Support Essential Frontline Workers

Essential frontline workers are the true heroes of America’s COVID-19 pandemic response. Many are risking their health for only minimum wage. And if they get sick, most are not entitled to sick days to get well and also keep their job.¹ Forty percent of workers over 50 years old -- the populations most vulnerable to the novel coronavirus -- lack paid sick leave.² An estimated 21 percent of all workers are in "high-contact" occupations, requiring face-to-face and close physical interactions with the public.³ All hourly workers risking their lives should earn a living wage of at least $16.14 per hour. Senate Democrats’ COVID-19 "Heroes Fund" proposal for pandemic premium pay will reward, retain and recruit essential frontline workers. This includes a $25,000 pandemic premium pay increase for essential frontline workers, equivalent to a raise of an additional $13 per hour from the start of the public health emergency until Dec. 31, 2020, and a $15,000 recruitment incentive for health and home care workers and first responders to attract and secure the workforce needed to fight the public health crisis.⁴

Furthermore, the federal government should expand emergency paid leave beyond what was included in the CARES Act. At this time, only 12 states and D.C. have enacted similar laws requiring paid sick leave. All states should meet this challenge or give local governments the ability to enact local paid family and sick leave policies. Employees in places like grocery stores, pharmacies and warehouses who remain on the job need protection too. In addition, workers who contract coronavirus or are caring for a family member with coronavirus need medical leave as well. We should provide emergency paid sick days and paid family and medical leave to workers in companies with 500 or more employees. All frontline workers should be entitled to emergency paid sick leave that they can use if they get sick or need to be quarantined. Longer-term leave should be expanded to include coronavirus-related medical and family caregiving leave, and coverage of caregivers for older adults and adults with disabilities should be expanded.⁵

Congress should also enact Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Representative Ro Khanna’s (D-CA) Essential Workers Bill of Rights so they have access to health and safety protections, robust premium compensation, protections for collective bargaining agreements, truly universal paid sick leave and family and medical leave, protections for whistleblowers, an end to worker misclassification, healthcare security and support for child care--treating workers as experts and holding corporations accountable for meeting their responsibilities.⁶

The absence of paid sick leave policies in southern states also puts communities at greater risk. Too few workers in the South, especially workers in low-wage jobs, have access to paid sick leave.⁷ No states in the South require all employers to provide paid sick leave, and recent attempts to pass legislation in Kentucky, Louisiana, Virginia and West Virginia have not yet advanced.⁸ State action to implement emergency paid sick time is particularly important in southern states where jobs have lower wages and are less likely to be in financial activities, information industries and education and health services, which have the highest access to paid leave. At a time when the importance of paid leave has been laid bare, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Tennessee all prohibit local governments from providing paid leave to their constituents. State policymakers should provide at least 14 days of emergency paid sick days that are immediately available regardless of accrued time to all workers in businesses of all sizes, in order to reduce community spread of the novel coronavirus.⁹

The COVID-19 pandemic is making us all reassess what is considered essential work, from health care providers to grocery workers and factory line workers. If the federal government is not going to make a definitive statement on the value of their work in light of this pandemic and the public health threat it represents, then state governments should raise their minimum wage or give local governments the freedom to raise their local wage floors. The federal minimum wage remains $7.25 per hour. But at this time, only 29 states and D.C. have set their minimum wages above that level.¹⁰

---

_{End Notes
1.}
https://www.policylink.org/sites/default/files/pcsr_equitable_econ_final.pdf
_2.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/teresaghilarducci/2020/03/15/vulnerable-older-workers-need-paid-sick-leave-to-stem-coronavirus-spread/#1fec76fb342a
_3.
https://www.stlouisfed.org/on-the-economy/2020/march/social-distancing-contact-intensive-occupations
_4.
https://www.brookings.edu/research/covid-19s-essential-workers-deserve-hazard-pay-heres-why-and-how-it-should-work/
_5.
https://www.cbpp.org/economy/commentary-policymakers-should-expand-emergency-paid-leave-in-next-coronavirus-package
_6.
https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/elizabeth-warren-and-ro-khanna-unveil-essential-workers-bill-of-rights
_7.
https://www.epi.org/blog/lack-of-paid-sick-days-and-large-numbers-of-uninsured-increase-risks-of-spreading-the-coronavirus/
_8.
https://www.abetterbalance.org/resources/map-of-paid-sick-time-laws/
_9.
https://www.epi.org/blog/southern-state-policymakers-must-do-more-to-respond-to-the-coronavirus-pandemic-medicaid-expansion-emergency-paid-sick-leave-and-dedicated-public-health-resources-are-especially-needed/
_10.
https://www.cbpp.org/research/economy/policy-basics-the-minimum-wage

Support Essential Frontline Workers

Essential frontline workers are the true heroes of America’s COVID-19 pandemic response. Many are risking their health for only minimum wage. And if they get sick, most are not entitled to sick days to get well and also keep their job.¹ Forty percent of workers over 50 years old - the populations most vulnerable to the novel coronavirus - lack paid sick leave.² An estimated 21 percent of all workers are in "high-contact" occupations, requiring face-to-face and close physical interactions with the public.³ All hourly workers risking their lives should earn a living wage of at least $16.14 per hour. Senate Democrats’ COVID-19 "Heroes Fund" proposal for pandemic premium pay will reward, retain and recruit essential frontline workers. This includes a $25,000 pandemic premium pay increase for essential frontline workers, equivalent to a raise of an additional $13 per hour from the start of the public health emergency until Dec. 31, 2020, and a $15,000 recruitment incentive for health and home care workers and first responders to attract and secure the workforce needed to fight the public health crisis.⁴

