Hey,

Hour by hour, we are bombarded with COVID-19 public health and emergency response effort updates. This rapidly shifting environment can be overwhelming, so we wanted to take a minute and give you a quick rundown of Congress' efforts to address this crisis so far.

To start, Congress passed an initial $8.3 billion emergency spending bill to:

Secure much-needed funding to develop a vaccine, treatments, and purchase the supplies for the health care industry;

Make sure state and local health departments have the resources to staff up and buy any new equipment they'll need to serve their communities; and

Guarantee that treatments and vaccines are affordable.

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Then came the Families First Coronavirus Response Act -- a historic bipartisan funding package -- that will:

Make coronavirus testing free to the public;

Establish a federal emergency paid sick leave program;

Give the unemployment benefits program a much-needed boost; and

Expand food assistance benefits and eligibility -- particularly in communities hit the hardest.


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Next came the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, an even more robust relief package to:

Put much-needed cash directly into the pockets of working families;

Further increase and broaden the reach of the vital unemployment benefits program, to include self-employed workers, freelancers, and gig economy workers;

Require all private insurance companies to cover COVID-19 treatments and make initial testing free;

Help small businesses stay afloat with emergency grants and forgivable loans;

Address rampant food security by ramping up federal support of child nutrition programs, food stamps, and food banks;

Provide states and local governments with additional support for Community Development Block Grants, K-12 schools, and higher education institutions -- including immediate assistance for child care centers;

Temporarily relieve our nation's students of any student loan debt they are facing; and

Funnel even more money into our health systems so they can continue to meet a rapidly increasing patient load.

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Dwight has been fighting hard to ensure the needs of America's families are put first -- but there's still more work to be done to ensure the most vulnerable among us are taken care of.

Congress is currently working on a fourth piece of COVID-19 legislation to continue lifting up small businesses, put even more money in the pockets of our workers, and strengthen our life-saving social safety net programs. Our country deserves nothing less.

We will continue to keep you updated as our emergency response efforts evolve.

-- Congressman Evans HQ










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Paid for by Dwight Evans for Congress

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