Nearly 100 business, labor, and government leaders – all members of California governor Gavin Newsome’s Task Force on Business and Jobs Recovery – came together to urge Congress to provide $1 trillion in new aid funding to states, cities, and towns.

The Task Force addressed the need and their concerns in a letter, which noted that “Without additional assistance from the federal government, the very programs that will help people get back to their lives and get back to work – from childcare to job training to small business support – will all be forced up on the chopping block.”

The letter was built upon findings by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), which predicted that Congressional assistance for states could help save up to 6 million jobs before the end of next year. Josh Bivens, the EPI’s director of research, warned that refusing funding could result in catastrophic unemployment for the public service sector, warning that “[t]he incredibly steep recession we’re currently in is guaranteed to torpedo state and local governments’ ability to collect revenues. The result will be intense pressure for large cutbacks in public spending by state and local governments in coming years. Such cutbacks would be absolutely devastating to the cause of restarting the economy and allowing people to find jobs, even if the virus has completely abated.”

Aid for states, cities, and towns, is currently being blocked by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky.

Read more about the Task Force’s request to Congress here.