As the two chambers of Congress develop competing proposals on corona virus financial bailout, it is important that the bailout focuses on people/individuals and not corporations. Howard County’s local Indivisible group, IndivisibleHoCoMD sent out the following to our members of Congress.

Call your representative (find the here) and tell them to focus on individual instead of corporate slush funds.

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To Members of Congress:

On March 18, Trump signed the second coronavirus response bill into law. This bill was an important step to provide people with the support we will need as we endure the consequences of the coronavirus outbreak. Even as we celebrate this, we have to remember that Trump and his Republican allies pushed to weaken the bill before it passed the House, which will compound the effects of Trump's moves to actively make us less prepared to confront a pandemic. Congress cannot allow Trump and his lobbyist-stacked administration to hand out money to corporations while leaving families behind.  Decades of Republican efforts to hollow out the middle class  and gut our safety net programs have left millions of people teetering on the edge. With the economy slowing down, Congress urgently has to act to protect families, workers, and low-income people from destitution.

We understand that Congress has already started working on a third coronavirus response package intended to tackle the looming consequences of the outbreak. While negotiations are ongoing, we have several areas Congress must consider while crafting this legislation:

• Safeguarding our democracy

• Ensuring the health care system can meet the scope of this crisis

• Providing economic support to families

• Supporting workers and small businesses

• Preventing unaccountable corporate bailouts

• Ensuring all policies include marginalized communities

In keeping with these principles, we think that any effective response to this crisis must include the following three policies:

1) Nationwide vote by mail, as laid out in the Natural Disaster and Emergency Ballot Act.

2) Direct cash assistance to individuals and families, with strenuous requirements attached to any corporate bailouts.  Sen. Warren has outlined what those requirements should look like:

• Companies must maintain their payrolls and use funds to keep people working or on payroll, and maintain pay and benefits for every worker

• Companies must provide a $15 minimum wage within one year of the national emergency declaration ending.

• Companies are prohibited from engaging in share repurchases.

• Companies are prohibited from paying out dividends or executive bonuses while they are receiving any relief and for three years thereafter.

• Companies must set aside at least one seat – but potentially two or more, as the amount of relief increases – on the board of directors for representatives elected by workers.

• Collective bargaining agreements should remain in place and should not be reopened or renegotiated pursuant to this relief program.

• Corporations must obtain shareholder and board approval for all political expenditures.

• CEOs must be required to personally certify a company is in compliance and face criminal penalties for false certifications.

• Congress must set up an oversight body, modeled on the Congressional Oversight Panel and the SIGTARP program for the bank bailout, but with real funding & subpoena power. We need real accountability to make sure these conditions are met.

3) Universal paid sick days, family leave, and expanded Unemployment Insurance to fill in the gaps from the second coronavirus response bill.

In order to prevent our nation's already precarious situation from getting worse, the third coronavirus package must include vote by mail, direct cash assistance, no unaccountable corporate bailouts, and stronger economic supports for workers and families.  We represent active and concerned citizens across Maryland committed to building a fairer and more compassionate democracy, and we hope you will take a lead during these perilous times.  

Thank you,

IndivisibleHoCoMD