Bolster our care infrastructure.
Bolster our care infrastructure -- including health care, child care, paid leave, and schools -- so business owners and employees can return to work while meeting personal and family needs.
Care Infrastructure Policies.
Health care Almost 28 million people are uninsured in the U.S., and an alarming share of those who have already died from COVID-19 are Black. The federal government must mobilize to ensure equitable distribution of health care resources and stop any pandemic profiteering especially by drug corporations. Two bills that establish critical protections against drug price gouging for COVID-19 are the Make Medications Affordable by Preventing Pandemic Price-Gouging (MMAPPP) and the TRACK Act (Taxpayer Research and Coronavirus Knowledge Act.
Child Care. Any recovery plan that brings workers to work, needs to ensure the availability of child care and the sustainability of child care small business. Yet, half the child care supply in the United States is potentially at risk of closing permanently. Rep. DeLauro, Rep. Scott, and Sen. Murray (along with other cosponsors) have introduced the Child Care is Essential Act providing $50 billion in funding to stabilize the child care industry via CDBG funding.
Adopt universal and federal paid sick and family and medical leave programs. One of the top concerns of small business owners is the health and safety of their employees and customers. During the pandemic, access to paid sick days and medical leave are a critical component of a responsible reopening of our economy. While the Family First legislation added fully refundable sick and day care leave for many businesses, many others were carved out of those protections. We support the paid leave provisions of the HEROES Act that would provide all workers and independent contractors with 10 paid sick days per year until 2022 and eliminate loopholes in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act that excluded millions.
.
A shortage of personal protective equipment – or PPE – for the health care workers on the frontlines of this global pandemic. Detroit-based clothing brand DIOP and Detroit Action teamed up to provide 5,000 masks to essential health care workers…. but this should not fall on the backs of small businesses. We must invest in actual health care infrastructure, including an affordable vaccine and universal health coverage.
— Read more at Blac: Fashion Brand DIOP and Detroit Action Collab to Provide Masks to Health Care Workers
