Legislation redirecting $46.55 billion in unspent Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) would help renters avoid eviction due to the COVID-19 crisis when a national moratorium expires, House Financial Services Committee Ranking Republican Patrick McHenry said on Wednesday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th June, 2021) Legislation redirecting $46.55 billion in unspent Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) would help renters avoid eviction due to the COVID-19 crisis when a national moratorium expires, House Financial Services Committee Ranking Republican Patrick McHenry said on Wednesday.
"Our legislation will end the Biden Administration's gross mismanagement of the emergency rental assistance, get the money out the door quickly, and make sure that all $46 billion is used to repay back-rent debts," McHenry said in a press release.
The legislation cosponsored by all Republicans on the Financial Services Committee would transfer all remaining funds from the March 2021 ERA program funds, which Treasury has so far failed to allocate to cities and states, into the original, bipartisan December 2020 ERA program and requires Treasury to disburse the unspent $46.55 billion within 30 days, the release said.
The bill would also require cities and states with unused ERA money after July 1st to use those funds exclusively to pay off the back-rent debts of COVID-impacted eligible households by December 31, 2021.
McHenry also requested a Government Accountability Office (GAO) audit of COVID-19 emergency rental assistance programs.
A nationwide moratorium on evictions for non-payment of rent is slated to expire on June 30, however, the deadline originally set for the end of 2020 has been extended three times.
