New York S 4538: Establishes an affordable independent senior housing assistance program

Bill Text

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S04538 Summary:

BILL NOS04538 

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SAME ASSAME AS A02689

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SPONSORLIU

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COSPNSRCOMRIE, GIANARIS, HARCKHAM, HINCHEY, JACKSON, MAYER, SALAZAR, SEPULVEDA, SERRANO, STAVISKY, ZELLNER

&nbsp

MLTSPNSR

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Amd §94-b, Exec L

&nbsp

Enacts the building up immigrant legal defense or BUILD act to provide competitive workforce development and capacity building grants to eligible entities that are seeking to expand access to representation for individuals facing deportation by increasing the workforce and strengthening the legal services infrastructure needed to provide such representation.

Go to top S04538 Actions:

BILL NOS04538 

&nbsp

02/06/2025REFERRED TO FINANCE

01/07/2026REFERRED TO FINANCE

Go to topS04538 Committee&nbspVotes:

Go to topS04538 Floor&nbspVotes:

There are no Assembly votes for this bill in this legislative session.

Go to topS04538 Text:

 STATE OF NEW YORK
 ________________________________________________________________________

 4538

 2025-2026 Regular Sessions

 IN SENATE

 February 6, 2025
 ___________

 Introduced by Sen. LIU -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
 printed to be committed to the Committee on Finance

 AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to enacting the building
 up immigrant legal defense or BUILD act

 The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
 bly, do enact as follows:

 1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as
 2 the "building up immigrant legal defense act" or "BUILD act".
 3 § 2. Subdivision 5 of section 94-b of the executive law is amended by
 4 adding a new paragraph (q) to read as follows:
 5 (q) (i) Workforce development and capacity building grants. Beginning
 6 in two thousand twenty-five, within amounts appropriated therefor, award
 7 competitive workforce development and capacity building grants to eligi-
 8 ble entities that are seeking to expand access to representation for
 9 individuals facing deportation by increasing the workforce and strength-
 10 ening the legal services infrastructure needed to provide such represen-
 11 tation.
 12 (ii) Eligibility. To be eligible to receive a grant under this para-
 13 graph an entity shall be a community-based organization, nonprofit
 14 organization, or educational institution that currently receives funding
 15 from the office of new Americans which:
 16 (1) provides or coordinates immigration-related legal services to
 17 individuals facing deportation, or
 18 (2) recruits, trains, or mentors individuals who provide or coordi-
 19 nate, or who will provide or coordinate, immigration-related legal
 20 services to individuals facing deportation.
 21 (iii) Use of funds. Funds awarded under this paragraph shall be used
 22 only to develop immigration legal services infrastructure and a work-
 23 force scaled up to sustainably meet the changing immigration legal
 24 representation needs of noncitizen new Americans. Recipients may, for
 25 purposes authorized under this subdivision, use all or a portion of that

 EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
 [ ] is old law to be omitted.
 LBD04201-01-5

 S. 4538 2

 1 grant to contract with or make one or more subawards to one or more
 2 eligible entities, or with private organizations. Funds awarded under
 3 this section shall be used to enhance long-term capacity to provide
 4 high-quality, holistic, and linguistically appropriate legal represen-
 5 tation, regardless of the person's ability to pay, prior contact with
 6 the criminal legal system, or the nature or perceived strength of their
 7 legal defense. Such uses may include:
 8 (1) workforce recruitment and training programs such as educational,
 9 fellowship, clinical, job recruitment, and job training services aimed
 10 at:
 11 (A) increasing the number of lawyers, accredited representatives,
 12 social workers, and community navigators entering the immigration legal
 13 services field; and
 14 (B) diversifying the expertise of legal teams and promoting holistic
 15 services, including by integrating social workers and case managers into
 16 new and existing immigration legal programs;
 17 (2) technical assistance services, including, but not limited to:
 18 (A) substantive and technical skills-based trainings to improve the
 19 quality of r