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This week as COVID-19 cases reached daily record highs, Congress continued discussions on the next COVID-19 aid package. The House began releasing their proposed appropriations bills for FY21. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a final rule regarding payday lending.
COVID-19 cases continue to surge across the country with the U.S. seeing its sixth single-day record in 10 days with nearly 60,000 new cases on Thursday, according to the New York Times database. States across the country are juggling various levels of opening, with some states pressing pause on their reopening due to rising COVID-19 numbers. You can find out the status of your state's reopen from the HHS Partnership Center here.
Everyone in Washington is waiting to see the Senate's next proposal. Details are sparse and not much is known on how the Senate plans to respond to the House's already passed HEROES Act. As state plans to reopen are put on hiatus, Congress is left to determine how much more aid is necessary to keep the economy afloat. This week saw another 1.3 million people filing first-time unemployment claims. New weekly claims have decreased from the late March peak of 6 million but remain stubbornly high. Continued jobless claims have edged lower with 18.1 million people filing claims this week versus 18.8 million last week.
House appropriations committees began releasing draft texts of fiscal year 2021 appropriations bills. This marks the beginning stages of the appropriations process. In the coming weeks it is expected that the House will vote on their various appropriations bills. The Senate will then offer their own appropriations recommendations. Congress and the White House have a September 30, 2020 deadline to pass a full government funding package or face a potential shutdown.
This week, the CFPB finalized a rule that no longer requires lenders to check that borrowers can repay their loan when they are due. Catholic Charities USA signed a joint statement citing their deep disappointment with the CFPB's action to remove the protections and that this action "allows payday lenders to make loans that trap working Americans in a snowballing spiral of debt." You can read the full statement here. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a press release about this recent change, which is found here.
Faith and the Common Good
The Parable of the Sower illustrates how people may receive the Gospel. It reminds us that faith prepares our hearts for the message of the Gospels and allows it to grow within us.
A sower went out to sow.
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path,
and birds came and ate it up.
Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil.
It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep,
and when the sun rose it was scorched,
and it withered for lack of roots.
Some seed fell among thorns,
and the thorns grew up and choked it.
But some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit,
a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.
Whoever has ears ought to hear.
Matthew 13:3-9
Faith is not a momentary feeling but a struggle against the discouragement that threatens us every time we meet with resistance.
Archbishop Martin-Léonard Bakole wa Illunga
Prayer for Strong Faith
God our Father,
you conquer the darkness of ignorance
by the light of your Word.
Strengthen within our hearts
the faith you have given us;
let not temptation ever quench the fire
that your love has kindled within us.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
Trivia
Which politician is linked to the term "gerrymander"?
Please send your answers to socialpolicy@catholiccharitiesusa.org
On June 26, the trivia question was, "Which state first recognized the 4th of July as a holiday?"
Beverly Earl from Catholic Charities San Bernardino/Riverside was the first to correctly answer with Massachusetts. On July 2nd, 1776 the Continental Congress voted in favor for independence in a near-unanimous vote. On July 4th, the Continental Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence, and from that point the 4th became the day that was celebrated as the birth of American independence.
George Washington issued double rations of rum to all his soldiers to mark the anniversary of independence in 1778, and in 1781, several months before the key American victory at the Battle of Yorktown, Massachusetts became the first state to make July 4th an official state holiday. In 1870, the U.S. Congress made July 4th a federal holiday; in 1941, the provision was expanded to grant a paid holiday to all federal employees.
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