Tell the U.S. Senate: We must pass some pandemic relief before the end of the year. Then go big during the Biden-Harris administration.

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Friend,

While COVID cases surge, millions of working people teeter on an economic cliff. Without action by the U.S. Senate, 16 million people will lose unemployment benefits on December 26. And on New Year’s Eve, the eviction moratorium expires, causing even more uncertainty and financial pain.

Did you see the email from EPI’s Research Director Josh Bivens below detailing what Congress must do to help families and our economy recover through and beyond the pandemic? Read his email, and then send a letter to your U.S. Senators demanding immediate action to pass needed pandemic relief. ([link removed])

Thanks for all you do to fight for an economy that works for all of us, not just the wealthy few.

Eve Tahmincioglu
Director of Communications, Economic Policy Institute
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Tell your U.S. Senators:

"The COVID-19 pandemic is raging, killing hundreds of thousands of Americans and infecting millions more. Struggling families in our state and across the country are facing increasing financial strains with each passing month, with a disproportionate impact on women and people of color. If the Senate does not act now, 16 million people will stop receiving unemployment benefits and millions will face the end of the eviction moratorium. Please act now."
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Friend,

With the public health and economic damage continuing to climb, as a direct result of the uncontrolled COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Senate continues to stall on passing critical relief.

In a new EPI report, ([link removed]) we detail the core elements for both the relief and recovery phases of rebuilding the U.S. economy―to protect working families during the immediate crisis and create jobs and economic growth for the future. In short: Use debt, go big, and stay big, and be very slow when turning off fiscal support.

To ensure sustained job growth that returns the economy to pre-pandemic health, Congress must pass roughly $3 trillion in debt-financed fiscal support, with the first $2 trillion hitting the economy between now and mid-2022. This amount of upfront relief and stimulus, combined with investments that ensure a very slow phaseout of this fiscal support, are needed to ensure a return to a high-pressure, low-unemployment labor market by mid-2022, and to avoid a sudden stop when fiscal support is phased out.

Join EPI and our national coalition to demand the U.S. Senate act on behalf of millions of working families who are struggling to make ends meet during the pandemic. Take a moment to send a letter to your U.S. Senators now! ([link removed])

We must not fall for the false arguments about debt and deficit spending. The point of fiscal support is to increase spending by households, businesses, and governments to spur employers to hire. We should be thinking of how to maximize the plan’s stimulative effects, and this means financing with debt.

We also must remind policymakers that they should not repeat the mistakes of past recessions. The recovery from the Great Recession of 2008–2009 was agonizingly slow, largely because the admirable initial round of fiscal recovery efforts was too small and ended far too quickly.

We are facing a national emergency and public health crisis. Send a letter to tell your U.S. Senators to act on behalf of millions of working families across America who are struggling to make ends meet during the pandemic. Add your name! ([link removed])

In addition to funding a stimulus program to achieve a 3 percent unemployment rate, we must ensure a COVID relief package includes $500 billion a year in relief and recovery measures for state and local governments between now and 2022. State and local governments have revenue sources that have been damaged enormously by the COVID-19 shock. They also provide the front-line public response in many areas related to health and education—both of which have been put under enormous strain by the virus and the need to respond safely.

Thanks for all you do to fight for an economy that works for all of us, not just the wealthy few.

Josh Bivens
Director of Research, Economic Policy Institute
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