Furthermore, the federal government should expand emergency paid leave beyond what was included in the CARES Act. At this time, only 12 states and DC have enacted similar laws requiring paid sick leave. All states should meet this challenge or give local governments the ability to enact local paid family and sick leave policies. Employees in places like grocery stores, pharmacies and warehouses who remain on the job need protection too. In addition, workers who contract coronavirus or are caring for a family member with coronavirus need medical leave as well. We should provide emergency paid sick days and paid family and medical leave to workers in companies with 500 or more employees. All frontline workers should be entitled to emergency paid sick leave that they can use if they get sick or need to be quarantined. Longer-term leave should be expanded to include coronavirus-related medical and family caregiving leave, and coverage of caregivers for older adults and adults with disabilities should be expanded.⁵

Congress should also enact Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Ro Khanna’s Essential Workers Bill of Rights so they have access to health and safety protections, robust premium compensation, protections for collective bargaining agreements, truly universal paid sick leave and family and medical leave, protections for whistleblowers, an end to worker misclassification, health care security and support for child care -- treating workers as experts and holding corporations accountable for meeting their responsibilities.⁶

The absence of paid sick leave policies in Southern states also puts communities at greater risk. Too few workers in the South, especially workers in low-wage jobs, have access to paid sick leave.⁷ No states in the South require all employers to provide paid sick leave, and recent attempts to pass legislation in Kentucky, Louisiana, Virginia and West Virginia have not yet advanced.⁸ State action to implement emergency paid sick time is particularly important in Southern states where jobs have lower wages and are less likely to be in financial activities, information industries and education and health services, which have the highest access to paid leave. At a time when the importance of paid leave has been laid bare, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Tennessee all prohibit local governments from providing paid leave to their constituents. State policymakers should provide at least 14 days of emergency paid sick days that are immediately available regardless of accrued time to all workers in businesses of all sizes, in order to reduce community spread of the novel coronavirus.⁹

The COVID-19 pandemic is making us all reassess what is considered essential work, from health care providers to grocery workers and factory line workers. If the federal government is not going to make a definitive statement on the value of their work in light of this pandemic and the public health threat it represents, then state governments should raise their minimum wage or give local governments the freedom to raise their local wage floors. The federal minimum wage remains $7.25 per hour. But at this time, only 29 states and DC have set their minimum wages above that level.¹⁰

---

_{End Notes
1.}
https://www.policylink.org/sites/default/files/pcsr_equitable_econ_final.pdf
_2.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/teresaghilarducci/2020/03/15/vulnerable-older-workers-need-paid-sick-leave-to-stem-coronavirus-spread/#1fec76fb342a
_3.
https://www.stlouisfed.org/on-the-economy/2020/march/social-distancing-contact-intensive-occupations
_4.
https://www.brookings.edu/research/covid-19s-essential-workers-deserve-hazard-pay-heres-why-and-how-it-should-work/
_5.
https://www.cbpp.org/economy/commentary-policymakers-should-expand-emergency-paid-leave-in-next-coronavirus-package
_6.
https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/elizabeth-warren-and-ro-khanna-unveil-essential-workers-bill-of-rights
_7.
https://www.epi.org/blog/lack-of-paid-sick-days-and-large-numbers-of-uninsured-increase-risks-of-spreading-the-coronavirus/
_8.
https://www.abetterbalance.org/resources/map-of-paid-sick-time-laws/
_9.
https://www.epi.org/blog/southern-state-policymakers-must-do-more-to-respond-to-the-coronavirus-pandemic-medicaid-expansion-emergency-paid-sick-leave-and-dedicated-public-health-resources-are-especially-needed/
_10.
https://www.cbpp.org/research/economy/policy-basics-the-minimum-wage

Support Essential Frontline Workers

Essential frontline workers are the true heroes of America’s COVID-19 pandemic response. Many are risking their health for only minimum wage. And if they get sick, most are not entitled to sick days to get well and also keep their job.¹ Forty percent of workers over 50 years old - the populations most vulnerable to the novel coronavirus - lack paid sick leave.² An estimated 21 percent of all workers are in "high-contact" occupations, requiring face-to-face and close physical interactions with the public.³ All hourly workers risking their lives should earn a living wage of at least $16.14 per hour. Senate Democrats’ COVID-19 "Heroes Fund" proposal for pandemic premium pay will reward, retain and recruit essential frontline workers. This includes a $25,000 pandemic premium pay increase for essential frontline workers, equivalent to a raise of an additional $13 per hour from the start of the public health emergency until Dec. 31, 2020, and a $15,000 recruitment incentive for health and home care workers and first responders to attract and secure the workforce needed to fight the public health crisis

Furthermore, the federal government should expand emergency paid leave beyond what was included in the CA.⁴RES Act. At this time, only 12 states and DC have enacted similar laws requiring paid sick leave. All states should meet this challenge or give local governments the ability to enact local paid family and sick leave policies. Employees in places like grocery stores, pharmacies and warehouses who remain on the job need protection too. In addition, workers who contract coronavirus or are caring for a family member with coronavirus need medical leave as well. We should provide emergency paid sick days and paid family and medical leave to workers in companies with 500 or more employees. All frontline workers should be entitled to emergency paid sick leave that they can use if they get sick or need to be quarantined. Longer-term leave should be expanded to include coronavirus-related medical and family caregiving leave, and coverage of caregivers for older adults and adults with disabilities should be expanded.⁵

Congress should also enact Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Ro Khanna’s Essential Workers Bill of Rights so they have access to health and safety protections, robust premium compensation, protections for collective bargaining agreements, truly universal paid sick leave and family and medical leave, protections for whistleblowers, an end to worker misclassification, health care security and support for child care -- treating workers as experts and holding corporations accountable for meeting their responsibilities.⁶

The absence of paid sick leave policies in Southern states also puts communities at greater risk. Too few workers in the South, especially workers in low-wage jobs, have access to paid sick leave. No states in the South require all employers to provide paid sick leave, and recent attempts to pass legislation in Kentucky, Louisiana, Virginia and West Virginia have not yet advanced. State action to implement emergency paid sick time is particularly important in Southern states where jobs have lower wages and are less likely to be in financial activities, information industries and education and health services, which have the highest access to paid leave. At a time when the importance of paid leave has been laid bare, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Tennessee all prohibit local governments from providing paid leave to their constituents. State policymakers should provide at least 14 days of emergency paid sick days that are immediately available regardless of accrued time to all workers in businesses of all sizes, in order to reduce community spread of the novel coronavirus.

