Anticipating that the economic blow caused by the coronavirus will be felt for months, if not years, Spokane County leaders are in early talks about developing a rental assistance program.

The nascent discussions include the possibility of providing protections for tenants who make an honest effort to pay past due rent whenever temporary moratoriums on evictions expire, as well as offering direct payments to landlords who took a hit.

Through money distributed to states from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, Spokane City Council President Breean Beggs estimates that the county will receive a block grant between $74 million and $93 million.

“That gives us the horsepower to actually do something on rental assistance, among other priorities,” Beggs said, noting funding could also be directed to social service providers and struggling businesses.

The effort would require collaboration from regional leaders, including the Spokane County Board of Commissioners.

Leaders will meet this week to discuss the plans, according to Beggs.

Spokane County Commission Chairman Al French noted that local governments are still waiting for guidelines on how the emergency funding doled out by the federal and state government can be used.

“As the path forward becomes clearer, and the breadth of potential uses for resources becomes clearer, then it’s easier for us to make decisions,” French said.

A rental assistance program would have to fit within the scope of resources supplied to the region and also be a piece of a larger, regional effort focused on short-term mitigation and long-term recovery, French said.

“We’re coming together as a region around shaping that strategy,” French said.

The conversations demonstrate how policymakers are scrambling to react to an unprecedented and sharp decline in the economy, as record numbers of people across the state and nation apply for unemployment benefits.

Thus far, the Spokane City Council and Mayor Nadine Woodward have come to agreement on policies implemented to respond to the coronavirus. Last month, at the City Council’s request, Woodward signed an emergency declaration banning all eviction and foreclosure actions in the city of Spokane.

The moratorium, which strengthens protections already established by the Spokane County Superior Court and Gov. Jay Inslee, is impermanent and expires April 30.

“We don’t want people to be evicted on the first day the moratorium expires,” Beggs said.

Beggs envisions governments making payments directly to landlords for back rent, on the condition that they participate in the program and provide additional protections to tenants.

How extensive the program is depends on the money available, but Beggs said low-income residents and the landlords who rent to them should be the first priority.

For many, Friday was another missed paycheck, Woodward noted.

“People are going to need help digging themselves out on the other side of this,” Woodward said.

Woodward said she is particularly concerned about those in industries hardest hit by the social distancing measures implemented statewide, which have proven effective at slowing the spread of COVID-19 but wreaked havoc on the economy – particularly in tourism and hospitality.

Many of those workers were already working paycheck to paycheck, Woodward said.

Steve Corker, president of the Landlords Association of the Inland Northwest, has implored landlords to be flexible amid the economic crisis and predicted that landlords would welcome discussions about loan assistance and financial aid to tenants.

But still, it’s “so early,” said Corker, who has advised landlords not to expect an economic turnaround until September – assuming there isn’t another resurgence in the virus’ spread.

In the meantime, the vast majority of landlords will work with tenants to keep them put, according to Corker. Demand for vacant apartments has already almost disappeared, and it costs thousands of dollars to replace a tenant once they’re gone.

“The vast majority of landlords are just trying to get through the times,” Corker said.

Spokane is not alone in considering rental assistance for tenants.

The Washington Low Income Housing Alliance has advocated that the state Legislature pour significant funding into a statewide rental assistance fund that would keep tenants in their apartments and help landlords avoid foreclosure.

Woodward highlighted an opportunity the economic situation presents to retrain workers who have been laid off from jobs, like those in the restaurant industry or at hotels, for new careers in information technology, health care, manufacturing or the trades.

“While they’re unemployed, while they’re sitting idle wondering what their future looks like, we need to be retraining these individuals for the jobs of the future,” Woodward said.