Gianforte “Fails to Distribute” Rental Assistance Aid– Federal Government to Take It Back
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, March 21, 2022
CONTACT
press@montanademocrats.org
Gianforte “Fails to Distribute” Rental Assistance Aid– Federal Government to Take It Back
As Montana faces worsening affordability crisis, the MT Governor’s inaction will hit Montanans where it hurts
Helena, MT – The Federal Government announced last week that they were pulling back $377 million in Emergency Rental Assistance funds from states that had “failed to efficiently distribute the aid.” Montana was one of four states who is seeing their funding called back. The announcement comes during a critical and increasingly dire housing affordability crisis in the state, as property prices have reached record highs.
According to a report by the Montana Budget & Policy Center, median rent prices across the state grew by 26% between 1990 and 2018, faster than the national average.
Governor Gianforte has had over a year to distribute critical pandemic recovery aid and he has– time and time again– failed to move the money out of Helena into deserving Montana communities. The return of the rental assistance funding is not the first time that Gianforte has sat on critical pandemic relief funds.
Of the $10.7 million allocated for Gianforte’s Return to Work Bonuses, only ⅓ of the funds were distributed.
Of the $4 million allocated for Health Care Recruitment, zero dollars have been distributed.
Of the $61.3 million allocated for Child Care Provider stabilization, only $4.1 million has been paid.
Of the $27.1 million allocated for reducing home energy costs for low-income Montanans, only $5.3 million has been distributed.
“What is more important to Gianforte than sitting down and doing his job? Hard working Montanans are being priced out of their homes and communities while he sits on recovery funds,” says Sheila Hogan, executive director of the Montana Democratic Party. “Enough is enough – rent is due every month. Get to work, Greg.”
###