{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://emmer.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/emmer-offers-amendment-to-better-direct-covid-emergency-rental-assistance-to-areas-of-greatest-need", "Emmer Offers Amendment to Better Direct COVID Emergency Rental Assistance to Areas of Greatest Need", "2021-09-15", "2021", "2021-09", "Republican", "House", "MN", "Tom Emmer", "E000294", "emmer.house.gov", "emmer", "https://emmer.house.gov/media-center/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2013 This week, Congressman Tom Emmer (MN-06) offered an amendment to modify the definition of an \u201celigible household\u201d under the Emergency Rental Assistance program. His amendment would target eligibility of tens of billions in COVID rental assistance funding to American families in the greatest need of assistance.\n\nRead the amendment here.\n\nTranscript:\n\n\u201cThank you \u2013 my amendment makes a simple change to the definition of \u201celigible household\u201d to receive emergency rental assistance.\n\nIn being good stewards of the taxpayers\u2019 dollars, we must target the emergency rental assistance (ERA) funds to those who have the highest need \u2013 the low-income households who had their financial livelihoods wrecked by COVID. And that is the goal here, with my amendment.\n\nUnder ERA1, which passed in a bipartisan manner, an eligible household must have experienced a reduction in household income, incurred significant costs, or experienced other financial hardship due, directly or indirectly, to COVID-19.\n\nThe Democrats\u2019 \u201cExpediting Assistance to Renters and Landlords Act\u201d changes this definition of \u201celigible household\u201d for ERA funds to state that \u201can eligible household must have experienced a reduction in household income, incurred significant costs, or experienced other financial hardship, during or due, directly or indirectly, to COVID-19.\u201d \u2026During or due\u2026.\n\nSo, under Maxine Waters\u2019 bill, taxpayer dollars could go to any American that, well, simply lost money during COVID, regardless of whether they lost money BECAUSE of COVID. So technically, as the bill reads, if I lost all of my money gambling in Las Vegas, I could be eligible for emergency rental assistance, all on the taxpayer\u2019s dime.\n\nI don\u2019t need to elaborate further why this language is entirely unhelpful.\n\nSo, my amendment would simply change the base law to read that an eligible household is one that suffered financial hardship due DIRECTLY to COVID. This amendment creates a standard that actually targets the ERA funds to the families who need it most.\n\nI know my colleagues will join me in supporting this amendment, which ensures that Congress is acting responsibly with the taxpayer dollars and ensures that Congress is specifically targeting the communities that need aid the most.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:17:01Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://emmer.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/emmer-offers-amendment-to-better-direct-covid-emergency-rental-assistance-to-areas-of-greatest-need"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3803648762404919, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}