Democratic Lawmakers Push to Extend Eviction Moratorium

Almost 11 months after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) imposed a moratorium to help people from losing their homes due to the pandemic, the federal ban on evictions expired Saturday.

In June, the CDC extended the ban for one month. It immediately faced legal setbacks, with the Supreme Court ruling that it could remain in place until July, but that any additional extensions would require congressional authorization.

"The part that baffles me is that we are the US Congress, we are talking about the presidency, people that soak in this work. We get paid to do this and we have to make this happen," Representative Cori Bush (D-Missouri) told LPO. "We signed up and swore an oath to represent and we have to do that for every single person in our districts, in our states and in the country."

The landlord doesn't care if you are a Democrat or a Republican. Neither does the food pantry nor does the homeless shelter.

Democrats in both houses failed to approve an extension on the ban. Congress allocated $46 billion dollars towards rental assistance, but only a fraction of those funds has been used.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) told LPO that "the ones invested in the fight for justice are the Squad. People are terrified. New York has its own eviction moratorium that is set to expire in 30 days."

"New York was one of the two slowest states in the country in getting assistance. There wasn't a dollar in emergency rental assistance that went out for the state of New York until June," Ocasio-Cortez said.

AOC Slams White House Over Eviction Moratorium

Bush added that there was a sense of urgency among some lawmakers to approve an extension of the ban.

"The message is we are working until midnight. The message is that hope is still there that something will happen. When midnight comes, we may try to figure out what the next step is," added Bush.

"I don't have a midnight plan because I am hoping we are not playing around with 7 and 11 million people being forced out of their homes. No one in power that can affect this decision should be at home, on vacation, hanging out, not dealing with this."

Federal lawmakers have adjourned Congress for the summer, even as millions of people are on the verge of homelessness. Progressive Democrats are urging Speaker Nancy Pelosi to reconvene the House and vote on extending the moratorium.

"We have called on the House leadership to reconvene the House. They will not want to do this until they know have the votes. That is why we are asking people to reach out to their representatives to vote yes, so we can move forward," said Rep. Bush.

Representative Mondaire Jones (D-New York) told LPO, "I think there is no question that if the Speaker thought that she had the votes today that she would reconvene. Some of us think that if we just call a vote, a lot of folks who say they are not comfortable extending the eviction moratorium will be hard pressed to explain to their constituents why and so we will change their tune. I happen to be in that group that believes that should be the case."

"Many of us in the Progressive Caucus want to be helpful in talking with our colleagues who may have reservations, but we are not being provided with the list of people who are uncomfortable voting on the moratorium," he added. "That is to the detriment of as many as 11 million people."

Congresswoman Sara Jacobs (D-California) said she was concerned, but that there are "possibilities for movement" on an extension.

I am hoping we will get something done. I think we can't give up hope just yet. It is in large part because of the protests and all the pressure that people are getting and really understanding the human consequences of these decisions.

"I represent San Diego, which is one of the highest costs of housing areas in the country. We had one of the largest increases in costs of housing over the pandemic," she said. "Talking to my constituents, even though California and San Diego have been really forward leaning in getting the rental assistance program out, there will still be a lot of people that will lose their homes if the eviction moratorium expires tonight, it is really heartbreaking to think about."

The California COVID-19 Rent Relief program helped income-eligible households with rent and utilities, both for past due and future pa