My Progressive Response to COVID-19
These are unprecedented times. The spread of COVID-19 has disrupted the lives and livelihoods of nearly everyone, making life insurmountably harder, dangerous, and uncertain. However, we are optimistic that following the containment of the virus, a robust economic rebound isn’t just possible, but probable. In the meantime, we are doing our best to support those who need it most. Our team has volunteered countless hours calling and delivering supplies to homebound neighbors, making greeting cards for seniors, delivering meals with City Meals on Wheels, and donating blood plasma after COVID-19 recovery. But of course, nothing rivals the contribution of those on the frontlines, those working in healthcare, delivery, sanitation, grocery stores, pharmacies, transportation, warehouses, among many others who risk their lives to push us over this hurdle. To them, I owe a sincere thank you. It is your contributions that allow us to have access to grocery stores, pharmacies, healthcare, delivery services, and more, at the expense of your own wellbeing.
This is why it’s imperative that policymakers treat the human and economic toll of this crisis with a bold, ambitious plan to make our country whole.
My Phase IV COVID-Relief proposal is detailed below.
It builds off of and amends flaws in the CARES Act. If executed properly, this plan will put the United States on a true path to rebuilding from coronavirus and restarting our lives and our economy again. While distancing measures buys us valuable time, it’s not sustainable. What we need is a plan of attack. In order to resurrect our nation and resume our lives, we need to methodically pause our economy and universally test and trace our population for antigens and antibodies.
Public Health
Mass testing is the only way to get out of a perpetual cycle of social distancing and caseload spikes. Social distancing is buying us time, but without universal testing, this period of pause delays the inevitable. We must mobilize the nation and test every single individual in the United States. Such a program should categorize people in three ways: they had COVID-19, they have COVID-19, or they are still at risk for getting COVID-19. Green, Red, Yellow — that simple, no more uncertainty. This would require both antibody and antigen tests.
Mandatory Paid Sick Leave
This will help contain the spread of the virus. Many individuals can’t afford to stay home even if they are feeling sick — the federal government should subsidize paid sick leave until the virus is contained.
Free COVID-19 Treatment
Many individuals still, unfortunately, lack health insurance and lack the means to pay for testing and treatment. All COVID-19 treatment should be free.
Medicaid and CHIP Expansion, Re-Open the Obamacare Exchange
In just one month, over 22 million people have lost their jobs and health insurance. The federal government must provide 100% matching grants to states for Medicaid and CHIP expansion. We must also reopen the Affordable Care Act Marketplace for a special enrollment period.
Combat Racial Disparities
The virus is disproportionately affecting Black and brown communities across the United States. Congress must establish a task force to research and combat the grim racial disparities of COVID-19 infections and deaths.
Remove Tariffs from Medical Imports
Tariffs of medical imports are adding billions of dollars of costs to the medical equipment we rely on. Tariffs have failed to move the needle on trade and have simply been tax increases on the American customer.
Increase Public Research and Development Funding to 2% of GDP
At the height of the space race, public research and development spending levels were at 2% of GDP, now it is at only 0.7% of GDP. It is crucial that we properly fund our government research agencies and universities to carry out the research necessary to prevent catastrophes such as COVID-19 from ever occurring again. Additionally, this would lead to sustained and equitable economic growth once this pandemic is contained.
Relief for State, Local, and Territorial Budgets
Cover all expected budget shortfalls for Fiscal Years 2020–22
As the economy slows, state, local, and territorial budgets become more constrained. The federal government does not face the same budgetary constraints as state and local governments. In 2019, state and local governments contributed 8.5% of GDP while the federal government contributed 3.8%. States, municipalities, and US territories are on the front lines fighting this crisis, Congress must provide grants to cover all state, local, and territorial budget shortfalls for fiscal years 2020–22 with the possibility of extension depending on economic triggers. If state and local governments cut services to meet their balanced budget requirements, we will face a prolonged recovery.
Instruct the Federal Reserve to Conduct a Broad Municipal Bond Purchase
The Federal Reserve recently announced it would be conducting a municipal bond purchase of bonds with maturities of 2 years or less in cities that have populations of 2 million or greater. This leaves key cities such as Atlanta, Detroit, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, and Seattle out. The Fed should also be instructed to purchase municipal bonds with maturities of up to 5 years. US Territories, such as Puerto Rico, were also left out. Congress must waive the minimum credit rating required for the municipal bond purchase for the duration of the COVID-19 crisis. This program would allow state, local, and territorial governments to stay liquid and finance much-needed improvements to infrastructure.
