SEPTEMBER 2020

DEAR SPEAKER PELOSI, MINORITY LEADER MCCARTHY,

MAJORITY LEADER MCCONNELL, AND MINORITY LEADER SCHUMER:

We are a diverse group of organizations dedicated to making sure our communities are cared
for during this crisis and beyond. We write today to urge you to immediately return to the
negotiating table and pass legislation that protects families, prioritizes our communities’
health and stability, and puts our country on the road to a full and equitable recovery.

The nation is grappling with an unprecedented crisis that has fundamentally altered the lives of
nearly every American. COVID-19 has spread to over six million people, and millions more are living
on a razor’s edge, unsure of how they will pay their rent, afford their prescriptions, or buy their next
meal. But the burden of this pandemic is not evenly felt. This is especially true for Black and Brown
communities for whom the pandemic has been a crisis on top of a crisis, further exacerbating
persisting health and wealth inequities. Families are not just dealing with the enormous weight of
grief, but also struggling with the devastating economic fallout of this pandemic.

Since its passage in March, the CARES Act has provided a lifeline to millions of people by keeping
children fed, families in their homes, and small businesses afloat. However, core protections under
this law have since expired. The American people are struggling to meet their basic needs and the
cost of inaction will be deadly. In this critical moment, we need more help from the government—
not less. It has been over 100 days since the House passed the HEROES Act, which would have
extended and enhanced key provisions in the CARES Act and staved off a worsening public health
and economic crisis. While we strongly urge the Senate to consider this legislation, we believe
any deal between the Administration and Congress must address the urgent needs of our most
vulnerable communities. At minimum, the next coronavirus relief package must:

\ Include a nationwide moratorium on evictions, foreclosures, and water and utility

shutoffs; cancel rent, mortgages, and all rental debt; and fund emergency rental
assistance and a national right-to-counsel. More than 40 million people are at risk of
eviction in the coming months unless the federal government passes these provisions and
extends them through the end of the pandemic. In addition to passing a meaningful eviction
moratorium that covers all renters and all types of evictions, Congress must also prevent a
wave of mass foreclosures and evictions by cancelling rent and mortgage payments and by
funding at least $100 billion in emergency rental assistance to keep the most vulnerable,
low-income renters stably housed.

\ Extend the $600 per week unemployment insurance benefit. Tens of millions of Americans
have filed for unemployment insurance since the pandemic hit and the unemployment rate
has skyrocketed, surpassing levels seen during the Great Recession. The Federal Pandemic
 Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) program is a lifeline for millions of people who
have lost their jobs. Congress must extend this vital program and ensure that working
people and families faced with unemployment can meet their basic needs throughout
the COVID-19 pandemic.

\ Provide stimulus payments to mitigate the economic fallout of this crisis. Payments
should be direct, recurring, and extended to all people, regardless of employment, tax
status, age, disability, immigration status, or previous criminal convictions. Millions of
families don’t have enough money to cover their next meal. We strongly support proposals
to provide guaranteed monthly income throughout the pandemic. However, at minimum,
the next package must include another round of payments of at least $1200, including to
dependents and immigrant workers and their families, to help more households throughout
this pandemic.

\ Expand the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and nutrition

assistance so that no person goes hungry during this crisis. Since the onset of the
coronavirus pandemic, food insecurity has skyrocketed. Congress must ensure children
and families are fed by boosting the maximum SNAP benefit by 15% and the minimum
monthly benefit from $16 to $30 and by extending school lunch waivers through the end of
the school year. Congress must ensure adequate nutrition assistance is provided to older
adults who are struggling to put food on the table and to people facing unemployment and
financial uncertainty.

\ Provide $25 billion in funding to the United States Postal Service (USPS) in order
to ensure the timely delivery of prescription medications, paychecks, and mail-in ballots.
Significant delays in the delivery service and underfunding of USPS has made access to
critically needed resources a challenge for millions of workers, small businesses, seniors,
and families. It has also put our elections at risk during a time of unprecedented crisis and
when mail-in ballots are most needed. Congress must include funding for USPS as part of the
COVID-19 relief package to ensure integrity in our elections, protect postal workers,
and ensure the agency can adequately meet their delivery standards.

\ Provide the electoral framework and funding necessary for state officials to address
the unprecedented challenges facing voters, poll workers, and election administrators
during the COVID-19 pandemic. To accomplish this, Congress must include provisions
that establish uniform national standards for the 2020 elections for all eligible voters
to use mail-in absentee voting and a minimum early in-person voting period of 20 days.
States should also be afforded the flexibility to address the specific needs of their voting
population by improving voting processes and technologies, upgrading voter registration
options, undertaking public education campaigns to inform voters of new procedures, and
ameliorating the distinct burdens faced by groups that will have to overcome the greatest
impediments to being able to vote safely, such as voters with disabilities, language minority
voters, and Native American, Alaska Native, and rural voters.

\ Expand support for incarcerated people, including incarcerated children, by increasing

emergency funding for the Bureau of Prison’s COVID-19 response, expanding the use of
home confinement instead of continued detention, and providing additional housing, food
 security, and medical assistance for formerly incarcerated persons. COVID-19 has had a
devastating impact on incarcerated children and adults, the individuals who live and work
within prison walls as well as the broader community. Without increased support to reduce
prison and jail populations and make facilities safer, more lives will be lost.

