of course you can watch the senate on our companion network, c-span2. and the house here on c-span. later, we'll bring you the daily white house coronavirus task force briefing. president trump has been leading these updates on the federal government's response. that will be live scheduled right now for 5:00 p.m. eastern. we'll have it here for you on c-span. and finally, a special live evening edition of "washington journal." we'll exr the -- examine the federal and state response to the coronavirus pandemic. join us with your questions and comments week nights at 8:00 eastern here on c-span. "washington journal" continues. host: diane yentel here to talk about low income housing and the coronavirus outbreak. can you estimate how many economically distressed, low income homeowners and renters there are in america? guest: sure.

at the national income housing coalition, we look at extremely low income renters and housing needs. we know that nationally we have a shortage of seven million homes, affordable and available to the lowest income people. another way of saying that number is for every 100 of the lowest income renters, it is seniors, people disabilities, and others. out of 100 of them, there are 36 homes affordable and available to them. ofause of this shortage homes for the lowest income millionthere are over 8 extremely low income households who are paying more than half of their income toward rent. 60, of them are paying 50, 70% of their income every month just to keep a roof over their heads. when you have such limited income to begin with, you are one financial emergency away from not being able to pay the rent and facing potentially

eviction or homelessness. for many of these families, coronavirus will be that financial emergency. they are losing hours at work. they are losing their jobs. they are getting sick and they cannot show up to work. there are millions of families who are right on the cuts of cus of potential ofelessnessp -- cusp potential homelessness. there are half a million people who are actually homeless. to give our viewers more numbers, 43.7 million total renter households in the united states, nearly 11 million have incomes at or below the poverty median air% of the come -- income.

46% are seniors or a household with a disability. 37% are in the labor force. question is, will this $1200 check that the government is poised to pass for every adult american help these people? guest: there will be some help, but it is not enough. the packagee in that congress has negotiated and hopefully will soon pass that can help people who are homeless , especially when we look at the population of people experiencing homelessness. they are very vulnerable to the oldness, to getting very sick from the onis and potentially even dying. illness and potentially even dying. when you are homeless and sleeping in a homeless shelter or in an encampment, you're living in close quarters.

to do not have the ability self-isolate or quarantine if needed. it is just another reminder of how housing is health care, especially when our collective health depends on our ability to stay home. if there are people who are on house, who are not -- we are not able to actually contain this pandemic. the bill congress has negotiated, there are some significant resources that can go to homeless shelter providers and homeless outreach workers to help them change the way shelters work so they can allow people to social distancing and isolate if needed. more importantly, to work toward getting people who are homeless into affordable homes. there is not enough in the package to do that part of it, but there is some. it is a start. we will need to work with congress to get more, to make

sure everyone is stably housed during this pandemic. host: according to your group, there are other urgent needs for income renters. moratorium on evictions and foreclosures, rental assistance at eviction prevention, emergency funds for public housing and other housing providers, access to legal services and eviction crisis counseling. have you seen those needs be met by the administration with an executive order or with what congress is proposing? a little bit.s there is not enough in the agreements in congress or at the state and local level. towards some momentum the solutions. we talk about a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures, this is crucial. everybody should be assured that if we are affordably housed now we are not going to lose our home during this public health emergency. uniformeds to be a

federal policy that gives us that assurance through a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures. that is not the final package that congress is about to pass. this point, about a dozen states and two dozen cities that have passed these moratoriums on evictions or foreclosures. that is a start. it is not enough. also fannie mae freddie mac. they have implemented foreclosure moratoriums. in order to get mortgage forbearance, they first have to commit to not evicting any tenants and their properties. there are some preventions being put out there for renters, for low income homeowners, but we

need more to assure everybody they will not lose their home. too.l is critical, it is critical that it be tied with eviction moratoriums because we want to make sure that it the end of this crisis, when these moratoriums are lifted, that low income renters do not have a cliff they're going to fall off of in terms of back rent that is owed. we do not want low income renters at the end of this defined they are settled even more with debt. at the same time, small property owners, small landlords can continue to maintain and operate units if they do not have rental income coming in. we want to end the crisis without having lost the affordable housing stock in this country. you have to provide tens of billions of dollars in rental assistance to ensure we keep the affordable housing stock that exists and protect low income renters from increased debt.

rental assistance, there is a small amount included in this federal bill that will be passed soon. there is other money that can be used for that same purpose, through disaster funds potentially. workll have to continue to and push congress to do more. host: we have divided the lines. .enters, (202) 748-8001 homeowners, (202) 748-8000. all others, (202) 748-8002. before we get to your calls, some breaking news on cnn. prince charles, the queen's suntan first in line to the british throne, has tested positive for coronavirus. your question or comment about this issue. caller: i have a couple briefly. thank you for being on. thank you for c-span.

homebuyer.-time i bought -- i am a first-time homebuyer. i bought my first house. i closed the day the market crashed. i am curious how you see housing prices persisting through this process. i am fortunate enough to be able to cover my mortgage, but i guess i am curious. in order to encourage people to the home and to accommodate economic issues, why can we not just freeze everything for two months, freeze all rents, all mortgage payments? i know that would cause a huge cascade of issues i am sure i am not thinking about. has that been considered? realistically, what would that look like? guest: that is a great question. rent freezes are part of the conversation.