The COVID-19 pandemic is making us all reassess what is considered essential work, from health care providers to grocery workers and factory line workers. If the federal government is not going to make a definitive statement on the value of their work in light of this pandemic and the public health threat it represents, then state governments should raise their minimum wage or give local governments the freedom to raise their local wage floors. The federal minimum wage remains $7.25 per hour. But at this time, only 29 states and DC have set their minimum wages above that level.

---

_{End Notes
1.}
https://www.policylink.org/sites/default/files/pcsr_equitable_econ_final.pdf
_2.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/teresaghilarducci/2020/03/15/vulnerable-older-workers-need-paid-sick-leave-to-stem-coronavirus-spread/#1fec76fb342a
_3.
https://www.stlouisfed.org/on-the-economy/2020/march/social-distancing-contact-intensive-occupations
_4.
https://www.brookings.edu/research/covid-19s-essential-workers-deserve-hazard-pay-heres-why-and-how-it-should-work/
_5.
https://www.cbpp.org/economy/commentary-policymakers-should-expand-emergency-paid-leave-in-next-coronavirus-package
_6.
https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/elizabeth-warren-and-ro-khanna-unveil-essential-workers-bill-of-rights
_7.
https://www.epi.org/blog/lack-of-paid-sick-days-and-large-numbers-of-uninsured-increase-risks-of-spreading-the-coronavirus/
_8.
https://www.abetterbalance.org/resources/map-of-paid-sick-time-laws/
_9.
https://www.epi.org/blog/southern-state-policymakers-must-do-more-to-respond-to-the-coronavirus-pandemic-medicaid-expansion-emergency-paid-sick-leave-and-dedicated-public-health-resources-are-especially-needed/
_10.
https://www.cbpp.org/research/economy/policy-basics-the-minimum-wage

Helping the Unemployed

The United States does not have a single nationwide system for getting unemployment benefits to jobless workers because this is controlled at the state level. Because state rules vary so much, the share of people the government counts as unemployed who actually receive unemployment benefits varies too. Under the CARES Act, all states are allowed to provide up to 13 additional weeks of federally funded extended unemployment insurance benefits to people who exhaust their regular state benefits. Under the Act, through the end of this year, people who exhaust both regular and extended benefits, and many others who have lost their jobs for reasons arising from the pandemic but who are not normally eligible for unemployment insurance in their state, are eligible for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. People can receive a maximum of 39 weeks of benefits this year from all three sources combined. The standard maximum for most states is 26 weeks with the exception of Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama, Kansas, Missouri and Idaho whose maximums vary from 12 to 21 weeks.¹ These states should expand access to unemployment insurance so that all workers impacted by COVID-19 in 2020 can receive the maximum benefits under the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC). This should include self-employed and gig workers eligible for FPUC benefits.

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act allows states to modify their unemployment compensation laws and policies to better address the labor market impacts of the coronavirus. Unemployment insurance programs in the South need to be turbocharged given the millions of jobs at stake and the billions of dollars of potential lost wages and salaries. This is particularly urgent since a number of southern states have led in the steepest decline in unemployed workers accessing unemployment insurance in the years since the Great Recession, by cutting benefit amounts and imposing significant barriers to access.² The Economic Policy Institute recommends southern state policymakers should expand access by increasing funding for administering unemployment insurance, lowering weekly earning requirements to include all low-wage workers and eliminating work search requirements and waiting periods. They should also strengthen benefits by increasing the percentage of lost wages replaced and extending the duration of unemployment insurance to at least 26 weeks.³ Implementing or expanding work share programs as part of the unemployment insurance program can serve to minimize wage loss caused by unemployment and preserve existing employee-employer matches. State policymakers should address the increasing number of unemployment claims by dropping the existing requirements for minimum earnings and the one week waiting period to receive benefits so that a greater share of covered workers can claim unemployment compensation. Additionally, states may broaden unemployment insurance coverage to non-covered workers.⁴

---

_{End Notes
1.}
https://www.cbpp.org/research/economy/policy-basics-how-many-weeks-of-unemployment-compensation-are-available
_2.
https://s27147.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/Closing-Doors-on-the-Unemployed12_19_17-1.pdf
_3.
https://www.epi.org/blog/higher-rates-of-poverty-and-incarceration-put-frontline-workers-and-communities-in-southern-states-at-greater-risk-from-the-coronavirus/
_4.
http://www.theseap.org/wp-content/uploads/SEAP-Southern-State-Responses-to-COVID-19-1.pdf

Federal Prepaid Debit Card Program

According to the 2017 FDIC National Survey, 25 percent of U.S. households are unbanked or underbanked.¹ This is due in part to 30 percent saying they do not trust banks and 9 percent reporting that banks are inconveniently located, like in the rural South where community banks have been in decline for decades. Americans impacted by COVID-19, through no fault of their own, have been counting on receiving a federal stimulus payment in response to COVID-19. But what about those millions who have not filed taxes in either of the last two years and may be left out? While the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has launched a tool to get payments out for those who filed a tax return in 2018 or 2019, and another for those who did not have to file in either year because their incomes were too low, the Department of Treasury should use Direct Express™ federal prepaid debit cards to ensure everyone has access to this critical federal benefit. Delays in the delivery of mailed stimulus checks have resulted in dire consequences for millions. Those in need cannot afford delays in subsequent rounds of payments. Direct Express™ was designed to deliver Social Security and veterans benefits to the unbanked and underbanked and should be employed to increase delivery of stimulus payments during this economic crisis.²

