On our most recent (December 13) national call on “HoUSed: Universal, Stable, and Affordable Housing,” we discussed the outlook for the “Build Back Better Act” and how advocates can continue their push to get the bill enacted, shared findings from a survey on COVID-related evictions and received updates from the field.
NLIHC’s Sarah Saadian provided updates from Capitol Hill and next steps on enacting the Build Back Better Act. Jen Butler, NLIHC’s senior director of media relations and communications, shared a #BuildBackBetter Advocacy Toolkit that includes talking points, sample op-eds, and social media messages advocates can use. NLIHC, along with the Coalition on Human Needs and other advocacy organizations, participated in a Digital Day of Action on December 17 to urge senators to pass the Build Back Better Act and its unprecedented investments in housing vouchers, public housing, and the national Housing Trust Fund.
Deborah Thrope and Natalie Maxwell from the National Housing Law Project (NHLP) presented findings from NHLP’s survey of legal aid attorneys about the prevalence of evictions during COVID-19. Respondents reported landlords were still able to get around eviction moratoriums and there were inadequate enforcement measures in place to ensure tenants behind on rent due to COVID-19 were able to remain safely housed. Read NHLP’s survey results and their policy recommendations here.
NLIHC’s Emma Foley gave updates on the Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) Treasury Dashboard and the new ERA2 Thermometer, which tracts how much ERA1 and ERA2 funding has been obligated or expended nationally. NLIHC recently sent a letter to Treasury asking them to release demographic and other key applicant data on ERA distribution so that state and local programs can improve local distribution of aid (see Memo, 12/13).
Charlie Harak and Anna Kowanko of the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) discussed their research on utility arrearages in Massachusetts, where over 800,000 residents reported being behind on their utility bills when the state’s moratorium on utility shutoffs ended on July 1. Since then, over 7,000 customers – primarily people of color – have had their utility services terminated, despite the availability of millions of dollars in federal assistance. The researchers recommended that ERA programs partner with utility companies to use available datasets to quickly identify customers in need of assistance and distribute funds.
Adrienne Spinner of the North Carolina Housing Coalition provided updates on the budget process in North Carolina’s state assembly. Sofia Karami from New Jersey Citizen Action discussed how her program is monitoring the Housing Choice Voucher program to ensure equitable treatment of voucher holders and testing for discrimination within Section 8 housing.
NLIHC hosts national calls every week. Our next call will be today, December 20, at 2:30 pm ET. Register for the call at: https://tinyurl.com/ru73qan
Watch a recording of the December 13 call at: https://bit.ly/3yrdquQ
View presentation slides at: https://bit.ly/3F0u8ng