Date: March 12, 2024To: Chairman Brown and members of the Senate Emerging Issues CommitteeFrom: Misha Smith, Affordable Housing Policy Manager, Empower MissouriRe: Opposition to HB 2062 Founded in 1901, Empower Missouri is the largest anti-poverty advocacy organization in the state. As part of our work, we convene a statewide Affordable Housing Coalition every month. This...Lee mas

Issued and enforced during rare and extreme instances of community-wide crises and emergency, eviction moratoria (plural of moratorium) are a short term intervention federal, state and local government can employ to prevent the level of community destabilization that mass layoffs, mass evictions, and sudden, widespread homelessness would cause. In simple terms, an eviction moratorium prevents...Lee mas

Evictions are one of the more visible symptoms of the compounding issues plaguing housing as we know it today, most glaringly the housing affordability crisis and the dismal state of tenant rights and protections currently afforded to renters in Missouri and  across the country. Evictions are a major contributor of homelessness within our communities. A...Lee mas

Matthew Desmond describes eviction as both a cause and a condition of poverty. What does that mean, and how should Missouri respond? First, it is important to understand that there are different forms of legal eviction in our state. If a tenant damages the property, breaks the law, or violates the lease (say, by having...Lee mas

Desde la fundación de Estados Unidos, nuestra constitución ha sido un documento guía importante para el país y cada estado. La Declaración de Derechos demuestra una justicia fundamental que debe aplicarse a todos los miembros del sistema judicial. Si bien es evidente que hubo algunos defectos importantes, incluida esa laguna gigante que permitió la esclavitud de seres humanos, ...Lee mas