COVID-19 Roundup
October 21 COVID-19 Policy & Black Communities Roundup
Senate Majority Leader Discourages White House From Making Stimulus Deal with House Speaker House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the White House continue to negotiate for another stimulus of roughly $2 trillion, even as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell privately discouraged the White House from striking a deal. Senate Republicans warned that any deal could divide the party…
October 14 COVID-19 Policy & Black Communities Roundup
Due to the holiday weekend, the Joint Center is releasing an abbreviated roundup on COVID-19 and Black communities. We will resume our more robust roundup next week. Senate Republicans Reject $1.8 Trillion White House Stimulus Proposal Last week, the White House’s $1.8 trillion COVID-19 stimulus proposal was rejected by Senate Republicans, continuing the months-long stalemate over…
October 7 COVID-19 Policy & Black Communities Roundup
House Introduces New $2.2 Trillion Coronavirus Stimulus Bill Last week, following an extremely contentious first presidential debate between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, President Trump revealed via Twitter that he and First Lady Melania Trump tested positive for COVID-19. President Trump was subsequently moved to the Walter Reed National Military Medical…
September 29 COVID-19 Policy & Black Communities Roundup
Congressional Black Caucus Introduces Sweeping Legislation for Black America View this post on Instagram A post shared by Congressional Black Caucus (@congressionalblackcaucus) on Sep 23, 2020 at 1:19pm PDT Last week the Congressional Black Caucus released the Jobs and Justice Act of 2020. The bill includes funding for targeted coronavirus tracing, testing, and…
September 23 COVID-19 Policy & Black Communities Roundup
McConnell’s Prioritization of Justice Ginsburg’s Replacement Over Coronavirus Relief Draws Criticism With the number of U.S. deaths from COVID-19 surpassing 200,000, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s focus on replacing Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg despite failing to pass a stimulus bill has drawn significant criticism. He has faced protests outside his Kentucky home and…
September 15 COVID-19 Policy & Black Communities Roundup
Coronavirus Stimulus Remains Deadlocked Last week, Congress remained stymied in its efforts to deliver another round of coronavirus relief, as Senate Democrats blocked a $500 billion GOP proposal. The Republican plan—which includes a weekly federal unemployment benefit supplement of $300 (half of the earlier benefit) and additional Paycheck Protection Plan funding—is viewed as insufficient to…
September 10 COVID-19 Policy & Black Communities Roundup
Controversy Brews over Evictions Moratorium Last week, in the wake of the July expiration of both the $600 federal unemployment benefit and a federal eviction moratorium and following an executive order from the White House, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued a four-month moratorium on evictions to prevent the displacement of 43 million residential…
September 1 COVID-19 Policy & Black Communities Roundup
Speaker Pelosi Rejects White House Stimulus Offer as Insufficient Last week, efforts to reach agreement on a new round of coronavirus relief measures stymied, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) rejected a $1.3 trillion bill offered by the White House. After a conversation with White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Speaker Pelosi explained that…
August 25 COVID-19 Policy & Black Communities Roundup
Pressure Mounts to Fully Fund U.S. Postal Service On Saturday, the House interrupted its summer recess for a rare weekend session to pass legislation to prevent the U.S. Postal Service from implementing operational changes that could threaten the timely delivery of mail-in ballots for the November elections. The legislation passed would also provide $25 billion…
August 18 COVID-19 Policy & Black Communities Roundup
Kamala Harris Announced as Vice Presidential Candidate for Joe Biden Last week, Democratic Presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden announced Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) as his running mate, making the Senator the first Black and South Asian woman to run on a major political party’s presidential ticket. Senator Harris has introduced a number of…