Item 09 - First Amendment to Emergency Rental Assistance Program Spending Plan

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California Emergency Rental Assistance Program Expression of Intent On December 27, 2020, the federal Consolidated Appropriations Act 2021, a $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill, was signed into law and $25 billion was allocated to the United States Treasury (UST) for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) to assist households that are unable to pay rent or utilities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. California will receive $2.6 billion of the federal ERAP funds. To implement these rental assistance resources, the state of California worked with the state Legislature to develop a programmatic framework that eases administrative burden and most effectively deploys these resources to those most in need. On January 28 the State Senate and State Assembly passed the COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act (SB 91), extending eviction protections through June 30, 2021 and creating a mechanism to deploy $2.6 B in Federal Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) resources to assist struggling tenants and landlords impacted by COVID-19. In an effort to understand how local jurisdictions plan to deploy these rental assistance resources, the state is requesting Counties and Cities with populations of 200,000 and above that are eligible for a direct allocation from the UST to complete an Expression of Intent survey by February 3, 2021. Jurisdictions are encouraged to submit their responses as soon as possible. By February 12, the same Cities and Counties with populations of 200,000 and above will be required to complete a final Expression of Intent Form submitted to the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) indicating: A.The Jurisdiction will participate in the State Program and will also direct its Federal Allocation through the State Program to serve its population. B.The Jurisdiction requests a State Block Grant and will conform to the State Program Rules when self-administering a combined Federal Allocation and State Block Grant local program. C.The Jurisdiction will not conform to the State Program Rules, will self-administer the Federal Allocation, acknowledges that the State will also serve its population via the State Program, and accepts responsibility for duplication of benefits checks between the two programs. Based on the final Expression of Intent Form, HCD will issue a Standard Agreement to eligible jurisdictions that select A or B to facilitate the transfer of funds either from the jurisdiction to HCD (option A) or from HCD to the jurisdiction (option B). EXHIBIT 7EXHIBIT 1