---

_{End Notes
1.}
https://www.fdic.gov/householdsurvey/
_2.
https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/treasury-should-use-federal-prepaid-debit-card-program-distribute-relief-payments-unbanked

Food Security

As a result of COVID-19, schools are closed across the country, but school nutrition professionals continue to work on the front lines to tackle food insecurity in their communities. Many school districts have maintained fixed expenses such as salaries while taking on unanticipated expenses such as hazard pay and transportation costs. Last year between the months of March and June, school nutrition programs served more than 2.5 billion meals and snacks, receiving over $5 billion in reimbursement. Today, programs are serving only a fraction of those meals, forcing programs to tap into fund balances and draw upon lines of credit to sustain their operations. Congress should provide $2.6 billion to sustain school nutrition programs during this crisis¹ and reimburse schools for their temporary increase in costs due to packaging food, transporting food to sites and employee time.

The federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the nation’s most important anti-hunger program. Before COVID-19, it helped 40 million low-income Americans afford a nutritionally adequate diet.² In response to the pandemic, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has increased SNAP benefits to $2 billion per month across all 50 states and 3 territories.³ As millions more Americans face uncertainty because of the pandemic, the federal government should raise maximum SNAP benefits and suspend the program’s three-month time limit on benefits for jobless adults who are not raising children in their homes. The SNAP provisions enacted so far, which include a temporary suspension of the time limit, are in effect only for when the public health emergency is in effect — they very likely would end before the economy recovers — and leave out nearly 40 percent of SNAP households. SNAP benefits must be increased by 15%, eligibility must be expanded until the economy shows solid signs of recovering from the downturn, and all waivers should extend through the end of 2020. Further, the USDA must allow the use of SNAP benefits for online grocery ordering and delivery, expand and extend Pandemic EBT cards, and allow the use of SNAP at restaurants through an expanded Restaurant Meals Program.

Further, because states administer SNAP benefits, the federal government should provide additional funding to meet the rising demand for service.⁴ The Families First Coronavirus Response Act provided options for emergency SNAP supplements to states. The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities advises that all states should take advantage of this flexibility to maintain benefits to households with children missing school meals.⁵ The Economic Policy Institute recommends that states can also remove barriers to receiving direct income support such as unnecessary work requirements, approve applications for SNAP and Special Supplemental Nutrition for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) over the phone or online rather than in person, and continue to provide food for children receiving free or reduced-price meals in schools.⁶

---

_{End Notes
1.}
https://schoolnutrition.org/uploadedFiles/5_News_and_Publications/1_News/2020/04_April/COVID-19-SNA-Advocates-for-Funding-to-Offset-Losses.pdf
_2.
https://www.cbpp.org/research/food-assistance/policy-basics-the-supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap
_3.
https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2020/04/22/usda-increases-monthly-snap-benefits-40
_4.
https://www.cbpp.org/blog/latest-coronavirus-response-package-doesnt-boost-snap-the-next-one-should
_5.
https://www.cbpp.org/research/food-assistance/most-states-are-easing-snap-participation-rules-and-providing-added
_6.
https://www.epi.org/blog/higher-rates-of-poverty-and-incarceration-put-frontline-workers-and-communities-in-southern-states-at-greater-risk-from-the-coronavirus/

Medicaid Expansion

In order to make healthcare more accessible, southern states must take steps to expand, amplify and simplify the Medicaid application and enrollment process. Frontline and essential workers are now vital to how we emerge from this crisis. But those that are people of color are over twice as likely to be uninsured than white people.¹ Fourteen states have yet to expand Medicaid, including 7 in the South, leaving 9 million southerners without health insurance coverage. This is especially problematic because several of these states, including Alabama, Florida and West Virginia are among the states with the greatest share of adults with a higher risk of serious illness if infected by the novel coronavirus.² As a result of not expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), southern states which had just 38 percent of all rural hospitals in the U.S. in 2013, have accounted for 77 percent of rural hospital closures from 2013 to 2017.³ Medicaid expansion by these remaining states would extend insurance to 1.3 million Southerners.⁴ In the 36 states and D.C., which have expanded Medicaid, most workers earning low wages can qualify for coverage, but we know that not everyone who is eligible enrolls, at least in part because of the level of paperwork and red tape in the application process. States with their own health insurance exchanges should create special enrollment periods beyond those required by the ACA. To date, 12 states with this option have elected to implement a special enrollment period right now, allowing people to enroll during the COVID-19 crisis. The Economic Policy Institute advises that southern state policymakers should expand Medicaid coverage and streamline enrollment without introducing additional barriers such as premiums or work requirements.⁵ States should also implement a state-only Medicaid program to insure essential workers. People who are stuck in the coverage gap or otherwise ineligible for subsidies on the Marketplace are still eligible to purchase coverage—but at full cost (unfortunately, this is not true for people who are undocumented). States could offer funds to pay for premiums and cost-sharing obligations for marketplace coverage.

