August 2, 2021

Greetings!

Tonight, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced a new eviction moratorium, replacing the previous moratorium that expired over the weekend. The new moratorium is more targeted, covering certain renters in counties with "substantial and high levels of community transmission" of COVID-19 cases*, and is set to expire on October 3rd. As with the previous moratorium, it does not eliminate any rental obligations or rental arrerages that accrue. It aims to "prevent the further spread of COVID-19." This is a positive development at a time when the Delta variant is leading to rising COVID-19 numbers in Massachusetts, and when tens of thousands of tenants are in the eviction process and hundreds of thousands of households are facing housing instability.

Read the new CDC order and see New York Times coverage. We will be following the developments to see how the new order applies to Massachusetts, and will keep pushing federal, state, and local officials to use all of their authority to avoid widespread housing instability, massive displacement, and unnecessary risks to public health by protecting renters and ensuring barrier-free access to rental assistance and supports. We encourage you to sign up for emails from the National Low Income Housing Coalition and to follow NLIHC on Twitter.

In other news, thank you to everyone who reached out to their State Representative and Senator last week and the week before to ask them to swiftly override the Governor's FY22 budget vetoes and reject negative outside section amendments on homelessness and benefits programs. Thanks also for sharing our related online action to legislators with your family, friends, and colleagues. We are pleased to report back that the Legislature, as requested, swiftly overrode all of the relevant vetoes and rejected all of the relevant negative amendments! Please keep reading below for more details on the overrides and next steps for the outside section language (which now are new standalone bills.)

Below also find updates on the Legislature's hearings on investing American Rescue Plan Act resources, and upcoming webinars on the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, hosted by the Department of Housing and Community Development.

Thank you for your collaboration!

With hope,
Kelly

Kelly Turley
Associate Director


* From the CDC order: "This Order applies in U.S. counties experiencing substantial and high levels of community transmission levels of SARS-CoV-2 as defined by CDC, as of August 3, 2021. If a U.S. county that is not covered by this Order as of August 3, 2021 later experiences substantial or high levels of community transmission while this Order is in effect, then that county will become subject to this Order as of the date the county begins experiencing substantial or high levels of community transmission. If a U.S. county that is covered by this Order no longer experiences substantial or high levels of community transmission for 14 consecutive days, then this Order will no longer apply in that county, unless and until the county again experiences substantial or high levels of community transmission while this Order is in effect."

** Related MCH news coverage:
FY22 Budget Veto Overrides and Actions on Gubernatorial Amendments to Outside Sections

With your encouragement, the Massachusetts House of Representatives and Senate swiftly overrode the Governor's FY22 vetoes and rejected negative amendments on homelessness and benefits programs! With broad consensus, beyond the 2/3 votes needed, the House and Senate overrode the Governor's FY22 vetoes on the Emergency Assistance and Residential Assistance for Families in Transition programs, and took action toward fully eliminating the asset tests for applicants and participants in the Emergency Aid to the Elderly, Disabled, and Children and Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children programs by rejecting the Governor's amendments and reenacting the Legislature's versions of Outside Sections 47 and 67.

  • Emergency Assistance family shelter program (EA, line item 7004-0101): Veto overridden by House and Senate. House vote: 141-18; Senate vote: 38-2. Impact: The Legislature restored language and funding to create an independent ombudsperson office under the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, and restored expanded tracking and reporting language to better understand who is served and denied access to EA and the related HomeBASE program, and what the outcomes are for families.
  • Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT, line item 7004-9316): Veto overridden by House and Senate. House vote: 151-8; Senate vote: 39-1. Impact: The Legislature restored language directing the transfer of $4,725,768 from the Housing Preservation and Stabilization Trust Fund to RAFT, increasing the overall funding available for homelessness prevention for families with children, elders, people with disabilities, unaccompanied youth, and other households.
  • Emergency Aid to the Elderly, Disabled, and Children asset limit (EAEDC, Outside Section 47): The House and Senate both have taken the first and second steps toward restoring the Legislature's language on eliminating the EAEDC asset limit by rejecting the Governor's outside section amendment and reenacting the original language. The Legislature sent their language back to the Governor as a new bill, House Bill 4011 yesterday. Today, Governor Baker vetoed that bill, so the next steps will be for the House and Senate to each override the veto, likely when they return to formal sessions in September.
  • Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children asset limit (TAFDC, Outside Section 67): The House and Senate both have taken the first and second steps toward restoring the Legislature's language on eliminating the TAFDC asset limit by rejecting the Governor's outside section amendment and reenacting the original language. The Legislature sent their language back to the Governor as a new bill, House Bill 4012. Today, Governor Baker vetoed that bill, so the next steps will be for the House and Senate to each override the veto, likely when they return to formal sessions in September.
  • Similarly, the Governor vetoed the Legislature's reenacted language on the establishment of a new commission on poverty (previously Outside Section 128, now House Bill 4016.)

