From the Coalition on Human Needs (http://www.chn.org):
We are getting closer to sending much needed relief to struggling families and cash-strapped states. The House voted 219-212 on Saturday to send the $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package to the Senate.
Now, we need the Senate to act. And with a 50-50 divided Senate, there is no margin of error.
There are new reports that some Senators are backing off of their commitment to provide essential aid to states, schools and local governments—money that’s urgently needed to continue to provide essential services during and beyond the pandemic.
Write to our Senators right now at https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-the-senate-pass-covid-relief-now/ and urge them to pass pandemic relief immediately.
President Biden’s $1.9 trillion federal stimulus bill contains $350 billion in relief for state and local governments, plus $170 billion for education. These funds will play a critical role for dozens of states that have hemorrhaged tax revenue during the pandemic recession. Alaska, for instance, saw state revenues fall by more than 42% during the pandemic.1> And it is needed to allow schools to open safely, with the extra help children will need if they’ve fallen behind.
The bill, passed by the U.S. House, provides truly important help where it is most needed. It would extend jobless benefits, provide substantial increases to the Child Tax Credit and EITC—which would cut childhood poverty nearly in half—fund housing and nutrition aid, provide $1,400 direct payments to people throughout our country, fund vaccine distribution, prevent child care providers from shutting down permanently, expand health care, and much more.
This direct aid to people, families and communities is critical to helping those struggling from loss of income, and it’s critical to getting us through this deadly pandemic.
While the House measure extends unemployment benefits, we need it to go further. Millions of families throughout our country are facing the dire circumstances of losing a job through no fault of their own. The House bill lets jobless benefits expire at the end of August. Economists know that’s not enough time, and worse, Congress will be in recess and unable to extend benefits in a timely way. Together, we need to make sure Congress extends this essential lifeline to at least early October.
The Senate rules are standing in the way of including a minimum wage increase in this bill. That’s a big disappointment, but the Senate can still act—so the letter asks Senators to enact a $15 minimum wage ASAP.
Thank you for all you do to demand accountability from our political leaders and to fight for the needs of the vulnerable, the sick and the poor.
1 https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/01/business/covid-state-tax-revenue.html
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