The HEROES Act, a bill introduced and passed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) in May, could be signed this week, offering homeowners and renters much-needed relief in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the other hand is the Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection and Schools Act, aka HEALS Act, proposed by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Monday, which offers significantly less help for homeowners and renters.

The HEROES Act contains $200 billion of additional funding to consumers, including assistance making mortgage and rent payments.

Meanwhile, the HEALS Act doesn’t include an extension of eviction moratoriums and offers $3.2 billion for housing, which includes $2.2 billion for tenant-based rental assistance and $1 billion for a public housing operating fund.

However, both acts offer another round of one-time $1,200 stimulus checks to individuals who qualify, which has drawn criticism for being too limited.

Unlike the HEROES Act, which proposes to keep the additional $600 in unemployment payments as the CARES Act did, the HEALS Act proposes to cut down that down to $200 extra a week.

A portion of the HEALS Act will funnel about $20 billion into the Federal Department of Agriculture; about $5 billion to “science,” which includes $1.75 billion going towards the construction of a Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters in Washington, D.C.; $29.4 billion to defense and the armed forces; $105.1 billion to education, in an effort to get students back in classrooms; and no funding for Veterans Affairs.

Housing advocates have warned that if eviction moratoriums and unemployment payments are both cut, the U.S. could see waves of evictions and a large uptick in homeless populations.

The post HEROES vs HEALS Act and what they would mean for housing appeared first on HousingWire.

HEROES vs HEALS Act and what they would mean for housing
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