Photo: Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
By: EFE
Sunday, October 6
Biden asks local governments to disburse aid to prevent evictions
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden on Friday called on state and local governments to take steps to disburse “Immediately” aid for the payment of rents to families affected by the pandemic , before the “imminent” end of the moratorium on evictions, due this Saturday.
As the eviction moratorium deadline approaches tomorrow, I call on all state and local governments to take all possible steps to immediately disburse these funds given the imminent ending of the CDC eviction moratorium. https://t.co/lei4rN3D9a
– President Biden (@POTUS) July 31, 2021
One day after Biden urge Congress to act to prevent millions of families from becoming homeless , the president noted in a statement that “there can be no excuse for any state or locality not to accelerate funds to homeowners and tenants who have been harmed during this pandemic.”
The ruler asked to avoid all the evictions that possible and noted that “there is no barrier to the moratorium at the state and local level.”
The call was known while in the Chamber of e Low Congress was wrecking an initiative led by the Democrats to extend the moratorium until the next 18 October , in the absence of Republican support .
In a statement, Democrats led by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, asked their Republican colleagues “strongly” to reconsider their position and asked them to .
The White House warned Thursday of the imminent expiration of the moratorium issued during the pandemic by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In late June, the CDC extended the moratorium until 31 July, but the spokeswoman of the White House, Jen Psaki, warned that this option “is no longer available e ”due to a decision of the US Supreme Court last month.
In that ruling, the highest court in the US . indicated that “a clear and specific authorization from Congress (through new legislation) would be necessary” to renew that moratorium again, the spokesperson explained.
The Supreme Court ruled after a federal judge declared the national moratorium on evictions invalid in May, considering that CDC exceeded its powers when they imposed that relief .
Biden noted that state and local governments began receiving emergency rental assistance funds in February and were eligible for another $ 21, 500 million dollars as part of the $ 1.9 billion rescue plan proposed by his Administration and that Congress approved last March.
The Washington Post newspaper noted this Friday that Only nine states and the District of Columbia, where Washington is located, have approved some type of emergency protection for tenants that will be in effect until next August.
Post added that the background of $ 46, 500 millions of dollars disposed of in renter assistance has been “painfully slow to get off the ground” and some states and counties have not been able to spend “even a dollar” of those resources.