Thread by @emfundertaker

Okay, let's run through an FAQ on Nebraska's unwillingness to apply for the second round of Emergency Rental Assistance.
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How much funding is available for the second round of Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA 2) should Nebraska apply?
- $120,515,161.80

What is the deadline for Nebraska to apply?
- it was initially September 2021, but Treasury extended the deadline to March 30, 2022.

How long do we have to spend ERA 2?
- September 30, 2025
This is three more years worth of available funding for renters and rental housing providers than is currently available, since the current program ends September 30, 2022.

What is the current deadline to spend our ERA 1 funds?
-September 30, 2022

Who would be helped by Nebraska’s ERA 2 funds?
- Primarily, every county outside of Douglas and Lancaster

Why are Douglas and Lancaster counties excluded from this?
-There are 5 jurisdictions in Nebraska eligible to receive and distribute ERA funds
Omaha
Lincoln
Douglas County
Lancaster County
The “balance of state” (everything outside of the above) is covered by Nebraska’s program

Would Omaha, Lincoln, Douglas County, and Lancaster County be helped by the state’s ERA 2 funding?
- Yes, it is possible.
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The state program received $158 million in ERA 1, but has only spent about $14 million.
The state was required to submit an improvement plan to increase distribution of ERA 1 in late 2021. That plan was approved by Treasury.
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That plan included the reallocation of a portion of the state’s ERA 1 funds to the other jurisdictions:
$50 million - Omaha
$30 million - Lincoln
$3.3 million - Douglas County
$1.4 million - Lancaster County
It is possible that the state’s ERA 2 funding could be used similarly

The Governor said that ERA 2 funds do not require a COVID impact to access, is that true?
- Yes and No.
Any jurisdiction receiving ERA 2 has the flexibility to design their own programs and establish their own eligibility requirements.
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Nebraska’s *current* program distributing ERA 1 does not REQUIRE COVID impact (coronavirus.nebraska.gov/EmergencyRenta…):

Please note that it says the applicant has to answer yes to ONE of the following, not BOTH.

The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) states the following households may be eligible for ERA funds, depending on the requirements imposed by each funding entity:

(A) 1 or more individuals within the household has -
Qualified for unemployment benefits; or
Experienced a reduction in household income, incurred significant costs, or experienced other financial hardship during or due, directly or indirectly, to the coronavirus pandemic;

(B) 1 or more individuals within the household can demonstrate a risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability; and

(C) The household is a low-income family (as defined by the United States Housing Act of 1937)

Source: congress.gov/117/bills/hr13…

The Governor said that the slow rate of ERA 1 distribution is evidence that Nebraskans don’t need the funding through 2025, is this true?
- Complicated, but no.
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1. Early in the program, Nebraskans had incredible difficulty accessing the available funds because of problems with education about the program, the design of the application, and the speed of distribution.

2. These problems are slowly being worked through, but the current program ends in September 2022.

3. Furthermore, if the state does not spend the ERA 2 funds, we could potentially reallocate the leftover funds to jurisdictions that need them the most, just as we did with ERA 1.

How would the distribution of ERA 2 funds be any different than ERA 1? Wouldn’t we just run into the same problems?
- We don’t have to run into the same problems.
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With three more years of funding, we could bring together stakeholders (including rental housing providers, tenants, and community service organizations) to ensure ease of distribution.
It’s a solvable problem, but we can’t solve it if we don’t apply.

What about outreach and education for ERA 2?
- Treasury has said that ERA funds can and should be used for outreach and education about the program
- Up to 15% of total ERA funds can be used for these purposes

- Outreach has been working. Here's a very long breakdown of the counties who have received ERA funds and the amounts received:

(excludes Douglas and Lancaster who have their own programs, amounts as of last Monday)
Adams: $516,405
Antelope: $6,175
Boone: $36,690
Box Butte: $49,213
Brown: $53,530
Buffalo: $907,421
Burt: $70,413
Butler: $39,753
Cass: $343,649
Chase: $30,228
Cherry: $57,650

Cheyenne: $143,969
Clay: $11,589
Colfax: $19,230
Cuming: $20,571
Custer: $71,410
Dakota: $109,129
Dawson: $130,883
Deuel: $2,207
Dodge: $936,680
Fillmore: $59,328
Furnas: $11,440
Gage: $247,221
Garfield: $7,211
Gosper: $8,575
Greeley: $3,783
Hall: $896,000

Hamilton: $49,203
Harlan: $2,824
Hitchcock: $10,952
Holt: $14,950
Howard: $29,757
Jefferson: $105,267
Johnson: $20,784
Kearney: $77,550
Kimball: $18,070
Knox: $36,863
Lincoln: $478,729
Logan: $7,417
Madison: $682,195
Merrick: $44,699
Morrill: $8,120
Nemaha: $26,904

Nuckolls: $6,747
Otoe: $94,654
Pawnee: $7,819
Perkins: $40,346
Phelps: $47,485
Pierce: $26,092
Platte: $264,826
Polk: $19,743
Red Willow: $48,198
Richardson: $28,072
Saline: $127,189
Sarpy: $4,706,770
Saunders: $116,850
Scotts Bluff: $366,332
Seward: $107,660
Sheridan: $14,465

Sherman: $2,857
Stanton: $18,584
Thayer: $51,040
Thomas: $9,099
Thurston: $1,364
Valley: $17,392
Washington: $141,871
Wayne: $2,236
Webster: $11,211
Wheeler: $20,050
York: $139,032

Some counties received $0 in ERA 1 funds, others received comparatively little.
This could be because of a lack of need (less renters, e.g.), and it could be because of a lack of outreach and education.
The first isn't going to change, but the second could.

