(a) at least twenty years' continuous experience in calculating a standard of basic needs budget, or substantially similar measurement, and related analyses;
(b) has performed such calculations for no fewer than thirty states, including New York state;
(c) can demonstrate a proven record of having produced such calculations and reports, within the budget and time constraints of previous contracts; and
(d) is located in or affiliated with a college or university and/or is managed by an individual or individuals with relevant skills, experience, and education that qualifies him or her to calculate the information required by this section.
5. The department of labor shall submit a report of the findings required in subdivisions two and three of this section to the governor, the speaker of the assembly and the temporary president of the senate, no later than September first, two thousand twenty-one and biennially thereafter.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the first of April next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
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