---

_{End Notes
1.}
https://www.policylink.org/sites/default/files/pcsr_racial_equity_final.pdf
_2.
https://www.kff.org/global-health-policy/issue-brief/how-many-adults-are-at-risk-of-serious-illness-if-infected-with-coronavirus/
_3.
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/healthcare/reports/2019/09/09/474001/rural-hospital-closures-reduce-access-emergency-care/
_4.
http://www.theseap.org/wp-content/uploads/SEAP-Southern-State-Responses-to-COVID-19-1.pdf
_5.
https://www.epi.org/blog/southern-state-policymakers-must-do-more-to-respond-to-the-coronavirus-pandemic-medicaid-expansion-emergency-paid-sick-leave-and-dedicated-public-health-resources-are-especially-needed/

Health Equity

Due to preexisting health disparities, socioeconomic inequality, environmental toxins and structural racism, communities of color are disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. People of color are more likely to have chronic health conditions, such as heart disease and asthma, that put them at higher risk for complications from the virus. People of color and immigrants are less likely to be insured, and many communities of color face shortages of healthcare providers, making it difficult to access appropriate and timely care. People of color are also more likely to work in low-wage jobs that cannot be done remotely and to have fewer financial resources to draw on in the event of health problems or economic disruption, making it more difficult to avoid exposure. Low-income communities, people with disabilities, immigrants and tribal communities are also on the frontlines of the coronavirus crisis. Early reporting on racial disparities in COVID-19 testing and treatment suggest that Black and Latinx communities have been among the hardest hit. In Louisiana, 70 percent of those who have died from COVID-19 so far are Black, compared with 32 percent of the state’s population. In Michigan, Black Americans account for 33 percent of confirmed COVID-19 cases and 40 percent of fatalities, despite making up only 14 percent of the state’s population. Similar trends have been reported in Milwaukee, Illinois and North Carolina.

Congress should approve Senator Elizabeth Warren’s (D-MA) Equitable Data Collection and Disclosure on COVID-19 Act. This bill would require the reporting of the following data disaggregated by race, ethnicity, sex, age, socioeconomic status, disability status, county and other demographic information in regards to testing, treatment and outcomes. It would also authorize $50 million in funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), state public health agencies, the Indian Health Service and other agencies to improve their data collection infrastructure and create an inter-agency commission to make recommendations on improving data collection and transparency and responding equitably to this crisis.¹

---

_{End Notes
1.}
https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/senator-warren-introducing-bicameral-legislation-to-require-federal-government-to-collect-and-report-coronavirus-demographic-data_--including-race-and-ethnicity

Prioritize Equity in Budgeting

Local governments stand to lose millions of dollars in revenue as a result of the shutdown of businesses and organizations caused by COVID-19. Several have begun revising their budgets, cutting spending and furloughing employees which will negatively impact critical public services. As the consequences of this public health emergency come more into perspective, it is essential that local elected leaders ensure city and county budgets address COVID-19 economic impacts through a racial equity lens to reduce potential harm to under-served and marginalized individuals and communities. The National League of Cities, which serves the interests of 19,000 cities, towns and villages has called on city leaders across the country to issue a statement or formal resolution affirming their commitment to the values of equity and to work to ensure that this crisis does not exacerbate existing inequities, risks and burdens often borne disproportionately by communities of color and low-income people. Similar to environmental impact statements, racial equity impact assessments can help local leaders to understand the racial equity implications of an existing or proposed policy, program or institutional practice, and determine if it will ameliorate or exacerbate existing economic and social inequities.

Read More About Equity in Budget Cuts

---

_{End Notes
1.}
https://citiesspeak.org/2020/03/19/prioritize-equity-in-covid-19-response/
_2.
https://www.raceforward.org/sites/default/files/RacialJusticeImpactAssessment_v5.pdf/

Bail/Prison Reform

Before the pandemic, the United States incarcerated a greater share of its population than any other nation in the world.¹ The American criminal justice system holds almost 2.3 million people in 1,833 state prisons, 110 federal prisons, 1,772 juvenile correctional facilities, 3,134 local jails, 218 immigration detention facilities and 80 Indian Country jails as well as in military prisons, civil commitment centers, state psychiatric hospitals and prisons in the U.S. territories.² Jails and prisons have become hotbeds for the novel coronavirus to spread because of overcrowding, sub-standard facilities and the close physical proximity of inmates and staff. Jails and prisons already house large numbers of individuals with chronic diseases and complex medical needs who are more vulnerable to the disease. In light of these circumstances, some federal, state and local corrections agencies have begun to rethink who needs to be in detention, and who should be released. But immediate action is needed to reduce the risk to these individuals and our overall public health infrastructure.

Low-level offenses should be diverted from formal prosecution. Emergency bail reform procedures should be implemented to reduce jail populations and utilize community supervision alternatives to mitigate exposure to COVID-19. Courts and corrections agencies should evaluate options to release non-violent offenders to promote safety and prevent mass exposure to the novel coronavirus. Elderly populations with underlying medical conditions and inmates approaching release dates should be immediately released to parole. And returning citizens, who already faced complex challenges reentering society, should be provided short-term housing. Protect the health of those in jails, prisons and detention facilities by releasing those who pose no significant public safety risk; ensuring public health and safety, including testing and treatment, for those who remain; delaying immigration deadlines and non-detained court hearings for pandemic duration; automatically renewing work authorization and non-immigrant status; and suspending the harmful public charge rule.

The mass incarceration culture of our criminal justice system has resulted in 40 years of unprecedented growth in prison populations with the establishment of the for-profit private prison industry as its cruelest result. Unfortunately, the Trump Administration rescinded the Obama-era order to phase out private prisons which acknowledged that they incentivized mass incarceration.³ But in recent years, states have begun to take action against use of for-profit private prisons.⁴ The COVID-19 pandemic should be a game changer for how we as a nation approach incarceration. Because for too long, prisons have been nothing more than human warehouses. As prison populations begin to decrease in light of the novel coronavirus, the federal and state governments should phase out the use of private prisons beginning now.

