Editorial: Evictions need answers, not hints

This is no time for hints.

On Tuesday, the moratoriums on evictions in Pennsylvania expired. Gov. Tom Wolf pushed the pause button on the legal process that removes renters from their homes. Nonpayment of rent is the most common reason for eviction and both the state and the federal government took those steps during the coronavirus pandemic, which left millions unemployed.

In July, the first time the moratorium expired, Wolf renewed it. This time he didn’t.

On Monday, there were stories about the governor coyly dangling hope.

“You have to wait and see,” he said when asked about another extension.

Tuesday he said he doesn’t have the legal bandwidth to do that. Instead, he pushed the Republican-led Legislature to take on the job.

According to a Spotlight PA story, Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa, D-Forest Hills, said that the issue should have been handled months ago, taking his GOP counterparts to task.

Costa’s not wrong. The issue should have been handled months ago. But if Wolf is only now conceding that he can’t handle this job unilaterally, one can hardly blame the other side for not pulling their load.

It seems like we’ve said this before — probably because we have said it far too often since March — but this is just the latest example of a necessary job getting tripped up by poor messaging in the Wolf administration.

And the people are the ones who pay the price. In this case, it’s the people who can’t afford to pay anything.

Yes, the governor’s people have claimed the determination that Wolf doesn’t have the authority to freeze evictions any further came after thoroughly reviewing the law. But as there have been lawsuits challenging his power and almost two months since the extension, this cannot be the first time he realized he isn’t all-powerful.

When people are facing losing their homes, they don’t need hedging. When they need to know if they have to pack or find a co-signer for a new lease or rent a moving van, they don’t need maybes.

What they need are concrete plans. They need facts, even if they aren’t facts they want to hear.

And if Pennsylvanians facing eviction had been told back in July that the now-expired moratorium would be the last that the governor could put in place, they could have done what they needed to do with more time.

That would have been especially helpful in the face of a problem-plagued rental assistance program. That, incidentally, is something the Legislature should have fixed over the last two months but didn’t. If the governor wants to spread the blame, there’s enough to go around.

But it all goes back to saying what you mean, meaning what you say and doing what needs to be done.

That’s not a hint, Governor. That’s the job.