ProsperUS Coalition to Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Schumer: Build on $1.9 Trillion COVID Package, Don’t Reduce It
ProsperUS launched this week to advocate with one voice for large scale government investments
Groups to Congressional leaders: “There is no virtue in a compromise proposal that leaves families without much-needed relief”
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, as the Senate debates its budget bill, ProsperUS, a coalition of major progressive labor, grassroots, movement, faith-based, and policy organizations at the state, local, and national level sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer urging them to oppose any and all efforts to water down or reduce President Biden's $1.9 trillion proposal. The President’s proposal is widely considered only a first down payment to build on.
Key excerpts from the letter (full text below):
“We are writing on behalf of progressive labor, grassroots, movement, faith-based, and policy organizations at the state, local, and national level – and the millions of workers and families we represent – to urge you to meet the historic nature of the crises we face with bold ideas reflecting the best economics, and commit the public resources needed to implement them. Specifically, we are encouraging you to consider President Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID rescue plan an initial down payment to be built upon, and to oppose any and all efforts to water it down or reduce it.”
“The economic consensus is clear — we need trillions in relief to address even just the immediate crisis. Experts across the political spectrum agree that the gravest economic policy risk is going too small.”
“There is no virtue in a compromise proposal that leaves families without much-needed relief. Lawmakers should not be asked to pursue something smaller than the relief that is needed — that is not a compromise, it is a failure.”
“We urge you and your colleagues to brush aside hesitant and circumscribed proposals and move boldly forward with no less than $1.9 trillion, now. We stand ready to work with lawmakers who are willing to work with the Administration to deliver the results workers and families need.”
Full text of the letter
Dear Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Schumer,
We are writing on behalf of progressive labor, grassroots, movement, faith-based, and policy organizations at the state, local, and national level – and the millions of workers and families we represent – to urge you to meet the historic nature of the crises we face with bold ideas reflecting the best economics, and commit the public resources needed to implement them. Specifically, we are encouraging you to consider President Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID rescue plan an initial down payment to be built upon, and to oppose any and all efforts to water it down or reduce it.
With 18 million people receiving unemployment benefits, Black and Latinx unemployment rates near double the rate for whites, COVID cases at over 26 million, and COVID deaths approaching 450,000, families and the economy are hurting. It’s been nine months since the CARES Act, which helped keep families and the economy afloat, but the additional relief Congress authorized in December was much too little after much too long.
The economic consensus is clear — we need trillions in relief to address even just the immediate crisis. Experts across the political spectrum agree that the gravest economic policy risk is going too small. We cannot address the racial and gender disparities or other persistent inequities that this crisis has highlighted and exacerbated without significant public investment.
President Biden’s $1.9 trillion response plan is an important first step. But it is a down payment that can only serve to address the immediate economic pain of the pandemic and recession. We will need more public investments to deliver on plans to combat the climate crisis, reduce inequality, and achieve racial justice. President Biden’s plan is a floor on which to build — it cannot be whittled down without undermining millions of families' economic stability and our economic recovery.
We are disappointed to see certain political leaders calling for smaller, watered-down proposals. There is no virtue in a compromise proposal that leaves families without much-needed relief. Lawmakers should not be asked to pursue something smaller than the relief that is needed — that is not a compromise, it is a failure. We cannot afford to retread the mistakes of the Great Recession. The pain of that recession lasted far longer than necessary, and hit Black and brown families the hardest — too many still hadn’t recovered, even before the pandemic.
We urge you and your colleagues to brush aside hesitant and circumscribed proposals and move boldly forward with no less than $1.9 trillion, now. We stand ready to work with lawmakers who are willing to work with the Administration to deliver the results workers and families need.
Sincerely,