Bills
| 3.23.22

Should Congress Establish a $100 Billion Emergency Rental Assistance Fund for Renters Affected by COVID-19? (H.R. 7301)

Do you support or oppose this bill?

What is H.R. 7301?

(Updated March 19, 2021)

This bill — the Emergency Housing Protections and Relief Act of 2020 — would authorize the creation of a $100 billion emergency rental assistance fund to help families and individuals pay rent and utility bills during and after the COVID-19 pandemic (without providing appropriations to fund the new program). 

Renters could use the fund to receive help paying:

  • Future rent and utilities;
  • Unpaid rent and utilities that have accumulated; and
  • Other services, such as case management and tenant-landlord mediation, to help them remain stably housed.

Each month, a household could receive up to 120% of the fair market rent or the small area fair market rent for their area, whichever is greater, or a higher amount as determined necessary by the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). 

Funds from the rental assistance program would be distributed by formula to HUD’s existing network of state, territory, city, and county Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) grantees. The first 50% of funds would be allocated within seven days of this bill’s passage using HUD’s existing ESG formula; the remaining funds would be allocated within 45 days of this bill’s passage using a new HUD-developed formula reflecting the need for additional emergency rental assistance during COVID-19.

In addition to authorizing funds for current ESG grantees, this bill would set aside a special allocation for tribes and tribal housing authorities and Native Hawaiians to address emergency rental and utility payment assistance needs in those communities.

States and communities that have already taken actions to provide emergency rental assistance would be allowed to use funds from this program to reimburse themselves for activities eligible under this bill.

The program would use the same framework as the Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) program, an existing federal homeless assistance program that provides temporary rental and utility payment assistance to households during emergencies.

Argument in favor

Renters are experiencing unprecedented financial pressures due to COVID-19. Consequently, many are teetering on the verge of eviction and homelessness if they cannot pay rent and utilities once eviction moratoriums expire across the country beginning in July. The federal government needs to provide assistance to help renters maintain their existing housing throughout the pandemic.

Argument opposed

Local, state, and federal government spending to help renters weather the COVID-19 pandemic has already risen significantly; therefore, there is no need for this legislation. Additionally, even if additional rental assistance spending is needed, there’s no need to establish a new program to handle these funds. Moreover, this bill doesn’t even include any actual appropriations, it merely authorizes $100 billion in funding for this program that would need to be provided later.

Impact

Renters; landlords; assistance for renters experiencing financial difficulties due to COVID-19; state and local housing assistance programs; Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD); and Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) grantees.

Cost of H.R. 7301

The CBO estimates that it would cost $50 million over the period 2020-2030 to administer the rental assistance program authorized in this legislation. This would not include $100 billion to fund the program itself, which would have to be appropriated in other legislation.

Additional Info

In-Depth: Sponsoring Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) introduced this legislation to create a $100 billion emergency rental assistance program to help families and individuals make rent and pay utilities during the COVID-19 pandemic:

“This legislation would create a $100 billion emergency rental assistance fund to help struggling renters across the nation as well as mom and pop landlords relying on rental payments for their retirement,” said Chairwoman Waters. “We must take immediate action to prevent the COVID-19 crisis from turning into a national eviction crisis. It is absolutely essential for the next COVID-19 relief package to include this bill.”

Original cosponsor Rep. Danny Heck (D-WA) adds:

“Millions of Americans are facing new financial uncertainty, through no fault of their own. This bill will help tenants pay their rent, without placing the burden on landlords, many of whom are relying on payments from renters to pay their mortgages. It is vital to our recovery and to the wellbeing of Americans that we do everything we can to keep people in their homes.”

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), sponsor of this bill’s Senate companion, says:

“This [COVID-19] pandemic is yet another painful reminder of just how vulnerable millions of workers are to a single setback – whether it is losing your job, a broken-down car, or just being late on rent. Congress must act now to keep families in their homes. That’s why I am introducing the Emergency Rental Assistance and Rental Market Stabilization Act of 2020 to ensure that renters remain safely and affordably housed during and after this crisis.”

The National Low Income Housing Coalition supports this legislation. Its president and CEO, Diane Yentel, says:

“Even before the coronavirus, 11 million renters – including 8 million of America’s lowest-income seniors, people with disabilities, low-wage workers and other individuals – were paying at least half of their limited incomes to keep a roof over their heads, leaving them one financial crisis away from eviction and, in worst cases, homelessness. For many, this pandemic is that financial crisis. Congress should be doing everything they can to keep people stably housed during and after this public health emergency by implementing a national moratorium on evictions and providing at least $100 billion in rental assistance.”

Joel Ratner, President and CEO of Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, says this legislation responds to the current challenges brought about by COVID-19:

“This bill is deeply responsive to the current situation. We know that many vulnerable residents in urban and suburban and even rural places who are renters have lost their jobs. Many of those who are unemployed are renters who are being forced to make difficult decisions. Without action as proposed in this bill many of these renters will be evicted. We should expect that this will result in a wave of evictions and homelessness that we are deeply unprepared for. In addition the repercussions of this tsunami of evictions will destroy places that are already fragile. The negative impacts for these places and these people will be massive. Only by taking strong action can this cycle of social destruction be avoided.”

However, critics point out that while this bill would authorize the creation of a $100 billion housing fund, it wouldn’t provide the appropriations to actually fund it, so Congress would subsequently need to enact other legislation providing the funding.

This legislation has been reported to the House with the support of nine Democratic House cosponsors. This legislation is supported by a range of housing, state and local government, child advocacy, faith, health care, women’s, civil rights, disability rights, and social welfare organizations. These include the National Alliance to End Homelessness, National Low Income Housing Coalition, Up for Growth, National League of Cities, US Conference of Mayors.


Of Note: Housing is the single largest expense for most American families. Even before the COVID-19 crisis, a quarter of the United States’ 44 million renters spent more than half of their incomes on housing.

According to the Urban Institute, it would cost approximately $96 billion to help an estimated 17.6 million rental households that need rental assistance due to COVID-19’s economic impacts for six months.

To date, the federal government has sent an additional $3 billion to cities and states to help with housing issues stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the Pew Charitable Trusts reports that local governments still don’t have enough money to help all who need financial help during the pandemic.

The HEROES Act (H.R. 6800), which included $100 billion for rental assistance, passed the Democrat-controlled House on May 15, 2020. However, it has yet to receive a vote in the Senate and is unlikely to pass that chamber, given Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) opposition to the bill.


Media:

Summary by Lorelei Yang

(Photo Credit: iStockphoto.com / numbeos)