Short-term rental bill fight, who Hochul's nominating to the Court of Claims

Plus: This Week in New York History

Good afternoon — it’s Monday, and National Egg Day.

MONDAY, JUNE 3, 2024

TODAY’S CAPCON:

• Lawmakers are making a last-ditch effort to regulate short-term rentals like Airbnb.

• Hochul has sent the Senate a list of 25 judicial nominees. Here’s who they are.

• Two more agency nominees cleared the Senate Finance Committee Monday.

• This Week in New York History.

🔨 Is Tomorrow a Session Day? Yes.

🌞 Tonight’s Weather: Albany: Mostly clear, high 50s. New York City: Partly cloudy, high 60s. (National Weather Service)

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Assemblywoman Pat Fahy (Will Waldon/Times Union)

🔑 Lawmakers are considering tighter short-term rental regulations. Airbnb is fighting it

🏠 The bill would impose new taxes on short-term rental units and hosts would have to register those units with the state.

A late-session effort to create a new set of rules and regulations for short-term rentals in New York has spurred a last-minute lobbying effort from Airbnb.

• If you don’t know what a short-term rental or Airbnb is, it’s where someone rents out their home, or part of it, to a guest in exchange for money.

The sponsors of the bill view it as another tool to chip away at the lack of affordable housing across New York by setting tighter rules for short-term rentals.

It would require owners of Airbnb units to register them with the state and regularly share data on those homes. It would also impose taxes on those units in the same way hotels are taxed. 

It echoes a local law in New York City that also required hosts to register units but came with a set of restrictions, like a cap on the number of people who can stay in a unit.

• This one doesn’t come with those restrictions.

The bill is sponsored by Assemblywoman Pat FAHY and Sen. Michelle HINCHEY, both Democrats.

• It passed the Senate last year around this time but has been stuck in the Housing Committee since January.

• But in the Assembly, it passed the Codes Committee last week. It’s now in Ways and Means.

Fahy and Hinchey said in a joint statement last week that they expected the bill to continue to move in both chambers and plan to rally Tuesday with local government leaders in support of it.

• The new taxes applied to short-term rentals would generate new revenue for those localities.

“We are pleased to see our short-term rental legislation pass out of the Assembly Codes Committee and on its way to a full vote on the Assembly and Senate floors,” they said. 

“Amidst a housing crisis, the proliferation of (short-term rentals) has driven up the cost of housing in communities outside NYC and across the nation, making many small cities, towns and villages unaffordable for residents,” they continued.

🏨 Airbnb is trying to kill the bill before it makes it to the floor of either chamber.

Lobbyists distributed a handout to members on the Assembly floor last week that made their case for opposing the bill.