Congressman Steven Horsford Votes to Protect Housing Access for Nevadans During COVID-19 Pandemic

Washington, D.C. -- Today, Congressman Steven Horsford (NV-04) voted to pass the Emergency Housing Protections and Relief Act of 2020, H.R. 7301. This legislation will establish an Emergency Rental Assistance Program to provide $100 billion to help Americans pay their rent and stay in their homes during the COVID-19 crisis. The Congressman wrote about his support for this legislation in an op-ed published in the Las Vegas Sun.

"Before the COVID-19 crisis, a quarter of the nation's 44 million renters paid more than half of their incomes for housing, often putting them one emergency away from eviction. The health and economic shocks of the COVID-19 emergency have exposed these renters and millions more to the threat of housing instability and eviction," Congressman Horsford said.

"This is the reality for so many Nevada families as the moratorium on evictions begins to lift and those who have been away from work face the reality of months of back-rent or mortgage payments. For these families, and for so many like them across the country, I proudly voted to pass the Emergency Housing Protections and Relief Act of 2020 today."

The Emergency Housing Protections and Relief Act of 2020 provides an additional $11.5 billion to prevent and respond to outbreaks among people experiencing homelessness, and a national, uniform moratorium on evictions for all renters. The bill also includes funding for 100,000 new emergency housing vouchers, $5 billion for Community Development Block Grants, more than $300 million for rural rental assistance, and additional funding for public housing and other U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) housing providers to help cover increased costs and adjust rental assistance for households with decreased incomes.

Emergency rental assistance will help families and individuals stay safely housed and also help stabilize our rental market by helping property owners pay staff, maintain buildings, and keep up with their property taxes and mortgages. According to the Urban Institute, it would cost approximately $96 billion to assist an estimated 17.6 million renter households needing rental assistance due to the economic impacts of COVID-19 for 6 months.