FILE PHOTO: Signs lay on the ground after people gathered outside of an apartment complex with the intention to stop the alleged eviction of one of the tenants in Mount Rainier, MD, U.S., August 10, 2020. While Maryland remains under a State of Emergency, evictions are prohibited for tenants who are 'suffering substantial loss of income due to COVID-19'. Picture taken August 10, 2020. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo – RC26TO9CS52X

Ben Burke Producer

Politics

Eviction ban set to expire Saturday after House fails to pass extension

Jul 30, 2021

Ben Burke Producer

By Ben Burke (Producer)

Congress failed to extend the eviction moratorium for renters. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s ban expires Saturday, July 31st.

Friday night, the House of Representatives adjourned for August recess without passing an extension. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer attempted to pass a bill to extend the eviction moratorium by unanimous consent, but it was rejected by Republicans according to CNN.

The raw video above shows clips from a House Rules Committee meeting discussing the emergency bill. U.S. Representative Maxine Waters, the Financial Services Chairwoman who authored the bill, pushed the committee members to act.

“Is it emergency enough that you’re going to stop families from being put on the sidewalk?” Waters said at the committee meeting. “What the hell is going to happen to these children that won’t be able to go back to school because they don’t even know where they’re going to be sleeping or they’re going to be?”

But U.S. Representative Cathy Rogers, the top Republican on another panel handling the issue, said the Democrats’ bill was rushed.

“This is not the way to legislate,” she said. “And the majority has not done its job to actually do the hearings, so that we could move forward on a legislation that would be appropriate for this time.”

Rogers went on to call the moratorium unnecessary, citing the availability of vaccines, and decrease in new COVID-19 cases and deaths compared to when the moratorium was put into place. “Congress has also enacted to provide almost $50 billion in emergency rental aid through various COVID relief packages, but only three billion has been spent,” Rogers said. “Instead of pushing through this last-minute power grab, I would urge my Democrat colleagues to focus on holding the Biden administration accountable.”

House Rules Committee Chairman Rep. James McGovern argued not extending the ban would make the pandemic even worse. “Research tells us that if someone is evicted, they are most likely to move in with friends or family or into a shelter,” McGovern said. “That only increases community spread and leads to more infections and sadly, in some cases, more deaths caused by the pandemic.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also weighed in. In a letter to her colleagues, Pelosi said she wanted the moratorium extended until Oct, 18. She also urged states and cities to distribute the rest of the money allocated to renters in need.

Tags: Pandemic

Rep. James P. McGovern, House Rules Committee Chairman: “If Congress doesn’t act, renters from coast to coast are at risk of losing their homes and the COVID pandemic will be supercharged, particularly in unvaccinated communities. That’s because research tells us that if someone is evicted, they are most likely to move in with friends or family or into a shelter. That only increases community spread and leads to more infections and sadly, in some cases, more deaths caused by the pandemic.”

Rep. Tom Cole, House Rules Committee Ranking Member: “Republicans have proposed a bill that would have fixed the issues with the emergency rental assistance programs to keep renters in their homes. Yet the majority has refused to act. And now, because of their refusal to act, we are suddenly being dragged into the Rules committee. Majority has only themselves to blame for allowing this crisis to fester.”

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, (R) Washington: “The moratorium is completely unnecessary. Unlike last year when it was first imposed, we have a widely available vaccine and deaths and hospitalizations have plummeted nationwide. Congress has also enacted to provide almost $50 billion in emergency rental aid through various COVID relief packages, but only three billion has been spent instead of pushing through this last-minute power grab, I would urge my Democrat colleagues to focus on holding the Biden administration accountable.”

Rep. Maxine Waters, (D) California: “Is it an emergency enough that you’re going to stop families from being put on the sidewalk? Is it emergency enough that you’re going to need to wonder what the hell is going to happen with these children that won’t be able to go back to school because they don’t even know where they’re going to be sleeping or they’re going to be? It’s an emergency. And so, yes, we should move forward, and we should do everything that we can.”

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, (R) Washington: “So, I think that this is rushed. This is this is not the way to legislate. And the majority has not done its job to actually do the hearings so that we could move forward on a legislation that would be appropriate for this time.”

Rep. Maxine Waters, (D) California: “The fact of the matter is children and families are going to be on the street. Have you ever seen furnishings of families put on the sidewalk when the sheriffs put them out of their home? That is going to be going on all over the country and not just in so-called poor, poor areas. It’s going to be in everybody’s district one way or the other.”