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A $15 minimum wage increase hits a snag in the Senate and COVID cases continue to decrease.
Late Thursday, the Senate parliamentarian ruled that a $15 minimum wage increase violates the rules of the budget reconciliation process and must be stripped out of the $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid package. Budget reconciliation allows bills to pass the Senate under a simple majority, but all of the provisions must meet the budgetary rules to qualify under what is known as the "Byrd Rule." The Senate parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, ruled that the minimum wage increase was out of order implying that it would not have a significant enough effect on the federal budget to be included in the relief package. Although this provision is out of the Senate bill, the House plans to vote on the bill, with the increased minimum wage, on Friday.
The House bill includes $1,400 in stimulus checks for individuals making less than $75,000 annually. After being excluded in the previous coronavirus aid bills, adult dependents, including disabled adults and college students, would be eligible for the $1,400. Increased unemployment benefits, set to expire on March 14th, would be extended to August 29th and bumped up to $400 instead of the current $300. The package would provide a one-year increase of the Child Tax Credit from $2,000 to $3,000, while increasing to $3,600 for parents of children under the age of 6 and expand eligibility to parents of 17-year-old children as well. It would also make the CTC fully refundable, so that low-income families would receive the full benefit, no matter how much they earn. The bill expands the Earned Income Tax Credit for low-income workers without children from $530 to $1,500 and expands the age of eligibility to now include younger adults between 19-24, who were previously excluded. The bill also provides tens of billions for continued vaccine rollout, funding for safe school reopening, emergency housing assistance funding, increased SNAP benefit, additional money for the Payment Protection Program, and $350 billion to state and local governments.
Unemployment claims dipped last week to 710,000 for first-time applications of workers, a decrease of 132,000. New Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program claims decreased by 61,000 last week with 451,000 new people filing for unemployment claims. Although claims decreased last week the economy has nearly 10 million fewer jobs than at this time one year ago.
It was reported on February 25th that the U.S. had at least 77,804 new coronavirus cases and 2,465 new coronavirus deaths. The number of cases is down 32 percent from the average two weeks prior and deaths are down 22 percent from two weeks ago. The CDC reported that 46.1 million people have received at least one dose of the vaccine, including 21.6 million who have been fully vaccinated. Healthcare providers are administering nearly 1.51 million doses per day on average. To learn more about how you can get the vaccine please contact your state health department for more information on its plan for COVID-19 vaccination.
Faith and the Common Good
During the season of Lent, there is a focus on taking time away for reflection and preparing for the Triduum. For many, the past year has felt like a time away from habitual activities as well as loved ones. As we journey through this pandemic and Lent, may we appreciate the extra time to pray and reflect.
A Covid-19 Lenten Prayer
I sit empty at the window and wait.
Here I am, your servant sick with want of you.
How long oh Lord?
I should have been filled with your taste, human and divine life within me, on this Sunday of Lent.
How my ears burn to listen to the word from your lips.
But, instead, the blue jays and chickadees feast on their supper in the apple tree outside,
chattering and chirping without care.
The soft grey clouds drift over the mountains, low smoke; like incense stuck on the bows of the evergreens.
They hover like prayers stuttered and searching for the verdant life hidden there
on that sacred ground where you are.
My burning eyes seek your face among the trees, my Beloved.
With a dry mouth I ask the ancient question,
Who may climb your mountain oh LORD?
Who can stand in your holy place?
Are there none left with an ilk of attentiveness as Elijah, or a drop of obedience as Abraham?
Father, I beg you! Cleanse our filthy hands and purify our muddied hearts
so that we may approach You, oh Holy of Holies!
Have mercy, have mercy, Lord have mercy!
Place our damaged and ailing vessels back into the kiln and refine our shattered spirits.
Then, with new wine skins ready, may You bubble up within us, oh deep, unending spring.
Replenish our faith and heal your children Lord God Almighty,
so that we may ascend the heights and together once again proclaim
Christ's Paschal joy, Alleluia!
©Diocese of Bridgeport, 2021.
Lent
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Trivia
Who was the first woman to argue in front of the U.S. Supreme Court?
Please send your answers to socialpolicy@catholiccharitiesusa.org
On February 19, the trivia question was, "Which civil rights activist received a posthumous Pulitzer Prize special citation?"
Sara Morris of Baltimore, Maryland correctly identified Ida B. Wells as the Civil Rights activist who received a posthumous Pulitzer Prize special citation for her outstanding and courageous reporting on the horrific and vicious violence against African Americans during the era of lynching. The Pulitzer was awarded on May 4, 2020 and additionally the Pulitzer Prize board announced that it would donate at least $50,000 in support of Wells' mission. At the time she was living, she was considered extremely controversial, militant and but she stayed steadfast and focused on her mission.
"For her work to still be relevant today, so many decades after she actually did the work, is a testament to how important are the contributions she made to this country," said Wells' great-granddaughter, Michelle Duster. She faced a lot of danger, a lot of criticism and a lot of loss during her lifetime while working to report and expose the truth about the brutality and the extent of lynching.
The famed abolitionist who led a crusade against the barbaric lynching of African-Americans by racist whites across the Jim Crow South in the 1890s was honored "for her outstanding and courageous reporting on the horrific and vicious violence against African Americans during the era of lynching," the Pulitzers said.
"one had better die fighting against injustice than to die like a dog or a rat in a trap"
― Ida B. Wells
Please share the weekly with your friends, family and networks so that we can build a movement of solidarity for those most in need!
You can also access advocacy opportunities through our advocacy and policy page.
Stay connected with our work to end poverty, follow us on Twitter at @CCharitiesUSA.
If you would like to help further Catholic Charities' commitment to alleviating, reducing, and preventing poverty you can contribute here. |
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