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I am so thankful to serve on the Governor's Coronavirus Financial Advisory Committee where I was able to take the lead and work with a group of stakeholders and committee members to pursue this program to help Idahoans hit hardest by COVID19. I have heard from a lot of people struggling to pay the rent because they couldn't go to work due to business closures that were needed to stop the spread of the virus. In early May, new Treasury Guidance was issued about how CARES ACT funds could be used, which included rental assistance! This is a great use of our Coronavirus Relief Funds because it helps folks hit hardest to get back on their feet! Thanks to everyone who worked on this and helped provide this much needed relief to hardworking Idahoans!
HERE'S HOW IT WORKS
The program, which is available only to renters, provides short-term rent and utility support for Idahoans experiencing financial hardship because of the pandemic. To qualify, renters must have a current household income of 80% of Area Median Income or less, owe past-due rent or utilities or be unable to pay upcoming rent or utilities. Applicants must also be an Idaho resident and at least one member of the household must legally reside in the United States. Those receiving a federal housing subsidy are not eligible. Additional eligibility details are available at www.idahohousing.com/hpp-faq/.
TO APPLY go to www.idahohousing.com/covid-19 and click on the “help for renters” tab to learn more about the qualifications or to submit an application. Further assistance is available by calling 1-855-452-0801.
The Housing Preservation Program was initially funded in April with a $250,000 investment by Idaho Housing and Finance Association. Gov. Brad Little and the Coronavirus Financial Advisory Committee allocated $5 million from the state’s Coronavirus Relief Fund, with the option for two more installments (up to $15 million) based on the needs of Idaho renters.
Application review and processing can take from three to seven days. Payments, which can take from seven to 10 days to arrive, will be made directly to landlords or utility companies.
When applying for the program, you should be prepared to provide:
- Basic information on each household member,
- An electronic copy of your state-issued ID,
- Proof of income,
- Your lease agreement, and
- Your utility bill (if past due or threatened with shut-off).
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR UPDATE
(833) 410-1009
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As so many of you know, the Department of Labor has been overrun with requests for unemployment and couldn't meet the demand for calls. I am just so sorry that so many of you have experienced so many challenges with this system. It's totally unacceptable that this happened. No matter how many times I called or emailed staff in the department, they just couldn't make headway. The Governor has apologized over and over and recognizes the failures of our system.
Recently in CFAC we approved 3 million dollars of CRF dollars to provide more staff (100 folks now hired) and to contract with a call center to deal with the backlog.
The Governor feels confident that people should be able to get through on the new call center:
Call: (833) 410-1009
If you don't get through, let me know and I'll try to reach out to the director of the department.
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KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK & STAY SAFE
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As businesses reopen in Phase 4, it is especially important to follow the STAY HEALTHY GUIDELINES for social distancing, face coverings, and personal hygiene. I think we all want to see things get back to normal, but we have to remain careful to prevent the spread of the virus. Idaho has been doing pretty well, according to the Director of the Department of Health and Welfare. Even though we are seeing new spikes in cases, most folks are not so sick as to need to go to a hospital.
DHW added a new data tab on the Governor’s Coronavirus website that tracks weekly hot spots and local trends by county. You can look at numbers by county each week and click on counties so you can see those cases. In Ada County we had 78 new cases in the last couple of days and we’re seeing that most of the cases were people in their 20’s and 30’s; contact tracing connects them to bars in downtown Boise and Meridian. Even though we have seen increases in cases, people are not going into hospitals and the overall hospital capacity is at a good level with a good amount of ICU beds and ventilators. According to Director Jeppesen, we have doubled the rate of testing in the state, and we are approaching the federal recommendation to test at least 2% of the population each month. The Governor’s Coronavirus Testing Task Force made recommendations on who should be tested:
1) people who are symptomatic
2) people going into and out of congregate living situations (corrections, long term care)
3) people in direct contact with people with the virus like health care workers
4) people who are of hispanic descent due to higher rates of the virus
In the Governor’s legislative call today, Gov Little responded to a question about the spike in cases. He said that he didn’t anticipate any statewide reversals of the reopening plan, but guidance and directions may happen on a regional basis depending on outbreaks and hotspots.
So, the best way to ensure we can reopen schools in the fall and keep businesses running is to practice the STAY HEALTHY GUIDANCE.
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STUDENT AT WORK!
RAISING AWARENESS TO END CHILD MARRIAGE
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CDA High School graduate, Gracie Messier and I were interviewed on Idaho Matters this month. Gracie is a talented and inspiring high school graduate who have been working to raise awareness in our state about ending child marriage...
