We Demand a People's Bailout
President-Elect Biden Administration and the 117th Congress of the United States
The American Rescue Plan has passed. But our communities are still suffering. Here's what we know the people deserve:
Cash Assitance: The American Rescue Plan included a one-time stimulus check for $1400. Our communities need monthly retroactive and recurring $2000 checks that aren’t linked to an arbitrary date, but actual economic conditions.
Unemployment Insurance: Unemployment benefits have been extended through September. We need a recovery package that includes a federal unemployment benefits boost and extension until unemployment rates drop.
Healthcare: The American Rescue Plan included increased subsidies and eligibility for health insurance coverage, but it still falls short. Our healthcare system is broken. Medicare for All is the standard we need. The next recovery package must put us on a path towards Medicare for All (M4A), including a real public option and public health jobs.
Jobs to Thrive: The American Rescue plan included funds for the creation of 100k public health jobs. But we need to address the gross levels of racial, economic, and gender inequity laid bare by the pandemic. We must fight for a living wage of at least $15/hr; pass the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act to strengthen protections for workers who want to form unions; and push for a bold economic renewal plan that aligns with the principles of the THRIVE Agenda and creates 15 million health, care, and climate jobs.
Citizenship: Undocumented essential workers were left out in the American Rescue Plan. Essential workers are indispensable and have kept our economy moving throughout the pandemic, we must create a pathway to citizenship for all 11 million undocumented people. We must pass legislation such as the Dream & Promise Act and Farmworker Modernization Act, which protects and centers immigrants.
Rent and Debt Assitance: The American Rescue Plan included $41.55B for Emergency Rental Assistance, homeowners, people experiencing homelessness, and utility assistance. Despite this aid, the eviction moratorium is not sufficient enough and millions of people continue to face housing instability. We need the Rent and Mortgage Cancelation Act included in the next recovery package.
The People's Bailout is a partnership of over 1,000 organizations, over 100 elected officials, and thousands of individual signatories that have been fighting since May 2020 to pass federal relief that follows our five principles and includes every person in the United States regardless of status. Read our five principles here.
Our goal is to build a mass movement for just relief, recovery, and renewal from the Covid-19 pandemic. Join us in the fight and demand that President Joe Biden and the 117th Congress support the People's Bailout and deliver relief to all of us.
Sign this letter and share your story using the #PeoplesBailout.
In Solidarity,
Core Team: Care in Action, Center for Popular Democracy, It Takes Roots, Movement for Black Lives, People’s Action, Sierra Club, and the Working Families Party.
Organizations and lawmakers: to have your name listed here please email apeoplesbailout@gmail.com with a name, organization, e-mail, and zip code
Sponsored by
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Additional Sponsors
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To:
President-Elect Biden Administration and the 117th Congress of the United States
From:
[Your Name]
We, the undersigned, stand alongside 1,000 partner organizations and 100 federal lawmakers to demand a People's Bailout that centers people and the planet over profits and corporations.
This is the moment to boldly chart a path to a more equitable future through a just recovery.
Healthcare workers are striking for safer working conditions. Renters and homeowners are calling on landlords and banks to demand rent and mortgage cancellation. Black, Indigenous and Latino people of color have a COVID-19 age-adjusted death rate of triple or more of White Americans. Millions of people, including many in the undocumented community, have not been eligible for any pandemic relief. Small business owners are fighting big banks for access to relief funds to pay their employees. Community members are calling for the release of people trapped in unsafe detention centers.
We are asking for a recovery package that meets five principles for a just recovery:
1. Health is the top priority, for all people, with no exceptions
2. Economic relief must be provided directly to the people
3. Rescue workers and communities, not corporate executives
4. Make a down-payment on a regenerative economy while preventing future crises
5. Protect our democratic process while protecting each other
You have the power to prioritize passing a recovery package in the first 100 days of your administration. This is the first step in undoing the traumatic harm of the last four years and in liberating our country as we move into recovery together.