McHenry Times

The Illinois Rental Payment Program reopens to applications on Monday, State Sen. Don DeWitte (R-St.Charles) reminded constituents on Facebook.

The Rental Assistance Program is operated by the Illinois Housing Development Authority. It was instituted during the pandemic to help keep families housed and ensure tenants and housing providers/landlords are financially secure. The ultimate intent is to prevent a wave of evictions due to the economic impact of COVID-19. 

Renters whose primary residence is in Illinois and who are behind on rent due to economic hardship from COVID-19 are eligible for up to 15 months of rental payments to cover unpaid rent from June 2020 through August 2021.

Helping renters under hardship get economic relief is just one of DeWitte's priorities. Earlier this month he demanded action on bills aimed to fight crime and panned state Democrats' approach.

“The Democrats' approach is not working,” DeWitte said at the time, McHenry Times reported. “The people of Illinois want and need their legislators to find solutions to this very serious violent crime problem in our state. They want to see accountability. They want violent offenders put in jail. Because the Democrats have ignored our bills, we are now obviously short on time for their consideration during the veto session.”

DeWitte said Republicans filed the package of legislation as an amendment onto Senate Bill 1291.

“That bill is already on third reading,” he said. “We could begin the process today and pass this vital legislation. Instead, the war on victims continues in the state of Illinois.”

In September, he helped constituents with $250 million in grants earmarked for small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, McHenry Times reported. The grants range from $5,000 to $150,000 per business.