---

_{End Notes
1.}
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/global/2018.html
_2.
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2020.html
_3.
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/democracy/reports/2019/08/30/473966/private-prisons-profiting-trump-administration/
_4.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/12/1/20989336/private-prisons-states-bans-califonia- nevada-colorado

Protect Tenants and Homeowners

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) should take immediate steps to protect tenants and homeowners during COVID-19. The HUD Secretary has broad authority to waive HUD regulations and should take the following steps immediately institute a moratorium on all HUD program evictions and subsidy terminations for non-payment of rent until after the end of the national emergency declaration as a response to widespread economic disruption. The Secretary should also act immediately to do the following:¹

• Suspend all other eviction filings and subsidy termination hearings to avoid furthering community spread.
• Streamline and promote interim recertifications.
• Automatically pause voucher search periods.
• Issue enhanced social distancing and hygienic protocols for site-based housing.
• Ensure language access and effective communications to persons with disabilities.
• Provide relief to tenants paying minimum rents.
• Establish a moratorium on late fees and waive rent arrearages that arise during the health crisis.
• Clarify that funds provided as part of federal stimulus efforts are not income.
• Encourage public housing agencies (PHAs) and owners to exercise flexibility during and after the emergency.
• Ensure that the foreclosure moratorium is adequate, lasting for at least 180 days after the end of the federal or state emergency declaration.

Low-income homeowners are also at risk of losing their homes if they are unable to pay their mortgage. The federal government should provide financial assistance in addition to regulatory protections against foreclosure, including: an extended period of interest payments made on behalf of borrowers with forborne principal, (for example, 90 days) rather than just a one-time full mortgage payment; assistance to low-income homeowners to pay property taxes and utility bills; and housing counselling and foreclosure prevention efforts.²

The federal government should also reinstitute Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing standards, which require cities and towns that receive federal money for any housing or urban development project to examine whether there are any barriers to fair housing, housing patterns or practices that promote bias based on any protected class under the Fair Housing Act, and to create a plan for rectifying fair housing barriers.³

Many states and cities have taken steps to protect their most vulnerable residents who will undoubtedly be economically impacted by COVID-19, including eviction suspensions and foreclosure moratoriums. It is absolutely essential these practices continue in addition to enactment of stronger enforcement of existing moratoriums, suspension of scheduled eviction court hearings and prohibition of law enforcement from carrying out eviction orders. Local governments have also issued moratoriums on all shutoffs of public utilities like water, heat, electricity, phone and internet. This has extended to local governments urging private utilities to do the same where possible, in addition to deferring or waiving fees and interest for those unable to pay on time. We are just beginning to come to terms with this new economic reality. As such, local governments should remain as flexible as possible, providing clear communication on when these mitigation factors may be eased in the coming weeks and months as the curve flattens and more parts of the economy reopen. States and cities should consider a number of policies to ensure that there is not a huge surge in evictions during and after this pandemic:

• Extend eviction moratoriums into the summer.
• Ban eviction enforcement and suspend eviction hearings.
• Bar landlords from filing eviction proceedings for non-emergency reasons until after the state’s emergency declaration ends.
• Bar landlords from reporting missed payments to credit bureaus if tenants don’t provide documentation of financial hardship brought on by coronavirus.
• Offer emergency rental assistance because renters are going to struggle to pay back past rent after this crisis is over.
• Establish grace periods that would allow tenants to pay back rent that was due during the coronavirus pandemic over a series of months.
• Enact a rent freeze during the pandemic to ensure that tenants don’t have to pay back months of overdue rent when things start returning to normal.
• Ban late fees for overdue rent, ensure tenants have access to legal advice and move rental disputes from tenancy court to small claims court so people can stay housed.⁴

---

_{End Notes
1.}
https://www.nhlp.org/wp-content/uploads/2020.03.19-NHLP-NLIHC-COVID-Letter-to-HUD-FINAL-2.pdf
_2.
https://www.enterprisecommunity.org/blog/03/20/congress-must-include-affordable-housing-community-development-measures-in-covid-19-response-legislation
_3.
https://www.housingwire.com/articles/trump-administration-rolling-back-controversial-obama-fair-housing-rule/
_4.
https://www.routefifty.com/health-human-services/2020/04/when-eviction-moratoriums-are-over/164808/

Support LIHEAP Expansion

Congress must invest in energy justice and equity in the next coronavirus recovery package. This includes providing additional funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). Low income and minority households who make less than 50 percent of area median income are 27 percent more energy-cost burdened than residents from the same wage bracket that live in a white neighborhood.¹ In the face of COVID-19 and the economic fallout, disadvantaged communities will need LIHEAP assistance more than ever as the hot summer months approach. Before the pandemic, individuals and families would escape the heat by going to malls, libraries and other places. But because of social distancing to reduce the spread, those options may not be available. Congress must provide additional stimulus funding for LIHEAP.²

---

_{End Notes
1.}
https://www.citylab.com/equity/2019/11/minority-utility-costs-burden-energy-discimination-research/602452/
_2.
https://blog.ucsusa.org/adrienne-hollis/why-congress-must-invest-in-environmental-justice-and-equity-in-the-next-recovery-package

