I’m not really one for praising politicians. I’ve done it a few too many times only to be disappointed later. But I have to say, I’m really impressed by the movement Cori Bush led in the last week. Her one-woman protest sleeping outside the Capitol (initially to push the House, then to push Biden) to extend the eviction moratorium, garnered support from other progressives such as AOC and Mondaire Jones and, later, moderate Democrats, until Biden made the offical call.
I’ve been following Bush since she began her campaign as Representative for the 1st district of Missouri, which includes St. Louis and most of St. Louis county. What’s so unique about her is not so much her progressive values, which are becoming increasingly common in younger House and even Senate members, but rather the personal nature of those values to her. Bush has experienced extreme poverty, homelessness, and domestic abuse, among other struggles, and beyond from the obvious incredible nature of her perseverance to get where she is now, her devotion to ensuring others don’t have to endure what she did is the most admirable quality I’ve seen in a politician to date.
Anyway, here’s a quick rundown of what the situation was prior to Bush’s efforts and what’s going on now:
- The CDC had issued a national eviction moratorium due to COVID that extended through July 31st.
- Prior to moratorium extension, the Biden administration was calling on state governments to provide aid to renters, claiming that the CDC could not extend it further. At the same time, Democratic leadership was pressuring the administration to extend the moratorium
- Roughly 1.4 million American households were facing eviction approaching the moratorium’s expiration.
- Yesterday, Biden agreed to extend the CDC moratorium through October 3rd and is pushing state and local governments to look into alternatives past that expiration, since it is not SCOTUS backed
- The CDC’s allowance was made in the interest of public health as cases of the Delta virus rise daily.
- The new moratorium covers any parts of the country with “high or substantial” COVID-19 transmissibility rates, which includes all five boroughs of NYC. Overall, roughly 90% of U.S. renters will be covered