Reopening Responsibly.
It’s reckless and unjust to tell small businesses to open back up without adequate support and protection when people are still getting sick and dying and we don’t have a comprehensive system of testing and treatment. It’s time for Congress to invest in small businesses that are committed to operating as safely as possible including:
Principles for Reopening:
See our full Platform for Pandemic Resilience
Direct support for small businesses for the duration of the pandemic and that allows reopening at the pace and level businesses need to safeguard the health of owners, staff, and customers.
Adequate testing, tracing, supported isolation.
Clear, industry-specific workplace safety standards and support.
Health care and economic protection for all workers and families -- without immigration-based discrimination -- to support both a healthy workforce and local spending.
We do NOT need corporate immunity which removes incentives for corporations to follow basic worker and consumer safety requirements and puts people at risk -- then makes them pay for the harm. Instead of promoting a race-to-the-bottom with life or death consequences, lawmakers should support responsible small businesses.
“With a patchwork of rules and guidelines being issued at the city, county, state and federal levels, many employers find themselves wondering when it will be safe to open and how to make that choice — especially as some states are seeing an uptick in new cases of Covid-19.”
Read more about Main Street Alliance Member Adrift Hospitality’s journey to reopen, featured in the New York Times: What It Takes to Reopen a Small Business Right Now
