The almost-too-late pandemic relief package passed by Congress will help preclude the Dickens-era prospect of as many as 240,000 Pennsylvania families being evicted from their apartments in the middle of winter.

It includes $25 billion to extend rent relief through Jan. 31. More important, it provides the incoming Biden administration the opportunity to extend the relief further, in accordance with the pace of anticipated economic recovery in 2021.

Now, with at least the prospect of relief at hand, the state Senate must ensure that it does not bungle the state-level program that actually oversees the distribution of the money.

Spotlight PA, an online nonprofit news organization that focuses on state government, has reported that the Senate failed to correct serious flaws in the original rental relief program that was funded by the first pandemic relief bill. The Wolf administration and House recognized that a cap of $750 a month caused many landlords not to participate, and that a burdensome application process also diminished participation.

The House unanimously passed proposed fixes to the program but the bill died in the Senate. According to the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, a whopping $108 million in rental relief funds, of the $150 million available, was not distributed for rent relief. Instead, the Legislature later decided to reallocate it to the Department of Corrections, where evictions are not exactly an issue.

The House bill would have eliminated the $750 cap and set payments based on average rental rates by region and it would vastly have simplified the application process.

Now that Congress has decided to extend rental relief, the Legislature should make sure that it is spent as intended.

— The Citizens’ Voice, Wilkes-Barre (TNS)