Kentuckians sound alarm for more federal COVID-19 relief
The $1 trillion coronavirus relief plan U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Senate Republicans unveiled this week will not meet the needs of struggling Kentuckians, said a group Thursday representing restaurants, the homeless, education and local governments.
The group, in an online news conference arranged by Kentucky Together and the left-leaning Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, said its primary concerns deal with people facing evictions and hunger.
Their united message: More is needed.
McConnell said in a floor speech in the U.S. Senate earlier Thursday that the Health, Economic Assistance Liability Protection and Schools, or HEALS Act, is a starting proposal for negotiations with the Democratic-controlled House.
”The American people cannot get any of the additional relief that Republicans want to give them unless Democrats come to the table,” McConnell warned.
He said the plan helps laid-off Kentuckians and schools and provides $193 million for testing and contact tracing to fight the spread of COVID-19.
But the Republican-led Senate and the Democratic-led House are far apart on coronavirus relief, particularly on unemployment insurance, aid for state and local governments, and assistance for renters and homeowners. They appear to agree on another $1,200 stimulus check to people who make less than $75,000 a year plus $500 or more for dependents of any age, but nothing has been settled.
Jason Bailey, executive director of the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, said at Thursday’s news conference that the need for federal aid is greater now than it was in March, when the $2.2 trillion CARES Act provided cash payments to many Americans, forgivable loans to small businesses and aid for large corporations and state and local governments.
“Even while unemployment remains at a historic high, temporary layoffs are becoming permanent, and the economy is showing new weakness, the need for more aid is greater now,” said Bailey
He sharply criticized the HEALS Act for offering a temporary $200-a-week bonus in unemployment insurance benefits instead of the $600-a-week bonus that expires this week.
The temporary bonus would be replaced with jobless benefits of about 70 percent of what was earned at work.
That change would take $70 million a week out of Kentucky’s ailing economy, Bailey said.
“This will leave workers, families and communities struggling, especially harming laid-off workers and Kentuckians of color, and people of low income and by doing so it fails to provide what the economy needs, which will mean a recession that is deeper, longer and more painful,” said Bailey.
He also lamented no more general aid for state and local governments. That will lead to more job losses and cuts to schools, he said.
Dan Wu, who closed his Atomic Ramen’s main location in Lexington due to COVID-19, said the unemployment bonus should remain at $600.
He said there simply is not enough work to be had in small businesses and he sees more restaurants closing every day because a staffer has tested positive for COVID-19.
“It is not safe for workers to go back to work,” he said, meaning it is not sustainable for small businesses to remain open. “That $600 a week has been vital to keep lights on, to keep our economy going.”
Cyndi Kirkhart, executive director of Facing Hunger Food Bank, said any federal relief should increase the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP benefits.
She said grocery costs are increasing and needy persons are finding that their SNAP benefits buy less.
Adrienne Bush, executive director of the Homeless and Housing Coalition of Kentucky, said the HEALS package for the nation needs to expand a moratorium on evictions for all rental homes for 12 months and appropriate $11.5 billion for additional shelter for the homeless and $100 billion in rent relief.
“We cannot contain a virus that requires social distancing if we do not have homes of our own,” she said, adding that 200,000 Kentuckians are at risk of evictions in August.
She said the state’s homeless shelter system “is not designed to handle a tsunami of evictions.”
She said the system handled about 4,000 people a day last year and that widespread evictions could produce 200,000 homeless.
Kentucky Education Association President Eddie Campbell said $175 billion is needed in the HEALS package for schools and higher education. He mentioned financial needs for transportation, technology and Internet access, cleaning and sanitizing and purchase of personal protective equipment.
He chided any federal call to force schools to go back to in-person instruction to gain funding.
Steve Kay, Lexington’s vice mayor, said local and state governments need more federal funds to continue services like housing.
“We don’t have the resources without substantial federal aid,” he said.
This story was originally published July 30, 2020 at 2:50 PM.
