Testimony: Fully Fund the City Commission on Human Rights to Fight Discrimination in Housing and Workplace
Hilary WilsonDebipriya ChatterjeeJennifer Hinojosa
Delivered at the Preliminary Budget Hearing on the FY 2026 Budget for the NYC Council Committee on Civil and Human Rights
Thank you to Chair Williams and to the committee members for this opportunity to testify today. Our names are Hilary Wilson, Debipriya Chatterjee, and Jennifer Hinojos and we are policy analysts at the Community Service Society of New York (CSS). CSS uses research, advocacy, and direct services to increase economic opportunity for low-income New Yorkers. CSS has long championed policies that expand access to affordable housing and promote fairness in the labor market. In recent years, we have worked alongside our allies to increase funding for CityFHEPS housing vouchers and to pass the city’s salary range transparency law. These policies promote housing security by combating “source of income” discrimination and help close gender- and race-based inequities wage gaps. However, their success depends on strong enforcement by the City Commission on Human Rights (CCHR).
Thus, today, we urge the City Council and the City administration to adequately fund and staff the Commission at the levels necessary to ensure effective and efficient enforcement of city laws.
Source of Income Discrimination
CSS and its partners have been at the forefront of the fight to expand the availability of and access to the city’s primary voucher program, CityFHEPS. In a city with 86,900 individuals in homeless shelters—nearly 31,100 of them children—CityFHEPS is a powerful tool that can help shelter residents find permanent housing. Since its inception in 2019, the program has gradually grown, helping 13,400 voucher holders secure permanent housing in 2024. But obtaining and using a CityFHEPS voucher remains an arduous process, requiring the voucher holder to navigate bureaucratic hurdles and a severe shortage of affordable housing. Even after overcoming these challenges, when voucher holders finally find a residence that meets all the program requirements, they are often “ghosted” by real estate agents or landlords who are disinclined to have tenants that pay rent using a voucher.
This is an illegal yet pervasive practice, known as source of income discrimination. Our in-depth report published jointly with Unlock NYC, a non-profit tracking instances of source of income (SOI) discrimination, shows that besides “ghosting,” where the leasing representative goes unresponsive, and outright denying voucher holders, landlords often use proxy tactics such as steering voucher holders to high-crime neighborhoods or demanding unrealistically high credit score requirements. SOI discrimination delays voucher holders’ ability to access permanent housing, which they so urgently need and for which the City has rightfully dedicated a significant number of resources. Between 2023 and 2024, the number of SOI complaints have increased to 554 from 352—the highest levels recorded.
CCHR is chiefly responsible for combatting sources of income discrimination. While we applaud the administration for proposing an increase in the agency’s budget, the proposed staffing level is well below what it was before the pandemic. This is particularly concerning given the expansion of the CityFHEPS program over the past few years. We would like to underscore the fact that by short-staffing CCHR, the City is not saving money; rather, it increases costs by prolonging shelter stays and straining homeless assistance services for voucher holders encountering SOI discrimination.
Persistent Pay inequity
The Commission is also charged with oversight and enforcement of the city’s salary range transparency law. Since it went into effect in November 2022, compliance with the law has been almost universal, in part thanks to the enforcement actions taken by the Commission. While the gender and racial wage gaps still persist, with women in New York earning 78 cents for each dollar earned by non-Hispanic white men and women of color earning even less, the salary range transparency law has been hailed as a crucial first step in reducing inequities among new hires.
However, over the past two years, inquiries to the Commission have been on the rise while the number of complaints closed or mediated has declined. Again, this is due to ongoing funding and staffing shortages, particularly a shortage of staff attorneys.
CSS is now advocating for amendments included in Intro 808 which would strengthen the salary range transparency law. These amendments are vital to ensuring that the salary transparency law can be effective and that all New Yorkers are paid fairly. Their successful implementation will require that CCHR is sufficiently resourced.
At a time when human rights and civil liberties are under attack, the city must demonstrate its commitment to upholding the rule of law. That means fully and adequately funding CCHR.
Thank you again for this opportunity. If you have any questions, please contact Hilary Wilson at hwilson@cssny.org.