Support Small Business and Community Revitalization

While the second Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) bill approved by Congress replenished the $321 billion small business rescue fund, it should have gone further to support small and minority-owned businesses. This government-funded program can be accessed only through larger banks and other existing Small Business Administration (SBA) lenders. Many business owners of color do not have these relationships due to disparities in lending in the financial services sector. Also, banks are lending to businesses receiving larger loans with payrolls larger than most businesses of color. As a result, roughly 95 percent of Black-owned businesses stand close to no chance of receiving a PPP loan through a mainstream bank or credit union.¹ The federal government must require fair access through banks and credit unions to businesses of color. To do this, PPP funds should be directed through Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) as eligible lenders. Without access, the 1,000 CDFIs operating nationwide will not have the liquidity needed to continue making PPP loans to economically disadvantaged communities, including very small businesses, non-profits, businesses operating in low-wealth markets or in rural communities, minority and women-owned businesses. These businesses are vital but often underserved by larger financial institutions, despite established fair lending regulations. Unless the Treasury Department changes its existing lender approval requirements, the SBA will continue to overlook small and minority-owned businesses for bigger companies -- that are not in fact small businesses -- that will once again dominate the program leaving it nearly impossible for a significant number of qualified CDFI small business lenders to gain access to the program. CDFIs make PPP loans ranging in size from $2,000 to $30,000 while the SBA’s average loans in the first round of funding was $206,000.² Nearly 30 million businesses in the United States are small or one-person operations. Economically, they account for 99.7 percent of all employer firms, 64 percent of new employer jobs and 46 percent of private-sector output. Congress should approve a supplemental appropriation to $1 billion allowing CDFIs across the country to leverage $12 billion in capital.³ The SBA should provide low-documentation SBA grants for small businesses with demonstrated impact.⁴

---

_{End Notes
1.}
https://www.responsiblelending.org/
_2.
https://ofn.org/articles/paycheck-protection-program-agreement-reached-additional-funds
_3.
https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/488825-ensure-small-business-survival-during-covid-19-crisis-fund-the
_4.
https://www.enterprisecommunity.org/blog/03/20/congress-must-include-affordable-housing-community-development-measures-in-covid-19-response-legislation

Expand Lifeline and Broadband Access

With millions of Americans required to work, learn and function while staying at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, the needs for better internet and telephone connectivity have never been greater. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) should take action now to meet this crisis by enhancing its Lifeline program which is designed to help low-income consumers afford essential communications services. Before the pandemic, only 7 million people were enrolled out of the 38 million eligible for the Lifeline program. As a result of the pandemic-related job losses and income reduction, the FCC should make sure that the millions of people who are newly eligible for SNAP benefits or Medicaid are informed of their eligibility for Lifeline by coordinating with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Department of Health and Human Services.¹ Furthermore, the FCC should prohibit disconnections of Lifeline consumers; require Lifeline providers to offer unlimited voice minutes and unlimited texting and commensurate voice-only financial support; and create an emergency Lifeline broadband benefit.²

Social distancing and stay-at-home orders are essential to reducing the spread of coronavirus. But the consequence of this drastic action is particularly detrimental for rural residents and communities of color. According to the FCC, 26 percent of Americans in rural areas lack access to high-speed internet.³ And as many as 42 million Americans lack access to broadband, cannot afford it or are reliant on mobile plans with data limits.⁴ This creates new barriers for patients now limited to telehealth services, students forced to only learn online and small businesses and workers. The racial disparity in broadband adoption for typical majority-white census tracts is 83.7 percent compared to just 67.4 percent in Black census tracts.⁵ In total, over 36 percent of Black households report having either no broadband internet or no computer at home.⁶ The South ranks lowest among U.S. regions for broadband adoption. While $100 million in grant funding was included in the CARES Act for the USDA’s Reconnect Program, municipal broadband has been roadblocked or outlawed in 9 southern states (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia). State laws use a variety of tactics to restrict municipal broadband projects, all designed to make municipal broadband projects difficult to initiate, costly to build, and commercially unviable.⁷ But with our economy now in a coronavirus-induced recession and daily lives disrupted for the foreseeable future, it is more apparent than ever that these barriers to broadband access should be eliminated at the state level so high-speed internet can be made more widely available.

---

_{End Notes
1.}
https://www.klobuchar.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/8/4/844b51a6-813b-4ab2-af5a-7826d8600931/72AD73D8BD08F6DC8FF4D2E4B7E536EB.428fcclifeline-letter.pdf
_2.
https://mediajustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Final-3-23-20-Lifeline-Emergency-Request-FCC-252-signers-updated.pdf
_3.
https://us-fcc.app.box.com/s/8tijq76jgu8oav57yrly3quh9pvumebl
_4.
https://www.citylab.com/equity/2020/02/internet-access-rural-broadband-digital-divide-map-fcc-data/606424/
_5.
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2020/02/05/neighborhood-broadband-data-makes-it-clear-we-need-an-agenda-to-fight-digital-poverty/
_6.
https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/2017/comm/internet.html
_7.
https://broadbandnow.com/report/municipal-broadband-roadblocks/

Bail/Prison Reform

Before the pandemic, the United States incarcerated a greater share of its population than any other nation in the world.¹ The American criminal justice system holds almost 2.3 million people in 1,833 state prisons, 110 federal prisons, 1,772 juvenile correctional facilities, 3,134 local jails, 218 immigration detention facilities and 80 Indian Country jails as well as in military prisons, civil commitment centers, state psychiatric hospitals and prisons in the U.S. territories.² Jails and prisons have become hotbeds for the novel coronavirus to spread because of overcrowding, sub-standard facilities and the close physical proximity of inmates and staff. Jails and prisons already house large numbers of individuals with chronic diseases and complex medical needs who are more vulnerable to the disease. In light of these circumstances, some federal, state and local corrections agencies have begun to rethink who needs to be in detention, and who should be released. But immediate action is needed to reduce the risk to these individuals and our overall public health infrastructure.

Low-level offenses should be diverted from formal prosecution. Emergency bail reform procedures should be implemented to reduce jail populations and utilize community supervision alternatives to mitigate exposure to COVID-19. Courts and corrections agencies should evaluate options to release non-violent offenders to promote safety and prevent mass exposure to the novel coronavirus. Elderly populations with underlying medical conditions and inmates approaching release dates should be immediately released to parole. And returning citizens, who already faced complex challenges reentering society, should be provided short-term housing. Protect the health of those in jails, prisons and detention facilities by releasing those who pose no significant public safety risk; ensuring public health and safety, including testing and treatment, for those who remain; delaying immigration deadlines and non-detained court hearings for pandemic duration; automatically renewing work authorization and non-immigrant status; and suspending the harmful public charge rule.

