Congress recently passed a new $484 million coronavirus relief bill aimed at supporting small businesses and hospitals impacted by the pandemic, but once again state and local municipal workers have been left out in the cold. This omission all but assures that front line workers on the state level will face layoffs in the coming weeks.
New funding for state employed workers is currently being blocked by senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky), who recently suggested that states consider declaring bankruptcy as the solution to their economic crises.
“Nurses, corrections officers, paramedics, sanitation workers and others are putting their health and safety on the line. Are we really going to thank them by issuing them pink slips?” asked Lee Saunders, the President of AFSCME. “Congress needs to get right back to work and pass a new bill that includes $700 billion in aid to state and local governments. We can’t abandon public service workers.”
Read more about how congress can assist state and frontline municipal workers with a new aid bill and what it should include to achieve this goal here.
