Pathways to Social Housing in New York: About
An explainer
Each of the twenty sections in Pathways to Social Housing includes a brief summary of what the policy is and how it would work. Additionally, each section includes a number of different categories, meant to clarify what it might take to make the policy a reality, what its impact would be, and how it interacts with other policies. We included these categories both as a way to ground each policy in political reality and as a way to provoke thought about what a comprehensive social housing transformation might look like.
Jurisdiction 
Local 
State 
Federal
In this category, we identify whether the policy would need to be enacted on the local, state, or federal levels (or at multiple levels). Identifying the correct jurisdiction is an important part of building a coalition, identifying campaign targets, and developing the support needed to pass a given policy.
Budget 
Capital 
Operating 
Revenue Positive 
Revenue Neutral
In this category, we identify whether the policy would require financial resources from the government to work, and if so, whether that budget should come from the public’s operating or capital budget (or both). By operating budget, we mean funds that are spent on an annual basis, like salaries for agency staff. By capital budget, we mean funds that are spent on a one-time basis, to do things like acquire property or develop infrastructure. Policies can also be budget neutral or even revenue positive, meaning that while they might require a shift in public priorities, there is no specific budgetary requirement for the policy to work.
Process 
Legislative 
Administrative 
Judicial
In this category, we identify whether the policy would need to be enacted through changes in legislation, administrative practice, or through judicial action. While most of the twenty policies in Pathways require legislation, it is important to identify when the major obstacle to enacting a policy is not passing a bill, but rather shifting the way that existing state agencies set their priorities in terms of who they lend to, which entities receive opportunities to own and develop housing, and more. In some places both legislation and administrative action are required, either to pass a law in one part of the state where another already exists or to improve existing policy.
Connections
In this category, we identify three other policies that connect to the policy under discussion. (Of course, all of these policies are connected in one way or another, but for consistency and brevity we have limited it to just three per policy). While each policy can have an impact on its own, they generally have the potential to be much more transformative when considered together with other policies.
Impact
In this category, we aim to provide a graphic or data-point to give a sense of the scale of properties or tenants that the policy might affect. Rather than categorizing some policies as having a larger or smaller impact than others, we show how each of the policies could have important ramifications for large numbers of New Yorkers and their housing.