COVID-19 Roundups
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…
August 5 COVID-19 Policy & Black Communities Roundup
Congress and Administration Continue to Negotiate Coronavirus Relief Democrats and the Trump Administration continued their negotiations in the wake of an economic crisis fueled by the July 31 expiration the $600 weekly federal unemployment benefit enjoyed by millions of Americans, the July 24 expiration of the federal moratorium on evictions, and new spikes in unemployment…
July 13 COVID-19 Policy & Black Communities Roundup
Still No Decisions on Coronavirus Relief Extensions Division remains on the size of the next stimulus package, with Democrats calling for at least double the $1 trillion limit proposed by the Trump Administration. Democrats—led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)—are resisting calls from the GOP to protect businesses from lawsuits that may be filed by…
July 6 COVID-19 Policy & Black Communities Roundup
Small Business Loan Program Extended to August On the Fourth of July, President Trump signed legislation to extend the deadline for businesses to apply for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to August 8. Earlier last week the House passed the legislation, and just hours before the program was scheduled to expire (with $130 billion still…
June 29 COVID-19 Policy & Black Communities Roundup
Upcoming Economic Data May Affect Next Coronavirus Stimulus On Thursday, July 2 the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the June employment situation report, which will illuminate the status of the labor market (including data on unemployment among Black communities). On the same day, the Department of Labor will release last week’s initial unemployment claims…