Albany, NY – Following the release of the $1 trillion HEALS Act package for COVID-19 relief, Stanley Fritz, Political Director of Citizen Action of New York, released the following statement:
“Instead of protecting families, workers and the economy, Senate Republicans have proposed a package that does little to address mass unemployment, the loss of health care coverage, food insecurity, and state and local budget shortfalls. More than 32,000 people in New York have died from COVID-19 and over 1.5 million people have filed for unemployment. Millions more people need help to get through this tough time and take care of their families. Our child care system is crumbling and millions of workers are still being denied paid sick or family leave.
The HEALS Act proposal ignores the tremendous harm that Black, Brown, and low-income families have already suffered, both during and before this pandemic. The inadequate relief shortchanges workers, small businesses and local economies in a way that will hurt our recovery efforts. Without more federal funding for state and local governments, unemployment benefits, worker protections and Medicaid, COVID-19 will do even more harm.
Billionaires are getting richer during this pandemic while the rest of us are getting sicker and poorer. That’s completely wrong. Instead of taxing the ultra rich in New York State, Governor Cuomo is proposing cuts to the state budget. State legislators and Congress can and must do better if we are going to beat COVID-19 and come out of this crisis together.”
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