CHC is closely monitoring the state and federal response to COVID-19—and we are working with our members to preserve and protect access to affordable housing:

California situation:

• A total of 37 counties are now on Governor Newsom’s new “COVID-19 Monitoring List” of counties that are experiencing “elevated disease transmission,” “increasing hospitalization,” and/or “limited hospital capacity.”
• The Governor has said counties must be removed from the list for at least 14 days before schools can reopen. Other indoor business activity like restaurant dining and hair salon services also remain restricted statewide.
• California’s COVID-19 death toll climbed past 8,000 this week, with 157 fatalities reported on Wednesday, the highest one-day toll of the pandemic.
• State health officials announced this week that California now has too many COVID-19 cases to investigate and trace each new infection—a major tool for combatting outbreaks that has been successful in other countries. “At the level of transmission we’re seeing across the state, even a very, very robust contact tracing team in every single county will have a hard time reaching out to every case,” said Mark Ghaly, secretary of the state Health and Human Services Agency. “No one has anticipated building a program to contact trace the level of cases we’re seeing here.”

Federal action:

• After several days of delays this week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell suggested that the GOP proposal for extending supplemental jobless benefits and other economic support would likely be released on Monday.
• The House HEROES Act, a $3 trillion stimulus proposal, includes substantial new funding for state and local governments, $100 billion in emergency rental assistance, and extensions of existing eviction moratoria.

State policy activity:

• The Assembly and Senate are expected to return to a virtual legislative session next week ahead of an August 31 deadline for final action on this year’s bills.
• Renter protections are emerging as one of the top issues remaining on the legislative calendar, with Governor Newsom signaling Friday he is working with the Legislature on extending eviction protections outlined in Executive Orders earlier this spring.
• The Assembly and Senate have their own anti-eviction bills—AB 1436 (Chiu), which would prevent the eviction of renters unable to pay rent during the COVID-19 emergency, and SB 1410 (Caballero, Bradford), which would create a new tax credit program to support financially struggling renters.