House Passes 9-Week Funding Bill to Prevent Government Shutdown
On Thursday, the House of Representatives passed a short-term funding bill, also known as a continuing resolution, to keep the government funded for nine weeks, starting October 1 through December 3, 2021. Funding for the federal government officially runs out on September 30 and this legislation would extend current funding for all federal government programs, preventing a government shutdown. This would allow additional time for Congress to achieve agreement and finish negotiations on a final year bill for to fund government agencies for fiscal year 2022. To date, the House has passed nine of the 12 appropriations bills, while the Senate Appropriations Committee has passed only three.
The proposed funding bill includes providing $28.6 billion in needed relief to respond to last year’s hurricanes, recent wildfires, severe droughts, and winter storms and $7.5 billion for Hurricane Ida, bringing additional relief for survivors and families, for small businesses, and for hard-hit communities. The funding bill would also extend the federal debt ceiling until December 2022. No Republicans joined Democrats in passing the bill in the House, and it is not expected to receive support from Senate Republicans. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has stated that Republicans won’t supply the votes to pass the continuing resolution if it also means extending the debt ceiling. Moody’s Analytics warned Congress this week against stalling on the debt limit suspension, stating that if a bill isn’t enacted before October 1, the resulting chaos in global financial markets would be difficult to bear. The full Senate is expected to vote on the funding bill next week.
Lawmakers Introduce Bill To Give HHS Authority To Implement Eviction Moratorium
This week, Representative Cori Bush (D-MO), Deputy Whip of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and Member of the House Committee on the Judiciary, and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, introduced H.R. 5307, the Keeping Renters Safe Act of 2021 to enact a nationwide eviction moratorium. In direct response to the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down President Biden’s initial eviction moratorium on the grounds that the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) lacked the statutory authority to mandate such a moratorium, the Keeping Renters Safe Act of 2021 would clarify that the HHS Secretary does permanently retain the authority to implement an eviction moratorium in the interests of public health.
The Keeping Renters Safe Act of 2021 would seek to protect renters from eviction and reduce the spread of COVID-19 by:
- Amending section 361 of the Public Health Service Act to grant permanent authority to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to implement a residential eviction moratorium to address public health crises.
- Directing HHS to implement a national residential eviction moratorium in response to COVID-19 that:
- Must be automatic, without requiring individuals to apply for coverage.
- Applies to all residential eviction filings, hearings, judgments, and execution of judgments.
- Allows the Secretary to establish appropriate moratorium exceptions necessary to protect the health and safety of others.
- Remains in effect at least 60 days following the conclusion of the public health emergency.
The Keeping Renters Safe Act has been referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. It remains unclear if Democrats will have the votes necessary for the bill to pass the House or Senate.
To view the full bill text, click here. A summary of the bill is available here.