there are some communities in california. i believe there was one city yesterday or county that either put forward the proposal to have a rent freeze or may have passed it. things are moving so quickly it is hard to keep up with state and local changes that are happening, rent freezes or eviction moratoriums, foreclosure moratoriums. who, are a lot of people whether they are first-time homebuyers, new homebuyers, or longtime homeowners, are worried now about how, over time, they are going to be able to pay their mortgage, especially if you are at risk of losing work hours because of the shutdowns insidious or if you are losing your job for the same reason -- in cities or if you are losing your job for the same reason. people are getting sick or family members are getting sick and they are having to lose work hours. this is the reason we are pushing so hard to give both

renters and homeowners and assurance that they can keep their homes during this emergency and that they will not be saddled with debt as a result when this crisis ends. there are a number of different proposals that have been enacted or are under consideration that will give some of that assurance. some of it is at the state and local level, where they are passing moratoriums on any kind of foreclosures or mortgage forbearance. provisions ofr the bill being considered in congress on the income side. part of the reason people are concerned they may not be able to pay rent or mortgage is they might have lowered salaries, lowered incomes. congress has been working to expand unemployment insurance. i do not know the full details of what is in the final deal

just announced. i know that the democrats were certainly pushing hard and republicans were agreeing that there needs to be significantly expanded unemployment insurance that would cover all workers, including workers in the gig economy or self-employed people and would provide full salaries for up to four months. again, giving some assurance to people that, even if there is not specific programs or funding coming in on rental assistance or mortgage assistance, that people who have jobs now, whether or not they keep those jobs, they would maintain that income for a period of time to get us through that crisis. correct that it seems, according to reporting by the hill and politico this morning, that they have agreed to four months of unemployment insurance. .e will see what else we have to wait to see the details behind that, but it does

appear they have agreed to that. do you have a thought on that? guest: that is significant. that will certainly help people who would be at risk of losing hours or having income go down as a result of the crisis. when it does not do is help the , --le who are already before coronavirus, we had 8 million households that were already low income. many are already working, multiple jobs, even low-wage jobs, and they are barely able to make ends meet. it does not help those households that are on the cusp of homelessness even before coronavirus happened. host: shall be a homeowner. -- shelby, a homeowner. diane, fornk you, your work, and also c-span. i would like to comment on the

retirees that have worked hard all their life trying to make ends meet. the so-called increase in our -- the amount on it don't hardly come over $10 plus on your income, which is to me laughable. i do not know if they think we are uneducated and do not realize it, but i did. i compared. i am trying to consider thinking what kind of job extra could i orwith my health condition what my ability can be to make ats meet, to do things here

the home that needs repairs that i do not have the money for. it is sad. couple years back with human services. -- it is so laughable. to get any help, you cannot make over $1250 a month to get any help. that is ridiculous. take any income from social security because i do not even fileh now to taxes. i used to work all my life. my spouse passed away. i do not have that income. the -- i used to make good money

and was fine. i considered myself middle-class, but now i am in a low class income rocket. host: i'm going to have diane yentel respond. your sharingeciate your story. you are not alone. certainly a lot lots of seniors across the country are struggling with their health care needs and housing costs. segmentbig part of the of the population that we focus on, especially when we look at people who are extremely low income. there are about half of the households are seniors or people with disabilities. the other half are mostly working but working low-wage jobs and the kind of jobs where it is difficult to cobble together enough hours in the week to make ends meet.

the challenges are real. people are struggling to be able to afford to pay their rent every month or to pay their mortgage in the case of homeowners. they are having to resort to impossible choices between paying the rent or buying the medication they need or paying for the books their child needs for school or keeping a roof over their heads. these are impossible choices that nobody should have to make, especially in a country as wealthy as ours. it is why we push so hard to increase the solutions, to increase funding for solutions to make homes affordable for everybody, especially targeting resources toward those most in need, which are the lowest income people, including seniors, people with disabilities, and low-wage workers. cnn is interviewing the

minority leader, chuck schumer, democratic reader of new york. the senatororting saying the checks included for americans in this legislation, the $1200 checks, he expects they could be out by april 6. diane yentel, do you have thoughts on how that turnaround? does that help? guest: it is important. rent is due april 1 for many millions of people across the country who are, like our last caller, wondering how they are going to pay that rent or their mortgage. some cash and people's -- in people's pockets quickly will help. it will not be enough to meet all of the needs that this virus, this illness is creating in our country. the struggles at the lowest -- that the lowest income people are facing as a result.

billther resources in this , we need to make sure they get out as quickly as possible to local communities. i am thinking especially of the $4 million that will be appropriated for emergency solutions that goes to homeless shelter providers and outreach workers. these are front-line workers who are doing incredibly challenging work with overwhelming demands. they are on the front lines but without any of the equipment that doctors and nurses have to keep them safe. the homeless outreach workers who do not have hand sanitizer, much less gloves or masks. or you have shelter providers who have people experiencing homelessness in their shelter a confirmed positive with coronavirus and they do not

have the ability to isolate them from others in the shelter. resources for these communities are badly needed to allow shelter providers to lease hotel rooms, to put people into apartments, to even build out new wings or put up structures that allow them to separate people within their shelter so they can implement social distancing and keep people safe if they are -- if they contract the >> see the rest of this "washington journal" conversation at c-span.org. going to go live now to british prime minister boris johnson on the u.k.'s strategy on the coronavirus pandemic. prime minister johnson: i'd like to update you-all on the government's plan to defeat the virus and on the latest developments. i'm joined once again by our chief medical officer, professor s