Senate coronavirus bill is crucial—but it’s a fraction of what’s needed [feedly]

Senate coronavirus bill is crucial—but it's a fraction of what's needed
https://www.epi.org/blog/senate-coronavirus-bill-is-crucial-but-its-a-fraction-of-whats-needed/

Family First Coronavirus Response Act is an important first step in the United States' response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Senate should pass it immediately. There are provisions for both health spending and paid sick leave, as well as income supports in the form of expanded food-assistance programs and unemployment insurance.

We summarize some of the bill's specific provisions below, but we first want to highlight a few important loopholes and talk about the important next steps.

The bill has some glaring exclusions. Perhaps the most problematic is the carve-out for large businesses; the bill exempts employers with more than 500 workers from its paid leave mandate. Bureau of Labor Statistics data show that 11% of workers at private-sector businesses with 500 workers or more do not have access to paid sick leave, and 48% of private-sector workers work in firms with 500 workers or more. Together, that means that 6.8 million private-sector workers in large firms will not have paid sick days as a result of the large-firm exemption. And this does not count the fact that workers at these firms that doprovide paid sick days often do not provide enough time for workers to self-quarantine for the recommended 14 days.

The bill also makes it possible for the Secretary of Labor to exempt certain health care providers and emergency responders from its paid leave provisions, and to exempt businesses with less than 50 people. The data show that 36% of workers at private-sector businesses with less than 50 workers do not have access to paid sick leave, and 27% of private-sector workers work in firms with 50 or fewer workers, together meaning that 12.8 million workers may not have access to paid sick days as a result of potential exemptions for small businesses. 

Together, that means that somewhere between 6.8 million and 19.6 million private-sector workers will be left without paid sick days as a result of the firm-size exemptions in the bill. The PAID Leave Act, which will be introduced by Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), would go a long way toward closing these loopholes by providing 14 emergency paid sick days and 12 weeks emergency paid family and medical leave, reimbursed in full by the federal government.

Even with its weaknesses, the Family First Coronavirus Response Act includes key first steps, and should be passed immediately.

Recall the Center for Disease Control (CDC)'s initial recommendation to reduce the spread of COVID-19: Seek medical care and stay home. On the health care side, there are important provisions in the bill to provide coverage for free COVID-19 testing, and there is a temporary increase in the federal match for states' Medicaid programs. These are important first steps, but more needs to be done to ensure that patients not only have access to testing, but also have access to affordable medical care for treatment of the disease itself as well as secondary infections and potential complications

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