The mass incarceration culture of our criminal justice system has resulted in 40 years of unprecedented growth in prison populations with the establishment of the for-profit private prison industry as its cruelest result. Unfortunately, the Trump Administration rescinded the Obama-era order to phase out private prisons which acknowledged that they incentivized mass incarceration.³ But in recent years, states have begun to take action against use of for-profit private prisons.⁴ The COVID-19 pandemic should be a game changer for how we as a nation approach incarceration. Because for too long, prisons have been nothing more than human warehouses. As prison populations begin to decrease in light of the novel coronavirus, the federal and state governments should phase out the use of private prisons beginning now.

---

_{End Notes
1.}
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/global/2018.html
_2.
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2020.html
_3.
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/democracy/reports/2019/08/30/473966/private-prisons-profiting-trump-administration/
_4.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/12/1/20989336/private-prisons-states-bans-califonia- nevada-colorado

Voting Rights & Reforms

We must ensure fair voting laws are implemented prior to the November 2020 elections. While the CARES Act included $400 million in emergency funding to help states prepare their elections for the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress should do more so our elections can be safely and fairly administered during this public health crisis.

First, vote-by-mail should be available to all voters should they choose that option. Southern policymakers and election officials should allow voting by mail or allow voters to submit absentee ballots without requiring an excuse. Prior to COVID-19, only Florida, Georgia and North Carolina permitted “no-excuse” absentee voting in the South.¹ Efforts to allow no-excuse absentee voting in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana and Texas have been stymied.² All Southern states should permit “no-excuse” absentee voting for all elections during this pandemic. And while no-excuse absentee and vote by mail are vital, they still require additional safeguards to prevent voter disenfranchisement and ensure that eligible voters may fully participate in the election this November, including: postage must be free or prepaid by the government; ballots postmarked on or before Election Day must count; signature matching laws need to be reformed to protect voters; and community organizations should be permitted to help collect and deliver voted, sealed ballots.

Safeguarding absentee and vote by mail is only one of many necessary steps. States must also ensure that in-person voting remains safe and available to all. For in-person voting, states must implement parameters that ensure voters can participate safely. This includes guaranteeing staffing at polls by turning to staff at state agencies, expanding early voting periods to include weekends, and developing systems that allow voters to sign up to reserve a time to vote during off-peak hours. And most importantly, officials should comply with CDC guidance that polling places be adequately sanitized to prevent transmission of coronavirus and are configured to adhere to social distancing protocols.

Finally, we must make reforms in voter registration. Before every presidential election, millions of Americans update their voter registration information or register to vote for the first time. Thirty-nine states and D.C. have either fully implemented online voter registration or are in the process of doing so. The other states should do so before November. Further, online voter registration systems should be tested and their capacity bolstered to ensure they can handle the surges in web traffic. Most importantly, public education campaigns should begin in earnest to inform voters of all changes to voting rules, all options available to register and vote and to counter misinformation. This should include advertising in non-English languages.³ Voter registration policies should meet the needs of all eligible voters, including allowing same-day registration and extended deadlines. No southern states have same-day voter registration policies, with the exception of North Carolina’s limited same-day voter registration during the early voting period.⁴

Voter registration among people of color in southern states continues to be stifled by a combination of strict voter identification laws, disenfranchisement of people with felony convictions, purges of registered voters, polling location closures and failures to provide required language assistance.

Before COVID-19, our country’s patchwork of state election laws sowed deep confusion about the process. Ideally, Congress should enact baseline rules to ensure that every eligible American can vote safely, securely and accessibly in the midst of the pandemic. State and local election officials should guarantee early voting, establish no-fault absentee voting, expand options for vote-by-mail requests, clarify and strengthen the use of provisional ballots, increase voter education and expand language assistance. Further, states should require automatic voter registration, allow same-day registration throughout the country, and ensure online voter registration.

---

_{End Notes
1.}
https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/absentee-and-early-voting.aspx#do%20not
_2.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/04/15/brewing-state-battles-over-how-hold-elections-pandemic/
_3.
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/estimated-costs-covid-19-election-resiliency-measures
_4.
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/preparing-election-under-pandemic-conditions
_5.
https://naacp.org/coronavirus/voter-access-and-participation-during-coronavirus-pandemic/

Census 2020

In the face of this unprecedented coronavirus pandemic, getting an accurate census count has never been more important. Census numbers guide the distribution of billions of federal dollars and determine how many congressional seats each state gets. Historically, it has been challenging to get accurate census counts among low-income communities, in particular communities of color and households with young children.¹ These challenges make getting an accurate count in large portions of the South especially hard.² Many major cities and states in the South have allocated resources to promote the census this year. Because of the need for social distancing to slow the spread of COVID-19, the U.S. Census Bureau suspended in-person field data collection activities in March -- with a goal of restarting the process in June -- and extended the window for field data collection and self-response to October 31. As of late April, nearly 53 percent of all households in America had responded.³ But with the COVID-19 outbreak disrupting field collection, filling out the census has become an afterthought for many residents. The federal government should expand the 2020 Census marketing and promotion budget for online and digital communications. Further, the U.S. Census Bureau should adjust its census enumeration online and by phone by promoting those options through social media, email and SMS communications. Census mailings should include easy instructions and encourage people to complete the form by phone or online as the safest options to maintain social distancing. It is essential that cities and states push additional measures as well to support residents connecting with the U.S. Census Bureau and completing their 2020 Census so their communities can be counted.

---

_{End Notes
1.}
https://civilrights.org/value/2020-census/
_2.
https://www.censushardtocountmaps2020.us/
_3.
https://2020census.gov/en/response-rates.html