N.Y. State Finance Law § 80-a: Anti-discrimination in housing fund

§ 80-a. Anti-discrimination in housing fund. 1. There is hereby

established in the custody of the state comptroller a special fund to be

known as the "anti-discrimination in housing fund".

2. The anti-discrimination in housing fund shall consist of moneys

appropriated thereto, moneys transferred from any other fund or sources,

fifty percent of all fines and forfeitures collected pursuant to

subdivision one of section one hundred sixty-u of the executive law, and

fifty percent of all fines and forfeitures collected pursuant to

paragraph (a) of subdivision one of section four hundred forty-one-c of

the real property law. Nothing contained in this section shall prevent

the state from receiving grants, gifts or bequests for the purposes of

the fund as defined in this section and depositing them into the fund

according to law.

3. The moneys in the anti-discrimination in housing fund shall be kept

separate from and shall not be commingled with any other moneys in the

custody of the state comptroller. Such moneys shall be made available to

the office of the attorney general, for programs assisting with fair

housing compliance, which includes, but is not limited to, fair housing

testing, outreach and education on fair housing protections, addressing

and investigating fair housing allegations and complaints, and

addressing discrimination in appraisals, including new appraisals and

appraisal review, through allocation of grants to duly applying county,

city, town or village human rights commissions, or other duly applying

county, city, town, village or not-for-profit entities specializing in

the prevention of unlawful discrimination in housing, to detect unlawful

discrimination in housing.

4. The attorney general shall establish the application criteria and

qualifications for the entities for the purposes of the fund as defined

in subdivision three of this section that will conduct testing. The

attorney general may enter into contracts with such qualified fair

housing entities which may thereafter be renewed, extended or succeeded

by new contracts from year to year in the discretion of the attorney

general.

5. The monies shall be payable from the fund on the audit and warrant

of the comptroller on vouchers approved and certified by the attorney

general.

6. No later than the fifteenth day of January of each year the

attorney general shall report to the governor, the temporary president

of the senate and the speaker of the assembly on activities undertaken

by the attorney general and any grantee pursuant to this section in the

preceding year. The report shall include, but not be limited to, the

current amount of funds available as well as the amount of money granted

to any entity that will conduct testing to detect unlawful

discrimination in housing for the purposes identified in this section.

Results, data, findings, and other relevant information existing,

collected, detected, modified or developed by the attorney general or

grantee under this section shall be provided in such annual report

following the completion of the obligations in the contract.