Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P].
Following Sunday night's agreement on a second $900 billion COVID-19 pandemic stimulus bill that includes enhanced unemployment benefits and direct cash payments, U.S. House of Representatives member Ted Lieu noted that, while it's not much, "it's better than nothing.
I just don't think it's big enough to address a scale of this pandemic, but there are some really good provisions in it," he said. For example, he said, $25 billion in rental assistance for people who lost their source of income during the pandemic.
As well as $284 billion for forgivable check protection loans for small businesses, $7 billion for broadband and $8 billion to ensure the distribution and delivery of vaccines.
He added that the $600 stimulus checks to citizens are too small. In my opinion, it's not enough, and that's why I look forward to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris coming in on January 20, and then we'll try again with another round of stimulus next year," he said.
He also noted that there is no good explanation for why undocumented immigrants did not get the aid, except for opposition from Republicans, yet mixed-status families are included in this bill.
He also explained that with regard to paycheck protection or small business loans (PPP), there had previously been abuses by businesses that did not have to receive the assistance, which is why the House of Representatives created an Oversight Committee to see how its stimulus funds are spent.
In view of the probable tsunami of evictions that the state could face, he pointed out that, although there is a 25 billion dollar fund for said item, it will be difficult to make the funds arrive because there are many different provisions that apply to each circumstance.
Farmers and people in rural areas can also benefit from support, either through PPP or through a personal loan (APP), in addition to accessing the Farm to Food Bank Program, where they can bring their crops and get paid for distribution, so they do not have to destroy their crops.
We have a lot of unemployed people. We have people showing up in long lines at food banks. And that's why the progressive group fought for stimulus checks. It's just too small, but something is better than nothing. But I hope we can put additional stimulus in place for the American people next year,? he said.
Lieu pointed out that many of the $600 relief checks will be deposited electronically, while those who are unable to receive them that way will get their stimulus later, he said during the virtual panel "The Income Gap Looms for Millions - No Adequate Relief in Sight," held by Ethnic Media Services.
For his part, Chad Stone, chief economist of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said he agreed with the economic stimulus that Congress has approved, however, ?more will be needed?
?The people who are bearing the brunt of unemployment in the housing crisis are those working in jobs that require face-to-face contact, most of which pay low wages," he said.
Of these, he explained, there is a disproportionate number of people of color seriously underserved by the old unemployment insurance system until before the crisis, when the proportion of unemployed workers was at historic lows.
After the $600 a week benefit for those who lost their jobs due to the pandemic was eliminated at the end of July, ?there was no more stimulus to sustain the recovery and the economy slowed down?
Unemployment remains high, the lack of jobs remains enormous, and Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits were pitifully small without that $600 for those who needed it most," he added.
According to their report, in November the unemployment rate showed to be three points higher than in February of this same year, however, for African descendants, Latinos and Asian-Americans, the figure rose to four or 4.5 points higher compared to the second month of 2020.
In this regard, he pointed out that there is a legacy of racism in the country, "the discrimination continues, the workers we are talking about, they are the last to be hired and the first to be fired. There are still many disparities in the hiring process".
Now, the enhanced federal unemployment benefit will offer $300 instead of $600, and it will be for up to 11 weeks (March 2021). It's good that they have been extended, but the economy is not going to get back anywhere near where it needs to be," he said.
Congress and President Biden, as well as Vice President Harris, will have to work, among other things they are doing, to make sure we have the stimulus we need to ease the difficulties. That will be necessary to generate a robust, sustainable and equitable recovery in the future," he said.
For Peter Hepburn, assistant professor of sociology at Rutgers University and also a researcher at the Princeton Evictions Lab, the United States faced a rental housing crisis long before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, according to data extracted from the Eviction Tracking System (ETS), it is estimated that protections implemented during the pandemic have prevented at least 1.6 million eviction requests nationwide, cases that in the absence of new protections will be reflected in 2021.
This, he said, would cause an increase in the number of homes in foreclosure, and puts an untold number of families at risk of displacement.
?I think, regardless, unless there are sufficient rental assistance programs, we have every reason to expect to face a large number of evictions. The scale of the problem also becomes apparent when we look at the amounts landlords are claiming for eviction cases," he said.
To this, he added that those belonging to the African-American community are the most affected by the eviction crisis, receiving more than 35 percent of all eviction requests.
The history of housing in this country is a long history of dispossession and systematic racial exclusion. We continue to see that today in rental housing there is a risk of displacement through eviction," he said.
And that's because, he said, wages, especially for low-skilled workers, have been basically stagnant over the last 20 years, while at the same time rents have risen dramatically. So there's an increasing proportion of renters who are burdened by housing costs and really haven't seen their wages increase in decades," he said.
In California, the moratorium on eviction is scheduled to expire on January 31; however, it is expected that the moratorium will be extended for a month as the situation occurs in the middle of winter, however, he said, much will depend on what Joe Biden's administration does beginning January 20, with the potential to extend the federal moratorium on eviction.
I think it's very important for the federal government to be engaged in eviction to bring about broader structural reforms. I hope they know that at a time when we are thinking critically about eviction, some of the changes that are implemented now in response to the pandemic are carried forward so that when we come out of this terrible time, we can take some of the policies that have worked well," he finished.
