Due to Mr. Trump’s and Mitch McConnell’s grudge against states and municipalities, budgets of those who are on the frontline have been decimated. Local officials simply do not have the resources they need to support rental assistance programs beginning in January and the federal government has shamefully failed to address the problem.
Every dollar that states and municipalities redirect to deal with the looming eviction cliff during a pandemic is a dollar they have to take out of already underfunded classrooms or from patients who need subsidized life-saving prescription drugs.
The argument for allowing renters to keep their homes and supporting landlords isn’t just a moral one, it’s one of fiscal responsibility and solvency.
The State of Nevada has been one of the hardest hit states during COVID-19. Hospitality workers have faced the largest unemployment of any group since March. A new state moratorium only delays mass evictions in Nevada until March 31, 2021, and it’s estimated that as many as 400,000 Nevadas could ultimately be evicted.
Working families desperately need help, and they need action right now. Inaction from Congress is inexcusable. If Congress doesn’t fund a comprehensive eviction moratorium with associated rental and mortgage assistance, they will force states to bear the expense of an increasingly unstable workforce, economy, and public health situation.
A comprehensive federal solution on housing and evictions needs to be included in the next COVID-19 stimulus package before the end of the year. This package needs to:
- Extend the CDC moratorium on evictions until we get the virus under control
- Remove loopholes that predatory landlords have been using to process evictions during the pandemic
- Provide significant financial support to State and local rental assistance programs to keep them operational past January 1st
- Ensure that all funding for rental assistance can be quickly and easily accessed by people who need it.
It’s important that any solution enacted to address evictions during COVID-19 isn’t just simply an extension of the moratorium, since that does nothing to get people out of debt or to stimulate the economy. Any moratorium must be supported with additional funding to state and municipal rental assistance programs and this problem must be funded nationally.
We have an obligation to do everything we can to protect workers and our families. We know that we’ll make it through this crisis eventually, but the trajectory of our recovery and number of families who don’t recover comes down to this decision.
If we continue to not prioritize housing and rental assistance, our economic recovery will be more drawn out. Essential programs and services will continue to be subject to local budgetary constraints, while more Nevadans will get sick and die from this virus.
We deserve better than that, we need Congress to get to work.