Many states had improved their efforts by the fall and the federal eviction moratorium had expired. Administration officials offered governors an option: They could transfer their money to counties or cities that were spending it more efficiently, said Gene Sperling who is an economic adviser to President Biden and oversees the White House’s program.
Arizona officials agreed to shift $39 million to the state’s largest county, Maricopa, while Georgia moved about $50 million from its allocation to Fulton and DeKalb Counties in the Atlanta area. Wisconsin was the site of the largest single shift. According to the Treasury Department, Tony Evers, a Democrat agreed to transfer approximately $110 million to Milwaukee’s county and city officials.
That left only about $240 million in cash to be shifted from states — including Vermont, Idaho, Delaware and South Dakota — that were not spending their cash fast enough.
“That is disappointing to states and cities who hoped to have a large amount of additional funds reallocated to them, but it reflects the larger, positive reality that after the initial challenges, these funds are now being spent or committed to families in need at a much more accelerated pace,” Mr. Sperling said.
According to Michael Lyttle, a spokesperson for Department of Housing and Community Affairs, Texas requested $3Billion from the Treasury for the reallocation process. While the state won’t receive additional funds, several Texas cities and counties will be receiving around $19 millions in total.
“This is the only life vest,” said Dana Karni is the manager of the Eviction Rights to Counsel Project in Houston. “If we don’t have emergency rental assistance, there’s not a whole lot we can do.”
Source: NY Times