I started working with Gracie in 2019. I introduced a bill addressing child marriage that failed in the House in the 2019 legislative session. I wanted to introduce a bill that set the marriage at 18, but I couldn’t get enough support to introduce that bill so I compromised by setting the floor at 16 and then required parental consent AND court approval before anyone was married at the age of 16 or 17. That bill failed and the coverage in the press landed attention nationwide and even across the ocean. I did interviews from all over. I met with a reporter from France that summer and a group of anti-child marriage human rights advocates from India, Pakistan, Afghanistan. There was such an outrage because people realized that girls are disproportionately married under 18 vs. boys and many times married to older men.
The media coverage created such an outrage and outcry that some GOP representatives from Idaho Falls introduced a bill very close to mine in 2020 session but they pulled out the court approval. Their bill is a step in the right direction, but it truly missed the mark because most kids getting married are 16 and 17 and very few under that. The issue I was trying to address is child protection and safety. Not all parents have the best interests of their kids in mind. And there are still a lot of traditions that lend themselves to forcing a child into marriage. Early on I heard from a woman that shared how her mom “married her off” to an older man who was abusive. Most of these underage marriages end in divorce and the educational and health outcomes are terrible.
Gracie contacted me early summer of 2019 because she was attending Girls State where she wanted to present a bill to end child marriage. We worked together and she introduced a bill pretty close to mine and the girls voted unanimously to pass it. Of course girls her age got it. Their elders in the legislature didn’t get it, though.
After that she chose to do her senior project on ending child marriage. It is such a joy to watch her work.
Most people agree that the marriage age should be 18. Short of passing that, Gracie isn’t giving up and she is still working to raise awareness about this issue. She got a billboard company to donate space for her ads to end child marriage. There are three throughout Idaho and one on Fairview Ave in Boise.
Gracie is amazing! She is such a good role model to young leaders. She embodies persistence and the desire to make a difference and she is doing just that. She reached out to me, a legislator, to collaborate and share her concerns. I hope other young folks see what she did and know that their voices matter. I encourage young leaders to reach out to elected officials to bring their concerns and ideas forward. We have much better outcomes when we work together!
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ICYMI from my last newsletter: At this moment in time, it is essential to rise up and answer the call to examine what we (members of white dominant culture in particular) have learned from the most recent killing of George Floyd, the history of racism that surrounds his murder, and the outcry for justice. With that, I also think it’s important to be thoughtful and respectful to the voices who have been sharing this information and lived reality for a long time and haven’t been listened to. So, our response must not be reactionary, but mindful, compassionate, and intentional, centering the voices of people pushed to the margins and pushed to their limits.
We must strive to address the bias that exists in our institutions and work to be more inclusive and humane in our practices. Racism, sexism, homophobia, and prejudice are deeply ingrained in dominant culture, systems, and laws. Many white people are quick to point at the police and the system of policing and criticize, but we (white people) need to point that finger back at ourselves and admit that police departments reflect a larger, dominant white culture. America has a long, painful history of discrimination and racism. To interrupt the disease of racism and bias in policing, we must interrupt it in ourselves and start changing laws that reinforce and institutionalize racial injustice and economic inequities, as we have seen so clearly in the COVID pandemic.
In a recent essay from the LA Times, Kareem Abdul-Jabber described racism: “Racism in America is like dust in the air. It seems invisible — even if you’re choking on it — until you let the sun in. Then you see it’s everywhere. As long as we keep shining that light, we have a chance of cleaning it wherever it lands. But we have to stay vigilant, because it’s always still in the air…”
White people like me have a responsibility to stay vigilant and shine a light on the parts of our society that encourage violence and bigotry. George Floyd’s murder did not happen in a vacuum. Our institutions, laws, and attitudes created a world where a white police officer was not worried about the consequences of murdering a black man even while being filmed.
Confronting our bias and racism is the work that must be done. As a white person, it’s easy to feel guilt and shame that this has been happening for so long. Many white people are finally awakening to the particles of racism that have surrounded them in the darkness of ignorance. Keep the voices of our communities of color centered and stay focused on those voices as not to unintentionally take up space from what has to be done.
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US SUPREME COURT RULING IN LANDMARK LGBTQ CASE
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Speaking at the Boise Pride Rally 2018
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it illegal to discriminate against employees based on sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity. The landmark decision means that LGBTQ individuals across the nation are now protected from being fired in the workplace based on their identity.
Idahoans have been fighting for over 14 years to Add the Words "gender identity and sexual orientation" to our own human rights act to protect people from being fired from work, denied housing or public services because of who they are and who they love. I want to thank all the powerful leaders who have practiced civil disobedience and who were arrested to fight for these most basic human rights. Thank you to the hundreds, if not thousands of people, who have written to and talked to Idaho legislators, trying to move stubborn and stuck people to value all human beings and to make good on the promise to afford opportunities to all people.
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