U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown
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As the U.S. Senate reconvenes today, Ohio Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown took to Twitter to announce a bill that would provide $100 billion in emergency rental assistance.
“The last thing we want during a public health crisis is people being forced out of their homes and onto the street,” Senator Brown said in a tweet.
Titled “Emergency Rental Assistance and Rental Market Stabilization Act,” the proposal pairs with a bill in the House of Representatives, which Representatives Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Denny Heck (D-WA) are sponsoring. The suggested legislation is also advocated for by the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
The bill directs the Department of Housing and Urban Development to oversee the distribution of the $100 billion to low-income renter households, which, according to the NLIHC, spend more than a half of their income on housing costs.
Under the Emergency Rental Assistance Act, state and local governments, which can partner with housing agencies and community organizations to disperse the funds, will be able to provide housing relief for up to two years with the possibility to cover up to six months of back rent and late fees. The payments will be made directly to the property owner or housing provider on behalf of renters.
While the HUD secretary may amend the terms, the bill now states that rent assistance be capped at 120% of fair market rent. Some 40% of the allocated money should be used for households, whose income is only a third of the median income for their area. Households with income that amounts to a half of the median income will receive no less than 70% of the funds, while the remaining dollars can go to households earning up to 80% of the area median income.
Two percent of the funds will benefit Native American tribes and Native Hawaiians.
Meanwhile, 25% of the money each community receives can be utilized to cover relocation expenses, incurred after March 27, such as security deposits, application fees and utilities.
If the bill becomes law, HUD will have to allocate $50 million to states and communities within a week, heeding the financial postulates of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants, which provide homeless assistance. The other half of the money is to be distributed within 45 days of the law’s enactment based on the needs of extremely low- and very low-income renters as well as the economic disruptions caused by the coronavirus.
Senator Brown’s announcement comes as Congress begins to mull further financial stimulus for the country’s economy, which for about two months now has been shackled and shuttered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the House, Representatives Waters and Heck’s plan for rent relief has been endorsed by nearly 70 co-sponsors, according to the NLIHC.
“Housing is the single largest expense for most American families,” said Representative Heck in a press release announcing the House bill in March. “By a longshot. Right now, those same families are facing job loss, struggling with child care, and dealing with other unprecedented financial burdens stemming from the global COVID-19 crisis – and many are unable to make next month’s rent. We have to get meaningful help to them as soon as we possibly can.
Other bills that center on alleviating housing costs amid the pandemic include Representative Ilhan Omar’s (D-M.N.) proposal to cancel rent and mortgage payments for the duration of the health crisis.