Heartland Alliance is alarmed by the breakdown of negotiations between the White House and Congress over a new coronavirus relief package. The Executive Orders issued by the White House over the weekend fail to provide the support our nation needs and only create confusion and uncertainty. The White House and Congressional Leaders must return to the negotiating table at once and pass a bipartisan relief package to address the immense economic and public health challenges our country is facing. Lives literally depend on it.
We are in unprecedented times. Unemployment is well above the peak of the Great Recession, millions of households are behind on their rent, and COVID-19 is spreading unimpeded. This crisis is not behind us and it continues to fall inequitably upon Black and Latinx communities. Over 150,000 have died in the U.S. and almost twenty million are without work as a result of the pandemic. Heartland Alliance is seeing this devastation every day in our health clinics, food pantries, and housing programs. It is unconscionable that the White House and Congress would fail to pass additional relief because $1200 is not enough to support communities during the best of times and it is certainly not enough during the worst economic and health crisis we have seen in generations.
Illinoisans have been impacted by the pandemic and the deep recession that followed. Our communities, and communities across the nation, have many needs at this precarious moment, and the HEROES Act passed by the House three months ago is an excellent starting point to begin meeting those needs, but it cannot end there. We urge the White House and Congress to take that measure back up and ensure the following priorities are addressed in a comprehensive, robust legislative package:
- Redress deep racial inequities exacerbated by the pandemic by investing in health care and economic and educational resources in Black and Latinx communities;
- Provide direct financial assistance through SNAP, enhanced unemployment insurance benefits, and recurring cash payments so families can meet their basic needs;
- Prevent cuts to state health care, education, and public safety programs through flexible state and local funding;
- Increase housing stability by extending the moratorium on evictions and providing significant investments in emergency housing assistance; and
- Support pathways to employment and economic opportunity by investing in subsidized employment and transitional jobs programs to get people to work when it is safe to do so.
Our nation faces grave challenges. The White House and Congress cannot simply abdicate their responsibility to face those challenges – our leaders must do what is needed to reach agreement on a package that effectively addresses the crisis at hand and not only helps see our nation through it but puts us on a path to become a better nation once we are on the other side.
Call on Congress and the White House to reach a deal at 202-456-1111 or via email at whitehouse.gov/contact/
