Congress Must Act to Save Our Economy
By: Maureen Elizabeth O'Shea
Tags: Politics, Congress, Economics, Stimulus, Government

The United States is in the worst economic situation since the Great Depression and our political leaders argue with one another rather than doing their duty to serve and protect the American people. While one party seems to understand the seriousness of our economic situation the Republican party seems to have gone AWOL. While the Democrats in the House have passed the HEROS Act it does not go far enough to help the American people as this crisis continues. The bipartisan aid package and the package pitched by the current administration also fail to understand the seriousness of our economic situation. Congress must put aside partisanship and quickly pass a new bill that would better address the severity of this crisis.

A new stimulus bill must include a monthly stimulus for all Americans who earn less than $100,000 per year or are unemployed. Americans who earn less than $75,000 annually or are unemployed should receive $2,000 per month with an additional $1,000 per child 17 or younger. College students should receive $2,000 per month and should not be left out like they were in the CARES Act. The base payment should decrease as the income increased until the $100,000 salary threshold was reached.

The duration that one can claim federal unemployment insurance must also be lengthened to at least eighteen months. Given how rapidly the coronavirus is spreading in the United States it is unlikely that the unemployment rate will improve until a vaccine is readily available. Congress should include an additional $600 per week as that would further help stimulate the economy.

The federal government must also provide additional assistance to state and local governments. The absence of federal leadership has caused states and municipalities to fill the leadership vacuum as well as the expenses related to the pandemic. State and local officials have had to make tough decisions in how to best respond to the pandemic. Oftentimes they have been forced to choose between public health and pressure to allow activities that are detrimental to public health. This difficult decision has caused states to address the pandemic in different ways causing there to be a variety of responses to this crisis. The total fiscal number that the state and local governments will need will depend on how long the pandemic continues and how those states handle COVID-19 outbreaks. The number will be in the hundreds of billions at the very least and will be dependent on cooperation with vaccine, mask mandates, and other public health measures.

To better help Main Street it is essential that Congress renews the Paycheck Protection Program and implement stricter guidelines on which types of businesses can participate in this popular program. When PPP debuted small and minority owned businesses were left out as banks favored relationships with larger companies who had existing relationships with these institutions. As a result of this small and minority owned businesses and their employees suffered cruel and unnecessary financial hardship. To prevent larger companies from receiving these loans or fraud there must be strict oversight of these loans. Large corporations could also receive funding apart from PPP but it must come with strict conditions to prevent fraud and corruption.

Given the rate of unemployment and cost of healthcare we must do more to increase access to health insurance and prevent its loss. This could be done through an expansion of Medicaid and waivers to help with the cost of health insurance. Given that we will experience this pandemic until a vaccine is available to the general public it is essential that everyone has access to affordable healthcare.

OSHA must develop and enforce workplace guidelines to protect employees from contracting COVID-19. Unfortunately there are companies who continue to put profit over safety even in the midst of a global pandemic. Congress must not pass a bill that limits corporate liability. At a Tyson Food meat processing plant in Iowa managers placed bets on how many employees would contract COVID-19. As a result of this several Tyson plant managers have been suspended following an investigation and lawsuit by the family of Isidro Fernandez, a deceased employee of the Waterloo plant. Tyson Food had previously lobbied the Trump Administration to use the Defense Production Act to keep its plants open even though there were COVID-19 outbreaks within its facilities.

Though politicians claim that they want schools to remain open they have yet to provide the necessary funding to do that. Unless the federal government provides adequate funding, students and faculty may be forced into virtual learning or not be able to practice proper health protocols. As a result of federal inaction to provide the necessary resources to keep students, teachers, and staff safe there have been outbreaks occurring within schools.

This pandemic has also proven that we have a shortage of medical professionals. Even before COVID-19 there was a shortage and due to this crisis, the shortage has only become worse. Congress should pass a bill that would provide funding those who wish to become a doctor or nurse so that we can address this shortage while providing job training.

Congress must act to prevent the upcoming eviction and student loan crisis. The federal government must mandate a foreclosure, eviction, and student loan moratorium for the duration of the pandemic and for at least 6 months following the release of a widely available vaccine. Congress should also pass a bill that would allow borrowers to combine federal and private student loans into one loan backed by the federal government to prevent private lenders from entering into litigation with those who cannot afford to repay private student loans. While this author thinks that the federal government should cancel all student loans that prospect remains unlikely given the makeup of the Senate.

While the proposals mentioned in this article will amount to a multi-trillion dollar stimulus package the cost of not doing anything would result in significant harm to our economy. The House and Senate must act now before the damage becomes more severe and permanent.