D.C. Council members are pushing local and federal officials to restart STAY DC, the city’s rental and utility assistance program that expired Wednesday as the federal funding ran out.
Council members Trayon White (D-Ward 8), Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4), Brianne Nadeau (D-Ward 1), Robert White (D-At Large), Christina Henderson (I-At Large), Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) and Charles Allen (D-Ward 6) are among the supporters of a resolution calling on the U.S. Treasury to provide the District with additional rental and utility assistance and requesting Mayor Muriel Bowser tap into dedicated local funds to prevent evictions in the city.
“As federal rental assistance funds lapse, there is a clear choice to make in the District,” George said in a statement Thursday. “Will we allow a wave of evictions in our city and let more of our neighbors to be pushed to the streets or will we draw from the vast resources that D.C. has to keep our people housed until more federal monies arrives? We have a moral responsibility to act.”
The Bowser administration hasn’t publicly responded to the resolution.
STAY DC, an acronym for Stronger Together by Assisting You, is a federally funded program designed to keep residents in their homes by paying for back rent and utilities accrued during the coronavirus pandemic. Administration officials launched the program established in April following legislation signed into law by President Biden.
But earlier this month, the administration said due to remaining applications for assistance depleting all available funds, additional requests for funding would not be considered.