Problems viewing this email? View it in your web browser.

Man cleaning auditorium seats ahead of NCAA tournament.

What Coronavirus is Teaching Us About Paid Leave

More than 32 million private sector workers lack access to paid sick leave. These workers are three times less likely to receive medical care when they are sick and 1.6 times less likely to have access to medical care for their family members. They are also 1.5 times more likely to go to work when they have a contagious illness. At any given time, this has an enormous effect on the lives of workers and their families, as well as on public health. But in this particular time, as the United States grapples with the global coronavirus pandemic, the lack of a comprehensive, national paid leave policy spells disaster for the economy and the American public at large on an unprecedented scale.

Legislation for paid sick days and family and medical leave has been introduced in Congress many times over the years. But with exponentially increasing numbers of COVID-19 infections and deaths reported in the United States every day, Congress and President Donald Trump must finally recognize that a national and comprehensive paid leave policy is dangerously overdue to help protect the health, safety, and economic well-being of the population.

Read more »

In the Spotlight

Understanding the Coronavirus Pandemic from All Angles

While much remains unknown about the coronavirus, there is far more information that should be considered and acted upon at all levels, whether it be individual, local, state, or federal. More than 18 issue-based policy teams at the Center for American Progress are diving into the intersections of effective policy responses to the coronavirus pandemic and the daily issues and experiences that different communities face.

Bookmark this link for updates and get what you need to know »

Major Stories This Week

Making Things Worse: EU Travel Ban

At a moment of global crisis, President Trump's EU travel ban is not only likely to cause an intense diplomatic row between the U.S. and its closest allies at the worst possible time, but the panic it has caused is also likely to worsen the spread of the disease.

How K-12 Schools Should Prepare

With a focus on equity, school leaders can help mitigate the effects of the coronavirus for their communities' most vulnerable children and families by continuing critical services and supporting students' education.

Suspending Immigration Enforcement

All people in the United States must have the ability to seek necessary medical care—regardless of immigration status. Consistent with past practice, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security should issue a formal public statement affirming that there will be no immigration enforcement actions at hospitals, health care facilities, and other COVID-19 testing sites.

State and Local Governments Can Protect Workers and Small Businesses

The failures of the Trump administration to deploy a transparent and effective national-level response to the coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, means that state and local governments are left picking up the pieces. There are basic policy steps that state and local policymakers can take immediately to help local economies and working families weather the storm.

How COVID-19 Affects the Courts

Large-scale disruptions to the work of judges, other court personnel, and lawyers could have far-ranging effects for individuals across the country. Such restrictions in services would affect those with extremely pressing matters, such as tenant evictions, protective orders, and much more.

The Dirty Secret of New York's Coronavirus Response: Prison Labor

TalkPoverty, a project of CAP, reveals that incarcerated people in a New York prison are banned from using the hand sanitizer they are producing as a part of the state's coronavirus response.

CAP in the News

Mother Jones
4 Recommendations for Dealing With the Coronavirus from a Public Health Dream Team

The Hill
The administration needs to do better to prevent coronavirus economic fallout, op-ed by CAP's Andres Vinelli

Foreign Affairs
How to Lose Friends and Strain Alliances, op-ed by CAP's Michael Fuchs

Inside Sources
Why Black Women Vote , op-ed by CAP's Rev. Renita Weems

FOLLOW US ON:

This email was sent to [email protected].