Consider two hypothetical examples in Washington and Iowa. Each state has its own formula for determiningunemployment bene ts, which takes into account the household’s lost income. Suppose that Marta hasrecently been laid off from a large retailer in Seattle, Washington, where she was making minimum wage
and working full-time. Marta is a single parent with one child. Her gross wages were $640 per week ($2,560per month) in 2019 and had recently gone up to $655.60 per week ($2,622.40 per month). Although theminimum wage rose in 2020, she will receive bene ts based on what she earned in 2019 if she applies

now. The standard unemployment bene t she would receive would be roughly $295 per week ($1,180
per month), but with the CARES Act supplement, she would receive $895 per week until the end of July($3,580 per month). The MIT Living Wage Calculator estimates that, as a single adult with one child in King County, Marta needs $2,710 per month on basic non-housing expenses including food, medical care,child care, and transportation (Glasmeier, 2020a). After paying for those necessities, Marta has $870 left for housing, but the Fair Market Rent for a modest two-bedroom apartment in King County is $1,899. When thesupplemental payment ends in July, her budget will be even more constrained. While she may be eligiblefor other forms of social support, the standard unemployment bene t by itself will only cover a fourth of her household’s necessary expenses. Marta was severely housing cost-burdened before losing her job, so even if Marta manages to be re-employed at the minimum wage during this crisis, it will not address her housing instability.

2.  Representative Denny Heck, D-10th, WA on the National Low Income Housing Coalition's April 6, 2020 call:
Rep. Heck's mantra:  "Pillow, Blanket, Roof"

Rep. Heck has introduced HR6314 - this would provide 100B in rental assistance through the ESG program.  Rep. Heck expects to have this included in the 4th COVID-19 bill which is currently being drafted - looking toward the end of April for completion and action.  Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio is expected to introduce a companion bill to HR6314.

Note on the expected COVID-19 #4 bill:  The National Low Income Housing Coalition is asking for:
11.5B in ESG
100B in Emergency Rental Assistance
Uniform moratorium on evictions.

3.  Mike Wallace, Legislative Director for Housing and Community Economic Development for the National League of Cities - on CDBG (Community Development Block Grants) - my notes from his presentation on yesterday's National Low Income Housing Coalition call:  https://covid19.nlc.org

CDBG - can be used for up to three consecutive months' payment to a landlord.  Remember - the public service caps are waived so the entire amounts could be used for things like rental assistance.  The City of Tacoma, City of Lakewood and Pierce County would have to make changes to their CDBG plans to do this - but they can do so.  I asked if CDBG could be used for late fees and Mike suggested that local governments use their leverage with landlords to waive fees and make renters whole.  Remember - these funds have several eligible uses.  Rental assistance is just one.  I think these are the first formula allocation numbers: 

Lakewood   $350,611
Tacoma       $1,487,278
Pierce County   $1,868,635

4.  Pierce County - from their blog which I can't figure out how to sign up for!

The Pierce County Council approved $250K for homeless services due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Pierce County Human Services used these funds to create an emergency rental assistance program to prevent more people from experiencing homelessness.

The Rental Assistance program has launched and is managed through partners at Share and Care House.
This program is intended to provide rental assistance to help households maintain existing housing due to circumstances related to COVID-19 (e.g. loss/reduction of employment, quarantine, etc.).
Households must be at or below 50% AMI and must live in Pierce County, outside the City of Tacoma.
Interested participants should contact Share and Care House directly by calling 253-841-8886 (ext. 800) or sending an email.

To help families experiencing homelessness, we partnered with Helping Hand House to expand their Open Hearts Ministry program.
$10K will go towards hotel and motel vouchers, for up to two weeks, for families experiencing homelessness.

The Washington State Department of Commerce has awarded Pierce County $1.6M in emergency funds to address public health needs of people experiencing homelessness. We have diligently been working with the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department and the City of Tacoma to develop this plan and have identified four priority areas:

Enhance safety in existing shelters through additional hygiene/sanitation stations, providing staff with personal protective equipment, hotel stays, and other strategies that support expansion and maintain capacity
Enhance safety among unsheltered individuals by conducting more homeless outreach including wellness checks, food drop-offs, giving out supplies and more.
Support homeless prevention through emergency rental assistance programs to low-income populations impacted by COVID-19.
Expand shelter capacity by setting up new sites to house unsheltered individuals and reduce demand on homeless shelters.

5.  Pierce County Veterans Assistance

Veterans Assistance Programs has temporarily expanded service to help those affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. If you are a Veteran at risk of eviction or late on bills, please call 253-798-7449 to see what emergency assistance may be available to you and your family.

6.  City of Tacoma
I've attached Mayor Woodard and the Council's letter to Gov. Inslee calling for an extension of the eviction moratorium and a prohibition of fees.

The City is finalizing their rental assistance program.  Linda Stewart, NCS Director, briefed the Council at last Friday's Special Meeting.  I'm not attaching the proposed program because I know the City is making changes.  If you want it, let me know and I'll send a copy.  You can also see the presentation on the video of the meeting.

That's it for now.

Be safe.  Be kind.  And as always, thank you for your work,

Maureen

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