Without the U.S. bailout plan will benefit national economy in millions of Americans would further worsen the situation of the population.

Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press. [P360P].

Without the recently approved U.S. bailout plan that includes the $1.9 trillion financial relief package pushed by President Joseph Biden, the substantial hardship and uncertainty in the national economy that millions of Americans have endured over the past year would have worsened even more, especially among African Americans, Latinos and Native Americans.

So said Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Chief Economist Chad Stone, who added that the economic relief plan will address three points: First, getting the SARS-CoV-2 virus under control so that the economy and life in general can operate more safely and normally.

Two, to alleviate the uncertainties and hardships that have been experienced by many Americans over the past year, and which would have worsened had this relief not been enacted; and third, it provides a substantial stimulus to an economic recovery that, frankly, has stalled halfway back to full employment.

During a briefing held by Ethnic Media ServicesThe expert stressed that programs that alleviate hardship and give money to people who will spend it quickly, such as unemployment insurance and nutrition assistance, are very useful in stimulating economic activity and employment once it is safe to return to work.

"Controlling the virus is the most important thing to deal with the difficulties, but there will also be stimulus that will put us back on the path to recovery," Chad Stone stressed.

This law, he said, expands the availability of nutrition assistance to help address extraordinarily high levels of hunger and poverty, in addition to making comprehensive health coverage more affordable and accessible to millions of people during the current crisis.

And, he recalled, the support includes critical housing assistance for millions of people struggling to pay rent and avoid evictions, as well as providing much-needed funds for communities to cope with homelessness during the pandemic, and emergency funds to help families with the lowest incomes.

"I should stress that all of these provisions are short-term, they are not permanent. But they provide guidance on the kind of policies that we might want to see in the future on a permanent basis," he stressed.

Regarding unemployment insurance, he said the expansions in unemployment benefits in the pandemic have been "an imperfect miracle," as they have been substantial, but temporary.

In that regard, he explained that the rescue plan extends through September 6 three key unemployment programs: The first, additional weeks of benefits to people who exhaust their regular state benefits; The second, called the Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program, which is really important for people who don't qualify for regular state benefits; And the third, a federal supplement of $300 a week to regular benefits for all unemployment programs.

"These measures ensure that no one is at risk of running out of unemployment benefits before finding a job, but only through the week ending Sept. 6," he said.

Finally, he pointed out that it will be necessary to wait for Congress, before going on its summer recess, to analyze the economic conditions and decide whether it is reasonable to let these benefits expire on September 6 or to extend them.

Healing and moving forward

Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, who represents Illinois' 8th District, said the package "will help our economy heal and, of course, help America recover from the health crisis, and I think it's a great victory for the American people.

He further stated that local aid is basically necessary for two reasons: one, because sales tax revenues and other sources of tax revenue have declined dramatically for many states and local municipalities in the jurisdictions.

He noted that those governments, in particular, face one of two choices: raise taxes or cut services, or potentially do both, "but neither of those options is acceptable during a pandemic.

"Yet because of our inaction to this point at the federal level, 1.4 million government workers have been furloughed, many of whom are first responders needed to fight COVI-19," he stressed.

He said the reality is that many of these governments need additional revenue and to fill gaps, so taxpayers should be spared tax increases or cuts and services.

A Plan that gives children a hand

At the meeting, Elaine Maag of the Urban Institute Policy Center noted that economic impact payments, sometimes called clawback rebates, and an increase in the child tax credit are cash benefits that will help a large share of low-income families.

He explained that in 2021, researchers at the Urban Institute estimated that poverty would be around 14 percent unless action is taken. This figure hides some important differences, because while white families would have a poverty rate of less than 10 percent, black families would have a poverty rate of 18 percent, while in the case of Hispanic families the percentage rises to 22 percent.

In that sense, he said that the American Rescue Plan will reduce these rates substantially. The poverty rate for white families would be reduced by 26.4 percent, for black families by 10.5 percent and for Hispanics by 13.3 percent.

"In other words, the law would reduce the poverty rate for children by 7.0 percent, which is a larger cut than that projected for adults 18 to 64 or for those 65 and older."

He added that poverty harms children throughout their lives, as early brain development is affected, resulting in slower and stunted growth. "They get worse jobs, their health is worse and they live shorter lives."

He said all of those things are bad for the children affected, but also for society, because before the pandemic, child poverty was 11 percent. "So it's gone up during this pandemic, but the American Rescue Plan would bring the poverty rate for children well below pre-pandemic levels.

However, he stressed that it is not just a question of relatively high poverty, as the situation has exacerbated other problems, such as financial and food insecurity, which has almost doubled in the case of families with children.

"Nearly a quarter of families with children report not eating a balanced meal or skipping meals or reducing portion sizes because they don't have enough money to eat."

The story is worse for families with African-American or Hispanic parents, where about four in 10 families reported being food insecure, and about 17 percent of renters reported being behind on their payments.

"The problem is the lack of cash, people need unrestricted funds to catch up."

Elaine Magg stated that President Biden's American Recovery Plan expands the credit in four important ways: number one, the credit will be fully refundable. Families will receive the full value of the credit, even if they don't work; number two, the credit will now include children who are 17; and number three, the maximum credit will increase for most families from two thousand dollars per child to three thousand six hundred dollars per child under the age of 6.

The need for a minimum wage

ROC United President and CEO Dr. Sekou Siby explained that 27.1 million service workers are women, people of color and immigrants, while more than one-third of the nation's service workers do not have enough money to make ends meet.

12 percent of service workers live below the poverty line, of which 85 percent are, again, women, people of color and immigrants. Overall, 17 percent of all service workers rely on public strategies, such as food stamps and Medicaid, while working longer hours just to make ends meet, she said.

The minimum wage in California is $12 per hour on average, in Mississippi it is $17.25, however, for those who work in the service area, he noted, in California it is $13 on average, and in Mississippi it is $9, while a living wage in California is $18.66 and in Mississippi it is $13, "you can see the gaps".  

"We have a huge gap between what people need to live on and what they're actually getting, which is why there's such a high dependency on government subsidies."

With the American Rescue plan, 553,000 children will be lifted out of poverty and 460,000 restaurant workers who are parents will also benefit from the rescue package, "so it's a great deal nationally," he said.

In that regard, she stressed that to see meaningful and impactful change in the country's society, it is necessary to increase the wages of all workers and "build a ladder" by creating upward mobility and opportunity for all, especially women of color and immigrants."

And, he noted, "it's not dignified for workers to work full time and still rely on public assistance. He said that, because of the pandemic, paid sick days have become a priority for workers.

While small businesses will begin to pick up the slack after the COVID-19 pandemic closures, wage increases are intended to be gradual until there is a win-win situation for both parties.

Finally, he noted that the wage increases for service and agricultural workers will help undocumented people also receive help, since the U.S. Rescue Plan will not support them.