‘Last-ditch’ effort made to extend eviction, foreclosure moratorium before it expires dies in Legislature
Theatrics outside a courthouse, calls from the federal delegation and a last-ditch legislative Hail Mary weren’t enough to bring lawmakers back to the State House to act on a bill to extend an eviction and foreclosure ban set to expire on Saturday.
“This was a last-ditch effort … but it’s disappointing,” state Rep. Mike Connolly said after lawmakers — by their inaction — decided to allow the clock on the moratorium to run out.
The Cambridge Democrat was able to get a bill to extend the temporary ban on evictions and foreclosures passed in the House, but it didn’t vote until the Senate had already adjourned for the weekend. Connolly’s bill sought to circumvent the typical process and trigger an immediate floor vote — something that required approval by both houses.
State Sen. Pat Jehlen, who is sponsoring twin legislation in the Senate, said housing advocates’ last hope now lies with Gov. Charlie Baker who has the statutory power to extend the moratorium.
“There is no procedural way to extend it (in the Legislature) until people start losing their homes,” the Somerville Democrat said.
“We’re out of hope,” said East Boston resident Juana Sanchez, who has been fighting eviction since before the pandemic. Moments later dozens of housing advocates laid down on the ground in a “die-in” in front of Housing Court. The symbolic protest was meant to evoke sympathy for the thousands they say will be put at heightened risk of contracting COVID-19 when they lose their homes.
“We might be thinking about the dollars and cents but what about the human cost of our kids having to grow up in a shelter? What about the human cost of exposing our families more to COVID?” the Rev. June Cooper of City Mission Boston asked as she described a “tale of two cities” in Boston.
More than 80,000 renter and owner households missed part or all of October payments, putting them at risk of removal, according to a recent Metropolitan Area Planning Council report.
The public watchdog agency is calling Baker to extend the moratorium, alleging the Republican governor’s just-released eviction-diversion plan doesn’t go far enough to protect families from imminent eviction or foreclosure.
U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley joined the call, urging Baker to “take immediate action” to “prevent the looming eviction tsunami.”
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2SY3l4D
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