THREAD: Today’s CARES Act was an overdue and necessary step in the right direction. We fought for many critical policies and programs protecting the most vulnerable populations including:
$100 billion to help hospitals, health care providers and testing centers like MA’s @broadinstitute make up for this Administration’s failure to prepare us for this pandemic.
$3.5 billion for child care grants to help parents and staff navigate closures.
$1.3 billion for the community health centers standing on the frontlines of this crisis.
$50 million for @LSCtweets that will provide legal assistance to Americans who will be unjustly targeted by landlords, banks, and insurers in the aftermath.
$10 million to support biopharmaceutical research through the Manufacturing USA network created by my Revitalize American Manufacturing and Innovation Act.
Nearly $300 million for PPE for federal and local first responders.
$50 million for suicide prevention efforts.
And critical reforms to Unemployment Insurance to guarantee relief is immediate and robust.
But to be very clear, even on many of these fronts, critical relief and reforms were blocked by Republicans more focused on corporate bailouts than suffering workers. That’s why we still need to:
Immediately enroll all uninsured people in Medicaid. Provide at least $4,000 in universal direct cash payments for lower- and middle-class Americans. Provide forbearance on all debt and relief for rental payments. Get more money, equipment & resources to medical first responders.
If we retreat now, we will only regret that we were too scared to provide the relief that millions of Americans, health care providers, first responders, non-profit employees and small business owners desperately need.
