As COVID infections surge, more than 1500 people in Washington state have died from the disease and over a million residents have filed for unemployment, a high percentage of us need help to get through this tough time and take care of our families. Yet rather than propose a package commensurate with the scale of harm we are seeing to families, workers and the economy, Republicans in the Senate have just proposed a package that does little to address growing hunger, unemployment, loss of health care coverage and state and local budget shortfalls.

As Community Catalyst writes, the proposal, called “HEALS,” is “a grossly insufficient bill that focuses more on helping corporations than on helping people confronting the biggest public health and economic crises our country has faced in decades. The Senate Republican proposal falls far below the benchmark set by the House-passed HEROES Act, a $3-trillion package aimed at getting individuals, families and communities the support they need to weather the severe health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. In sharp contrast, the HEALS Act is focused narrowly on liability protections for employers, hospitals and schools. It lacks much-needed investments for our health care system, adequate workplace and financial-security protections for essential workers, and sufficient support for testing. Instead of enhancing financial support for families struggling to get through this pandemic, the bill cuts funding for unemployment benefits. The bill’s most glaring omission is the absence of additional funding for the Medicaid program, which will result in cuts to the program at exactly the time when America needs it most.” Read more.