Access to Essential Services & Legal Protections for Vulnerable New Yorkers | 2026 NYS Legislative Agenda
Provide Internet Access to Individuals Living in Temporary Housing Throughout New York State to Ensure Adequate Access to Services
Reliable internet access is essential to secure housing, employment, education, healthcare, and legal services. Yet many individuals living in temporary housing lack connectivity. The City Bar supports legislation guaranteeing internet access in shelters statewide, building on years of advocacy through the Wifi4Homeless campaign. Ensuring internet access in shelters would shorten shelter stays, improve access to vital services, and reduce strain on courts and other systems.
Safeguard Vulnerable New Yorkers’ Valuables
Self-storage lien sales disproportionately harm homeless New Yorkers—especially those receiving public assistance—who often face eviction of personal belongings while awaiting storage aid or appealing denials. “Shavon’s Law” would introduce critical procedural protections for occupants, pausing lien enforcement whenever there is evidence of pending storage assistance requests or fair hearings.
The City Bar’s proposed legislation mandates clear notifications in occupancy agreements, prohibits auctions when a storage assistance application is pending or on appeal, requires storage facility owners to notify social services agencies alongside occupants of any auction, and institutes a written certification requirement: when notified of a schedule auction, the social services agency must certify whether a storage assistance application or appeal is pending. Failure by agencies to certify in ten days of notice of auction shifts storage expenses to the agency. A private right of action allows occupants to enforce the prohibition on auctions when a storage assistance payment is pending or on appeal. By embedding due process and accountability into the lien enforcement framework, “Shavon’s Law” ensures that New Yorkers on public assistance do not lose essential personal property while seeking rightful public assistance benefits. *City Bar Proposal*
– New for 2026 –
Support New York’s Nonprofit Organizations
New York’s nonprofit sector—responsible for delivering critical state-directed ‑services such as legal assistance, mental health care, homeless services, early childhood education, and more—is being destabilized by chronic delays, inefficiencies, and inconsistencies in the state contracting and reimbursement process. The significant delays in payments to legal services providers are jeopardizing their ability to provide critical services to vulnerable populations. These legal services providers, which assist with eviction defense, immigration issues, and related social services, are facing financial difficulties due to late payments, threatening their operations and the stability of their services. The delays have led to staff layoffs, reduced services, and even the potential closure of programs. Surveys indicate that a significant portion of nonprofits are currently owed substantial funds for work already completed, and a growing majority fear they may be unable to meet basic operating needs in the coming year. To protect the continuity of vital services vulnerable New Yorkers rely on, systemic reforms are urgently needed to standardize contracting across agencies, ensure timely renewals and payments, provide upfront contract advances, and guarantee that the state reimburses the full cost of delivering services—including overhead—so nonprofits can operate as true partners rather than bear the financial burden of the state’s delays.