It has been more than six months since the NJ Assembly passed the People’s Bill, S2340, which gives NJ residents impacted by COVID more time to pay their rent or mortgage and protects their credit during that extra time. It sets reasonable repayment standards that will prevent foreclosures and evictions, and help keep everyone safely housed.
NJ needs this legislation. Governor Murphy has said he will sign it when it gets to his desk, but the NJ Senate has refused to vote on it. Unlike Network members and partners who are doing everything they can to keep people in their homes, profiteering landlords are using their political clout in Trenton to kill this bill.
As this pandemic has shown, health and housing are deeply connected. COVID is disproportionately harming Black and brown communities, who are already at risk for foreclosure and eviction in far greater numbers than white communities. Our non-profit developers who build two family homes in urban communities know that their homeowners are at risk for losing generational wealth, which is deeply stratified by race in NJ. Black and brown tenants are more likely to be evicted than white tenants. The People’s Bill, which gives folks time to pay what they owe, is one way to inoculate against the pandemic making our housing injustices worse.
InsiderNJ recently reported that the political action committee of the New Jersey Apartment Association—one of the People’s Bill’s biggest opponents – “closed out the calendar year with a $363,400 balance after donating $33,000 in December to the leadership PACs of both parties in both houses, including $20,000 to the NJ Senate Democratic Majority.” (“The Check Is in the Mail,” InsiderNJ, January 30, 2021)
TAKE ACTION
Just ahead of Valentine’s Day, join us and tell Senate President Steve Sweeney and his colleagues to show some love to New Jerseyans struggling to stay housed. On Thursday, February 11, from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., the Network and our Compassionate NJ partners will hold a "Have A Heart for Housing" text party to urge the Senate to vote on the People’s Bill. We need immediate action to prevent a foreclosure and eviction crisis!
When: Thursday, February 11, 3 p.m.
Register here: Have a Heart for Housing! Text for the People's Bill
