Mississippi Governor Stops Funding for Rental Assistance | Health, medicine and fitness

JACKSON, Miss (AP) — Mississippi will soon stop accepting applications for a federal rent assistance program created during the COVID-19 pandemic to help people avoid evictions, Governor Tate Reeves announced Wednesday.

The Rental Assistance for Mississippians program will not accept applications after August 15, and the state will refund a whopping $130 million for the program to the federal government. The total amount returned to the Treasury Department will decrease with each new application that is approved or recertified, according to the governor’s office.

“It is time for our state to return to pre-pandemic policies,” Reeves said at a news conference. “We will continue to say ‘no’ to these kinds of projects and handouts that encourage people not to stay in work.”

While praising a “booming” Mississippi economy, Reeves said there are still too many people in the state “being paid not to work.” Labor shortages across the country have led to staffing problems for some employers and increased job opportunities for some workers.

Mississippi has spent $200 million on federal emergency aid for rent. The Rental Assistance for Mississippians program is administered by the Mississippi Home Corporation. The money can be used to pay for up to 15 months of rent and utilities.

The governor said the program has received 86,146 applications since its launch. Of that total, 36,889 applications were approved and 32,442 were rejected. The other applications are still pending. Applicants who have already applied for the program will not be affected by the decision.

Reeves said the program made sense at the start of the pandemic because people lost unemployment through no fault of their own. The COVID-19 emergency in Mississippi ended more than eight months ago.

Vangela Wade, president of the Mississippi Center for Justice, called Reeves’ decision “outrageous, heartless, and utterly devoid of any reason.”

“Nearly one in three renter households in Mississippi are extremely low-income, and our state is short of more than 48,000 affordable rental homes for extremely low-income renters,” Wade said. “But the governor has decided to make housing even more precarious.”

The data Wade references is from the National Low Income House Coalition. The organization estimates that 46% of low-income households in Mississippi spend more than 30% of their income on rent.

To qualify for the program, renters must earn no more than 80% of their area’s median income. But Reeves said the program’s requirements for determining whether a person needs help are too lax, making it prone to fraudulent claims.

In August 2021, the Treasury Department issued guidelines encouraging state and local governments to allow tenants to self-assess their income and risk of becoming homeless.

John Jopling, director of housing law at the Mississippi Center for Justice, said the program is designed to ensure the funds are used for their intended purpose.

“The governor claims that the program pays people to retire, but does not mention that RAMP payments are made directly to landlords,” Jopling said.

American Family Association Action, a conservative Christian nonprofit, praised Reeves’ decision to end the program amid an ongoing labor shortage.

“The federal hiring aid program is another COVID-era welfare program that helps explain why people aren’t going back to work even when employers offer huge hiring bonuses, higher hourly wages and new employee flexibility,” said Jameson Taylor, director of government affairs for AFA. Action.

Reeves said the move will encourage aid recipients who are out of work to return to work. He said the state is “doing everything in its power” to recruit companies that offer higher wages.

Mississippi has not introduced a state minimum wage and the federal standard is still $7.25. Reeves said at Wednesday’s press conference that he was open to the idea of ​​raising the state’s minimum wage.

Michael Goldberg is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a national, not-for-profit service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on classified issues. Follow him on Twitter twitter.com/mikergoldberg.