Take action!
Please call or email your State Representative and Senator to thank them for the EA and RAFT veto overrides and to encourage them to override the new EAEDC and TAFDC vetoes as soon as possible. Find out who your State Representative and Senator are and their contact information by going to www.wheredoivotema.com or by calling the State House switchboard at 617-722-2000.

You can see the full budget approved by the Legislature, House Bill 4002, here, and the Governor's budget signing and veto documents here.You can see our analysis of the Legislature's overrides and actions on amendments, our override requests, the Governor's vetoes and amendments, and our funding and language requests in Columns D-G of our budget chart.

Thank you once again for your partnership in the advocacy for a state budget that promotes housing, equity, and economic stability!
Investing American Rescue Plan Act Resources to Expand Housing Access and Stability

As we reported last week, the Legislature's Joint Committee on Ways and Means and the House Committee on Federal Stimulus and Census Oversight has been holding hearings on how the state should allocate Fiscal Recovery Funds from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). The July 27th virtual hearing, the second in a series of six hearings, focused on ARPA funds for housing, labor, and workforce development. The hearing included oral testimony from state officials, providers, and advocates, including MCH.

We focused on a range of issues, including longer term housing supports for children and families timing out of the HomeBASE program; establishing a right to counsel for families and individuals going through the eviction process; addressing gaps in access to homelessness prevention resources, currently funded under the state’s Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) program and the federally funded Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program; expanding housing opportunities and targeted supports for unaccompanied youth, people involved in the criminal justice system, people with disabilities, and other populations; expanding and preserving state-funded public housing; acquiring and converting motels and other facilities into permanent supportive housing to further facilitate the shift away from congregate shelter models; and increasing homeownership opportunities for families and individuals who have historically been, and currently are, locked out of the housing market here in Massachusetts. Our oral testimony can heard starting at the 4:05 mark in the video. A copy of our written testimony is available here, and a Boston Globe article referencing our testimony can be found here: "Advocates, Baker admin. officials press for stimulus spending on housing, job training"

Take action!

Written testimony with your ideas and priorities for spending on housing and homelessness issues still can be submitted to the committees by emailing Erin.Walsh@mahouse.gov and SenateCommittee.Ways&Means@masenate.gov (with a copy to us, please!)

The committees indicated that upcoming hearings, starting after Labor Day, will cover heath care, public health, mental health, and human services; economic development, transportation, arts, tourism, climate, and infrastructure; education, social equity, safety net programs, and family issues; and open public testimony. When details become available, they should be posted on the Legislature's events calendar.
Emergency Rental Assistance Program Webinars for Community Organizations, Hosted by DHCD

From a July 29th email from DHCD:

Hello partners, 
 
Our Eviction Diversion Initiative continues to move substantial rental assistance to households in need. As the CDC Eviction Moratorium ends, we are preparing for more incoming applications for rental assistance and want to ensure that resources for tenants and landlords are accessible and well-known.  
 
In August, we will be hosting two training sessions on updated policies, best practices, and how our community organizations can help applicants submit complete applications. Sessions will take place on Friday, August 6th at 10am and Wednesday, August 11th at 1pm.
 
The sessions will cover: 
  • FAQs on the Emergency Rental Assistance Program. 
  • Updated policy for 18 months of rental assistance. 
  • New process to recertify applicants for future stipends. 
  • New process for direct payments to eligible tenants where a landlord is unreachable or will not participate in program.  
  • Definition of COVID-19 impact, and how more applicants may be eligible.  
  • Success of community mediation as a tool to preserve tenancies. 
  • Other resources, including legal aid and other homelessness prevention programs. 
 
Tenants and landlords can receive deep subsidies with federal programs, and we want to ensure that as many households as possible submit and complete applications. Many more households are potentially eligible than have applied, and we need your help in spreading awareness.  
 
The quickest way for tenants and landlords to receive funding is to submit a complete application. There is no fee to submit an application, and small landlords can apply on behalf of their tenants.  
 
For rental assistance, please visit www.mass.gov/CovidHousingHelp 
 
For more information on legal aid, please visit https://evictionlegalhelp.org/ 
 
For more information on community mediation, please visit https://www.resolutionma.org/ 
 
You can also call 2-1-1 for regional referrals and is available in multiple languages.  
 
Please sign up for the sessions by clicking the links below: