Parriva
A large boost in a Los Angeles County emergency rental relief program was delayed Tuesday, Sept. 2, for two weeks by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, in a contentious vote that split the board.
The motion to add to the rental relief fund, authored by Third District Supervisor Lindsey Horvath and also supported by First District Supervisor Hilda Solis, was shot down by Fifth District Supervisor Kathryn Barger who’s also board chair, as well as Second District Supervisor Holly Mitchell and Fourth District Supervisor Janice Hahn.
The three who did not support the motion voted to send it back to the board's committees for more discussion and clarification, and then return it to the full board for a potential vote on Sept. 16.
Horvath's motion would add about $10 million to the existing county's Emergency Rent Relief Program by continuing to provide rent help to those across the county displaced by the January fires, while adding eligible families financially affected by federal immigration raids.
"Thousands of families have lost their primary breadwinners due to raids; thousands more fear going to work, school, and even the grocery store for fear of being detained. Cuts to our social safety net programs and other federal policy changes are leaving our most vulnerable Angelenos even more in need and at risk of losing their housing," read the motion.
By adding money to help immigrant families pay rent and stay married, it would've raised the county's emergency rent relief fund to about $20 million, doubling the amount available mostly for hardship tenants.