Rewarding our Front Line Workers
Heroes Fund
Those on the front line are risking their health in order to serve the needs of our nation. We must establish a heroes fund to properly compensate them for working in hazardous conditions. An extra $2,500 per month should be added to our frontline workers.
Personal Protective Equipment
We must ensure that every single worker on the front lines — health care, grocery, farm, delivery, domestic, delivery workers, and all other essential employees have the personal protective equipment they need to stay safe.
Economic Relief
Federally Fund Payrolls, Waive the June 30th Deadlines
The $350 billion dollar Paycheck Protection Program quickly ran out of money. Congress authorized $310 billion more on April 21st, but that will likely quickly dry up again. We must replenish the program enough to cover all salaries up to $150k. Additionally, The Department of Treasury should establish a temporary office to carry out the program. This will make the program more efficient and take the pressure off of the flooded Small Business Administration. We must make a concerted effort to get employees back onto payrolls to have a strong recovery and to ensure economic stability to our nation’s workers. The CARES Act requires employers to rehire workers by June 30th, this deadline must be waived in order to provide small businesses with the flexibility they need in times of extreme uncertainty. Congress should appoint four public health experts to work with the Chairman of the Federal Reserve and the Secretary of Treasury to determine a deadline as well as when and how to reopen the economy.
Universal, Monthly Stimulus Checks of $1000 to all Individuals.
Checks should be sent out monthly until the pandemic is contained and the Sahm Recession Indicator is no longer triggered. Direct stimulus payments are much more accelerated than payroll tax cuts and reach far more people. It is too time-consuming and inaccurate to do targeted cash transfers. Payments should be sent digitally to get money out as quickly as possible.
SNAP + WIC Expansion
SNAP and WIC programs should be expanded to ensure food security for our all.
Federalize Unemployment Insurance
1950s era technology coupled with an unprecedented amount of claims has flooded state unemployment insurance systems. The Department of Labor should be instructed to federalize the Unemployment Insurance system and set up a clearinghouse to quickly process claims. States can and should then supplement the federal system. The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program allowed workers traditionally left out of the unemployment insurance system such as the self-employed, freelancers, and other gig economy workers to claim unemployment insurance. This provision should be made permanent. Finally, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance runs out on June 30th, this should be waived until public health and economic triggers are no longer met.
Replenish Small Business Administration Program Funding
We must replenish all funding for SBA programs and establish automatic renewal if the programs run out of money again until public health and economic triggers are no longer met.
Restart Loans
COVID-19 has fallen particularly hard on small and medium-sized businesses, which don’t have the cash on hand or access to capital to weather a prolonged shutdown. Most importantly, bankruptcies, designed to lower payments to creditors, are not appropriate when large swathes of the economy are under extreme stress. We will need to help small and medium-sized businesses filing for bankruptcy due to the coronavirus. A “Restart Loan” program targeted towards these hardest-hit businesses, to match the Federal Reserve’s Main Street Lending Program for healthier small to medium-sized businesses as well as its loan facilities for the largest corporations, is paramount as the shutdown continues and bankruptcies skyrocket. This would essentially allow businesses to refinance while repaying creditors and continuing to operate.
Rent Relief
Congress must authorize Federal Reserve backed Small Business Administration loans to landlords with forgiveness in exchange for rent cancellation until the crisis is over. This would allow individuals and small businesses to stay where they are and allow landlords to maintain mortgage and maintenance payments throughout the crisis.
Mortgage Relief
The CARES Act included temporary relief for the 30 million American households with federally-backed mortgages, forestalling evictions for two months and allowing them to delay mortgage payments for up to 180 days if they displayed financial hardship. However, most homeowners have found it hard to access this forbearance option, given the hurdles of displaying financial constraints and large delays in contacting mortgage servicing companies. All borrowers must be automatically allowed to defer mortgage principal payments for a period of 180 days, with automatic renewal if public health and economic triggers are met. This would be critical in avoiding a wave of foreclosures and helping families with their largest expense as social distancing continues. This, in turn, would support demand and keep industries that are continuing to operate afloat.