Perhaps more to the point - if this was a serious argument against applying for ERA 2, then the logical thing to do would be for the State to calculate how much we will need for the next three years and say, "We don't need $120 million, but we *do* need XX amount."

Because even XX amount would be better than $0.

Shouldn’t everyone know about the availability of ERA funds at this point?
- Sure, but that’s not the case.

The Tenant Assistance Project (TAP) in both Lancaster and Douglas County still has both landlords and tenants appearing in eviction court unaware of the availability of funding

Sarpy County community organizations are relaying a similar lack of knowledge among both landlords and tenants (and Sarpy County has received the bulk of the ERA 1 funding - $4.9 million). United Way Grand Island says there is a huge need.

If we don’t apply, won’t this money just go back to the taxpayers?
- No.

This funding is specifically set aside for the federal Emergency Rental Assistance program, as part of the American Rescue Plan Act.
If we do not apply, these funds will be distributed to other ERA programs in other states and jurisdictions.

Is there a cost associated with accepting these ERA 2 funds? Like a matching requirement?
No.
In fact, ARPA states that 15% of ERA allocations can be used for administrative costs like setting up a program, paying staff to process applications, and outreach and education.

Where did the 15% of ERA 1 go, then?
- Most of it went to Deloitte, to design and administer the program.

The Governor says we won’t be able to spend the money, so we shouldn’t accept it. What happens if we don’t spend ERA 2 by the September 30 2025 deadline?
- The intention of ERA is to prevent homelessness, and there are myriad ways to do this within the flexibility allowed by ERA.

- ARPA states that 10% of ERA funds can and should be used for “housing stabilization services”, which means that we could allocate $12 million to statewide programs and services working to support Nebraskans facing homelessess.

- If we do not meet the spend-down deadline, we could reallocate ERA 2 funds to other jurisdictions within Nebraska such as Omaha, Lincoln, Douglas County, and Lancaster County.

- If we do not meet the spend-down deadline, then we could also just give it back. But in the meantime, we will have helped Nebraskans for three years.

Won’t more ERA funds just encourage tenants not to work and not to pay their rent?
- First, this is the most tired strawman argument.
- Second, it’s important to note that the way the ERA program works requires participation from both the tenant and the landlord.

- The landlord is asked to provide information that ensures the ERA funds, if approved, go directly to them to cover the costs of money owed to them, as well as future rent, and even utilities.

- These funds never “touch” the tenant’s hands.

- There are additional requirements on ERA funds in the state program, and limits to how much a tenant can apply for, and how many times they can apply (once).

What about fraud? The Governor said there’s too much fraud associated with the program?
- This assertion would not seem to be borne out by the data.

- Those interested in the fraud argument should ask for clarification on:
--What triggers a fraud investigation in ERA applications?
-- How many applications have been flagged for possible fraudulent activity in the time that the ERA program has existed?

-- How many applications flagged for possible fraud have resulted in a finding of actual fraud?
-- What has been the result of these fraud investigations, such as an increase in crime reports and prosecutions?

(I might also ask that given we are paying Deloitte 15% of our initial ERA allocation of $158 million to handle specifics of the program like fraud, could they use some of that money to design a more effective screening process to decrease these supposed huge instances of fraud)

TL:DR
There is no logical reason not to apply for these funds. There is only cheap political points to be scored at the expense of Nebraska's landlords and renters and struggling communities.
The arguments against applying are disingenuous at best, and completely false at worst.

This thread is intended to provide factual and nuanced information on the Emergency Rental Assistance program.
So, I'm not going to engage with bad-faith bootstraps arguments and will block those who attempt (I know you can't help yourselves so I'm just letting you know here)

Thanks for coming.

Actually let's keep going for a minute, particularly on the fraud argument.
Here's what Lee Will said to the Appropriations Committee about fraudulent applications:

Utah and Arizona's programs say there's been less than 1% of ERA applications that have been fraudulent.
abcnews.go.com/Business/wireS…

So, the alleged problem of fraud is whose fault, exactly?
Is it an example of Nebraskans being more willing to cheat the system, and if so, what does the Governor really think about Nebraskans?

Or, might it be that the way we assess fraud is off?
And if this is the case, isn't this a problem we should take up with the administrator of this program, Deloitte, rather than use it as an excuse to deny three years of aid to Nebraskans?