In my committee work, housing and homelessness are two key issues that have been foregrounded when dealing with COVID-19 emergency measures. With input from many stakeholders, the House Committee on General, Housing and Military Affairs worked with the Senate Committee on Economic Development on a bill regarding eviction moratoria and court processes. This bill (S.333) was passed last week in the House.
Details include, beginning with the Governor’s declaration of a state of emergency on March 13 and ending 30 days after the Governor terminates the state of emergency by declaration, residential evictions and foreclosures are stayed until after the end of the emergency period. This does not relieve tenants from the obligations to pay rent and does not apply to uninhabited, abandoned properties. Notices given before the emergency period are also stayed during this time so that no one will lose housing during this public health crisis.
Homelessness mitigation
My committee also received updates on the Herculean efforts the administration and nonprofit service providers did to move as many homeless people as possible out of congregate settings into hotel rooms in order to mitigate contagion. Our area has been central. For those who are sick, isolation (Harbor Place, Shelburne) and recovery (Holiday Inn, South Burlington) sites were made available. And there are now 1,800 people living in hotels across the state, including 250 children. This housing is available through at least May 15, longer if the Governor extends the emergency period.
Regional consortiums of community-based groups with innumerable volunteers collaborated to provide additional support services to this population, including delivering meals. However, these nonprofits are working beyond their bandwidth and fiscal capacity and need additional support. A supplemental appropriations request will also be forthcoming from the administration, once it is clear how much federal subsidy can be used for emergency housing and support services.
It is also important to have a humane transition plan for our most vulnerable population, once the COVID emergency period winds down. While the coronavirus is still active, returning people back into housing shelters is not the answer and is a public health risk. Consequently, the state is looking to extend hotel vouchers as well as supportive services and food supplies near-term. Commissioner of Vermont’s Department for Children and Families, Ken Schatz, in his testimony to my committee wondered, “Can we can come out of the crisis with a better normal?” This pandemic highlights the need for a more integrated housing system, from emergency shelters to supportive permanent housing solutions.
A better normal
Commissioner Schatz’s question about a “better normal” is pertinent to many systemic issues brought to light during this public health cataclysm: broadband disparities, equitable education and healthcare, affordable housing, care for the homelessness and those incarcerated, antiquated IT systems, undercapitalization of nonprofit organizations, transportation needs and workforce development, among others.
As we scramble to stabilize the state’s finances in the final months of the fiscal year ending June 30, next year’s budget will be even more daunting because of significantly lower revenues projected while needs exponentially increase. When we rebuild our social, economic and civic lives, it cannot be how we do more with less, but our guiding principle must be to do better with less. Traditionally, the Legislature adjourns in May or June, but it looks like we will only be able deliver a temporary budget for the first three months of the new fiscal year and then return in August to finalize a viable budget for the remaining three fiscal quarters of FY21.
I enjoyed our Zoom Legislative Forum last week and your elected legislators plan on doing another virtual meeting with the South Burlington Public Library Monday, June 1. Until then please feel free to email or phone – always glad to talk.