Mayor Bowser’s proposed budget for next year slashes rental eviction assistance amid national housing crisis

Isabelle Posner-Brown, Section Copy Editor

As students of Jackson-Reed high school, it’s safe to say that all of us live in DC or neighboring DMV areas. As such, we are familiar with the growing numbers of homeless people congregating in many DC neighborhoods, including Tenleytown. It’ll be no surprise to know that the United States is experiencing one of the worst housing crises in its history. On any given night in the District there are almost 4,500 people experiencing homelessness, according to a Point in Time survey from 2022, and many researchers think this statistic is significantly lower than the actual number.  

There are many systemic factors that contribute to homelessness including mental health issues, substance abuse, unemployment, and housing costs. Lack of affordable housing is a major cause of homelessness and housing crises in general, and of all the above factors, this one is most directly the fault of the government. 

Here in DC, longtime residents with lower incomes are struggling to meet increasing housing costs, which put tremendous stress on family budgets. Nearly 40,000 renter households in the District, which are disproportionately Black and brown, earn less than 40 percent of the median family income (or just $29,000 for an individual) and pay more than half of their income in rent.

Right now, rents are increasing, evictions are approaching pre-COVID levels, and affordable homes in the DC metro area are scarce.

Despite these challenges, DC’s proposed budget for next year includes only $8 million in local funds going towards ERAP (the Emergency Rental Assistance Program), which provides one time relief for low-income tenants behind on rental payments. While this is the same level of funds the program received pre-pandemic (slightly lower when adjusted for inflation), the city is a very different place now. We can’t go back to pre-covid levels while homelessness in DC continues to intensify. Mayor Browser is proposing a budget cut of almost 80% from the previous year, when the program received $43 million and still ran out of funds with 6 months left in the year.  

Homelessness and eviction can have a terribly destabilizing effect on a person, family and community. Housing instability is associated with increased stress, health problems, and lower academic outcomes, among many other consequences. The harms of poverty and homelessness are not felt equally across the district; 40% of children in Wards 7 and 8 experience poverty, versus 2% in Ward 3. About 20% of families in Wards 7 and 8 say that they are likely to be asked to move by their bank or their landlord in the next 3 years. 

Safe shelter and housing is a human right that the DC government should be supporting. We need to make it clear to Mayor Bowser that basic human rights are not on the chopping block. No one should be worried about losing a safety net provided by the same government that puts them in the position of needing one. 

DC needs to invest in robust affordable housing that includes everything from funding emergency measures like ERAP to increasing paths to home ownership. Our city has the resources to alleviate its housing crisis, they just need to be reallocated: DC lacks more than 20,000 units for its low-income renters, yet a report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development found that 1 in 4 public housing units are vacant. 

DC shouldn’t balance its budget on the backs of its most vulnerable residents. If we want a truly thriving city, we must ensure that all people have the resources and safety they deserve; most importantly, a roof over their heads.