The state Senate Tuesday approved a brand-new rent-based entitlement for another protected class — folks with HIV/AIDS who qualify for housing assistance.

Not smart.

The bill caps the amount of rent clients of the New York City HIV/AIDS Services Administration must pay for subsidized housing at 30 percent of their monthly income.

Albany and City Hall will subsidize the difference — an estimated $31 million hit between them. Not surprisingly, the Bloomberg administration insists that Gov. Paterson veto the bill when it arrives on his desk.

As well he should.

The city’s share alone is enough to fully fund 10 fire companies — or hire 200 new teachers.

Not only is passing this law reckless, given the constraints of the current fiscal reality, it also undermines the spirit of welfare reform:

* No one else on public assistance receives this income-cap rental benefit.

* And, for the first time ever, a medical condition — instead of economic circumstances — is the deciding factor in calculating a housing subsidy.

Is that the direction New York should be heading? We don’t think so.