Excerpt
Date: Dec. 12, 2022 | Publication: Sandra Larson, Shelterforce | Link
“It was extremely frustrating to have a law with no money to implement it,” says attorney Matt Hill, team leader for the Human Right to Housing Program at the Public Justice Center, a Baltimore-based multi-issue legal advocacy group.
The Renters United Maryland (RUM) coalition, of which Public Justice Center is a founding partner, had campaigned for a large slate of tenant protections that year, and its members were keenly disappointed when nearly every bill they’d supported failed to pass.
Fast-forward one year, and the 2022 legislative session outcome was considerably brighter. RUM again advocated for numerous bills, and this time legislators passed almost all of them—including one that allotted funding for the Access to Counsel in Evictions Program, for which advocates can finally savor their victory.