EdAction in Congress April 12, 2020
For next COVID bill, NEA urges Congress to think big
As a fourth coronavirus legislative package begins to take shape, NEA is urging Congress to address immediate needs like funding as well as long-festering problems ranging from the homework gap to student loan debt. On April 9, NEA sent every member of Congress a detailed list of top priorities for students and educators accompanied by a letter urging lawmakers to see the current crisis for what it is: a wake-up call, not a passing storm. Like 9/11 and the Great Depression, the coronavirus crisis is destined to have a lasting impact on our way of life. Now is time to renew America’s promise of equal opportunity and justice for all. TAKE ACTIONCOVID-19 resources on educationvotes.org
We’ve assembled a special COVID-19 page about the work NEA is doing at the federal level and what Congress is doing to address the COVID-19 crisis—and our “asks.” In addition to information about the three bills passed thus far, the page provides links to NEA’s letters to Congress, estimated relief for each state, and fact sheets on key issues, including one-time payments to individuals, unemployment insurance, student loans, school meals, and more. Check it out!
Cheers and Jeers
Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Kamala Harris (D-CA), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) and Robin Kelly (D-IL) sent a letter urging Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar to “monitor and address racial disparities in our nation’s response” to the COVID-19 pandemic.Reps. Colin Allred (D-TX), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), and Marc Veasey (D-TX) and their staffs helped NEA member Verónica Mariscal, a Dallas arts teacher, get safely back to the United States from Peru during the coronavirus crisis.Reps. Jim McGovern (D-MA), Marcia Fudge (D-OH), Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) led a letter signed by 136 of their colleagues urging House and Senate leaders to incorporate provisions in upcoming COVID-19 stimulus packages that will: (1) boost the maximum SNAP benefit by 15 percent; (2) increase the monthly minimum SNAP benefit from $16 to $30; and (3) place a hold on harmful proposed rules that weaken the SNAP eligibility and benefits.Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) sent a letter encouraging Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to target CARES Act funding to public and nonprofit colleges—calling excluding for-profit colleges from the funding the “most legally sound” approach.