Suspend Dividends and Buybacks for Banks and Corporations
A financial crisis on top of this could mean the breaking point for an economy already being placed on ice. Congress must instruct banks to suspend dividends and buybacks in order to ensure our banks have sufficient capital and safeguard our financial system. Corporations must be instructed to suspend dividends and buybacks in order to have enough money to cover expenses during the economic shutdown.
Tax Holiday:
States should put a moratorium on sales tax collection and the federal government should continue to delay tax day until the crisis is resolved.
Save the United States Postal Service
The USPS is one of the foundational pieces of our economy. Congress should waive the requirement to pre-fund pensions and provide not just enough funding for the USPS to survive but to thrive. This means providing enough money to electrify its fleet and make various other improvements.
Defend our Democracy
Universal Vote By Mail and 30 days of Early Voting
We must ensure that the virus does not compromise our democracy. In order to protect both people and our nation, we must institute a Universal Vote by mail. Absentee ballots should be mailed to everyone. For those who still wish to vote in person, a 30 day early voting period should be established to prevent large crowds and waits at voting sites.
Protect our Youth
Fund Summer School
While the $13.5 billion for K–12 education provided in the CARES Act was a good start to help schools deal with immediate costs, $10 billion more is needed to support summer learning and afterschool programs, either online or in-person if deemed safe. The additional $10 billion will go towards the Education Stabilization Fund dedicated specifically for summer school
Close the Digital Divide
In America, 12 million children live without broadband connections or modern online devices. These children are unable to fairly participate in remote learning. This “digital divide” exacerbates financial inequality. $2-$5 billion is needed to ensure that students have access to modern devices, and $1-$2 billion is needed to ensure that low-income households have broadband internet to ensure access to education and health-care platforms.
Rescue Child Care
The CARES Act provided $3 billion dollars in relief for child care. Experts estimated that $50 billion of relief is needed to save the child care industry from dying. Congress should go beyond the $50 billion and allocate matching grants to states to create a robust public option for child care.
Modernize The Federal Reserve:
Instruct the Federal Reserve to put a Floor on Gross Labor Income (GLI) Growth
It took over a decade for our economy to recover following the Global Financial Crisis, partially due to premature interest rate increases and contractionary fiscal policy. The Federal Reserve has consistently missed its own 2% inflation target. After the coronavirus has passed, we may once again face a long, slow recovery. A Gross Labor Income (measured by the sum of all paychecks) Floor would help avoid these same mistakes. A floor, of course, would not prevent wages from growing even faster than the target. The floor should be set around 5% assuming the Fed sticks with its 2% inflation target. We must ensure this recovery is a wage-led recovery.
Instruct the Federal Reserve to create a Bank Account (FedAccount) for all Individuals and Business Entities in the United States
Providing every individual and business in the United States an account at the Federal Reserve would be a monumental step towards improving financial inclusion, real-time payments, and macroeconomic stability. The 25% of unbanked or underbanked US households would have bank accounts without minimum balance requirements, and everyone would have access to a savings institution without any possibility of default. Payments between these accounts, which currently are only available to banking institutions, would be instantaneous. The long wait times for unemployment and paycheck protection we are seeing today would disappear. Critically, FedAccounts would replace other, riskier, money substitutes which contribute to financial crises and subsequent painful recessions. The Fed should also present a study to Congress on the viability of central bank digital currency. FedAccounts for all would also make it easier for individuals to receive government transfers such as social security checks and stimulus payments.
Instruct the Federal Reserve to accelerate its implementation of Real-Time Payments (FedNow)
In America today, most payments between bank accounts take multiple days to clear. Particularly for low-income Americans, faster payments could mean keeping the lights on or avoiding ruinous late fees on rent payments. The Federal Reserve announced just last year that it is developing a real-time payment system called FedNow that would provide real-time payments for all banks nationwide. This is a critical investment in our long-term financial infrastructure.
Only with a plan as ambitious and bold as this, we will be able to defeat this virus and jumpstart our nation. Time is of the essence and it is imperative that we move swiftly and aggressively so we begin to rebuild our nation and improve our social contract.
