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Coalition urges $25 million in state funds to continue emergency rental assistance pilot
Summary
A coalition including House ATL, Enterprise Community Partners and others asked the committee to appropriate $25 million to continue an emergency rental assistance program DCA piloted with the final federal ERA dollars.
A coalition of housing and legal aid groups told the subcommittee the Department of Community Affairs used the last federal emergency rental assistance dollars to operate a pilot that pairs legal services and rental aid for tenants facing eviction, and asked the General Assembly to appropriate $25,000,000 to continue the program in FY2026.
The coalition, represented by Elizabeth Apley on behalf of House ATL, Enterprise Community Partners, Corporation for Supportive Housing, 9 to 5 Georgia, and others, said more than one third of Georgia families rent and that many are cost burdened. The coalition said that when short‑term crises occur — job loss, medical emergency, death of a wage earner — households with little or no savings face rapid eviction; the coalition cited research that an eviction costs the local community roughly $11,200 per eviction in downstream public costs.
Pilot and program design: The coalition described a DCA pilot that used the final $55,000,000 in federal ERA funds and contracted with Atlanta Legal Aid and Georgia Legal Services to provide legal help and navigators; DCA had allocated approximately $2,000,000 per month for emergency rental assistance in the pilot. The coalition said the pilot is producing results and urged the committee to allocate $25,000,000 in FY2026 to continue the state program that provides short‑term assistance focused on rapid interventions to prevent evictions.
Ending: The group emphasized the request is intended to prevent the immediate harms of eviction and avoid higher downstream public costs associated with homelessness, child welfare and health outcomes. Committee members did not vote on the request during this session.