\ Provide access to universal testing and treatment, and provide funding for community
and home-based care. To curb the spread of the coronavirus, Congress must ensure that
testing and treatment is accessible to anyone who needs it under emergency Medicaid.
Millions of people have been left out of COVID-related care, many of whom are deemed
essential workers. With more than 20 million frontline immigrant workers, it is crucial that
any testing and treatment provisions in future relief packages provide coverage to everyone
regardless of their immigration status or ability to pay. Congress must also include additional
funding for Medicaid-provided home and community-based services. This is an essential
alternative to congregate care settings for older adults, people with disabilities, and health
care workers as our nation works to combat the spread of COVID-19.

\ Provide financial relief to state and local governments and small businesses. Without
federal funding, state and local governments will be forced to make devastating cuts, laying
off workers and slashing crucial services like health care, education, transportation, first
responders, and social services. Since the pandemic started, 1.2 million state and local
government jobs have been lost—jobs which are disproportionately held by Black and Brown
workers, especially Black and Brown women. Furthermore, small businesses, particularly
micro-businesses and those owned by people of color, are the backbone of our economy. In
addition to the $1 trillion for state and local governments that was included in the HEROES
Act, Congress must provide targeted funding for these businesses so that they can make it
through the pandemic. The gravity of inaction cannot be stressed enough. Congress must
act swiftly to protect working families and stave off a deepening economic crisis.

The pandemic has exposed long-standing inequities and vulnerabilities in our country. Millions face
financial ruin, homelessness, and hunger if our government does not intervene immediately. We
expect our elected leaders to rise to this moment and negotiate a package that meets the needs
of people and families impacted by this unprecedented pandemic.

Sincerely,

SIGNERS
9to5 American Atheists Autistic Self Advocacy Chicago Urban League
Network
AFSCME Local 148 American Humanist Citizen Action of New York
Association Black to the Future
Alabama Arise Action Fund Citizens Action
Americans for Democratic Coalition
Alternate ROOTS Action (ADA) Campaign for
Youth Justice Concerned Citizens for
American Association Amnesty International USA Nuclear Safety
of Colleges for Teacher Center for Disability
Education Appleseed Foundation Rights Council on American-
Islamic Relations (CAIR)
SIGNERS

Daughters Beyond Los Angeles Regional North Carolina Council Sierra Club
Incarceration Food Bank of Churches
Sisters of Charity
Demos Louisiana Parole Project NYU Law Center on Race Federation
Inequality and the Law
Dignity and Power Now Matthew Shepard Social Security Works
Foundation OCA–Asian Pacific
Earth Ethics, Inc. American Advocates Success in Challenges, Inc.
Metro New York Catholic
Economic Policy Institute Climate Movement Office of Peace, Justice, Sunrise Movement
and Ecological Integrity,
Economic Security Project Michigan Nurses Sisters of Charity of T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call
Association Saint Elizabeth for Human Rights
Ella Baker Center for
Human Rights Mijente Pennsylvania Council Texas Civil Rights Project

End Citizens United / Let of Churches Texas Fair Defense Project

Milwaukee Riverkeeper
America Vote Action Fund People’s Action
Missouri Appleseed The Justice Collaborative
Equal Justice Society Physicians for
National Association for Unheard Voices Outreach
Fair and Just Prosecution Social Responsibility –
Public Defense (NAPD) AZ Chapter United We Dream Action
Food & Water Action National Coalition for a Plymouth Friends for Universal Income Project
Civil Right to Counsel Clean Water
Friends Committee on
National Legislation National Community Water Rights Awareness
Poder in Action of Pennsylvania
Action Partnership
Grassroots Leadership
Prison Policy Initiative Waterspirit
National Council of
Human Rights Campaign Churches Progressive Democrats Workers Defense
Human Service Chamber of of America – Action Fund
National Homelessness Tucson, AZ Chapter
Franklin County Law Center Young Invincibles
Illinois Coalition Promise of Justice
National Low Income Initiative Youth Justice Coalition
for Immigrant and Housing Coalition
Refugee Rights
Public Justice Center Zealous
Native American Youth
Immigrant Legal and Family Center (NAYA)
Resource Center Racial Justice
Action Center
Nature Coast
In the Public Interest Conservation, Inc. RAICES (Refugee
Income Movement and Immigrant Center for
Nebraska Appleseed Education and
Innocence Project NETWORK Lobby for Legal Services)

Japanese American Catholic Social Justice Reproductive

Citizens League New Energy Economy Justice Inside

John M. Langston New Jersey Tenants RESULTS

Bar Association Organization River Guardian Foundation
Justice LA New Orleans Workers’ Ronnie’s House
Juvenile Law Center Center for Racial Justice
RootsAction.org
LA Forward New Practice Lab –
New America Safe & Just Michigan
Lady Freethinker
New Jersey State San Luis Valley
Lawndale Christian Legal Industrial Union Council Ecosystem Council
Center
North American Climate, SANIPLAN
Conservation and
Environment (NACCE)