Senate Returns Next Week to Debate Additional COVID-19 Relief
The full Senate will be in session next week. Once they return from the July 4th recess, Senators will officially begin negotiations on the size and scope of additional economic aid in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. For the past several weeks, lawmakers have been considering a second wave of financial assistance checks to reverse the economic downturn experienced by millions of Americans due to a resurgence of COVID-19 and the looming threat of further lock-downs. Members of both parties and the president support some version of s second round of stimulus checks. Senate Democrats insist that any relief-related legislation includes $1,200 payment for adults earning as much as $75,000 (or twice that for a couple), plus an additional $1,200 per child. Senate Democrats have also sought to expand the eligibility requirements. Senate Republicans have said they want a more targeted approach, and in addition to seeking liability protections for businesses, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has suggested the payments should only go to those individuals making less than $40,000. Majority Leader McConnell is expected to present the draft legislation in the Senate next week.
House Appropriations Committee Approves T-HUD, Agriculture-FDA Funding Bills
This week, the House Appropriations Committee has approved funding for Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) and Agriculture-FDA. The FY21 THUD funding bill provides $50.6 billion for HUD, which is $13 billion above the President’s FY21 request and $1.5 billion above the FY20 enacted levels. To view a section-by-section summary of the FY21 THUD funding bill, click here.
The FY21 Agriculture-FDA funding bill provides $23.98 billion in funding for rural development and infrastructure, food and nutrition programs, and other food assistance programs. To view a section-by-section summary of the FY21 Agriculture-FDA funding bill, click here.
Senate Democrats Introduce Economic Justice Act
On July 16, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced a new legislative proposal to make $350 billion in immediate and long-term investments in communities of color. The Economic Justice Act would seek to help communities of color respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in two parts: The first is a $135 billion investment in child care, mental health and primary care, and jobs. The second is building long lasting wealth and health in communities of color over the next five years by investing $215 billion in infrastructure, providing a homeowner down payment tax credit, requiring community-focused lenders to facilitate more lending to small businesses in communities of color, and by requiring a greater share of federal community and economic development funding go to communities with persistent and high poverty rates and create opportunities in federally funded infrastructure projects for local hiring in communities of color and contracts for disadvantaged businesses. The proposal would be in addition to the House-passed Heroes Act and would seek to partially offset the cost by re-programming $200 billion of unspent CARES Act funds that were previously provided to the Department of Treasury to facilitate corporate lending by the Federal Reserve. To view a section-by-section summary of the Economic Justice Act, click here.
Reports Show Foreseeable Trouble for Average Minimum Wage Workers
The National Low Income Housing Coalition has recently released the 2020 Out of Reach report, which provides data showing that the average minimum wage worker must work 79 hours per week (a regular full-time job requires, at minimum, 37.5 hours a week) to afford a one-bedroom rental home at the fair market rent. The Out of Reach report found that in only 5 percent of all U.S. counties (144 counties out of more than 3,000 nationwide, not including Puerto Rico) can a full-time, minimum-wage worker afford a one-bedroom rental home at fair market rent. The report also shows that minority workers (Black and Latinx) face larger gaps between their wages and the cost of housing than white workers. According to the report, while the median-wage, full-time Black/Latinx worker does not earn a wage adequate to afford a one-bedroom apartment at fair market rent, their white counterpart does. To view the full Out of Reach report, click here.
Additionally, the Federal Reserve of Atlanta’s Real Estate Research published a report this week showing that 86 percent of cost-burdened and vulnerable renter-occupied households earn less than $50,000. According to the report, lower-income renter-occupied households who were employed in occupations most likely to suffer wage disruptions from COVID-19 were already stretched thin economically and spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing costs. The report also suggests that rental properties with 2–49 units may be in trouble in the coming months–these properties are more likely to be owned by “mom-and-pop” investors and not institutional investors and therefore may not have the financial reserves necessary to weather the economic shortfall and cover ongoing costs, in turn making these properties more likely to become distressed and be sold. The report calls for a strategic response from the federal government that would direct funds to households demonstrating the greatest need. To view the Real Estate Research report, click here.