Executive Summary
The National Health Law Program joined the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and 110 other organizations in sending a letter to members of Congress urging them to include economic security priorities in future COVID-19 legislation.
The letter calls on Congress to enact policies to protect low- and moderate-income people from economic disaster and to meet the urgent needs of the most vulnerable people in our nation. Communities that have already been marginalized by structural barriers to equal opportunities and who have low levels of wealth are particularly vulnerable during this current emergency. While many working people have been sidelined, many others are still providing essential services during the crisis – working at grocery stores, delivering mail and packages, and providing care to vulnerable people – putting their lives at risk, often at reduced hours and wages, to keep our country running. The ongoing crisis has laid bare the structural racism and barriers to opportunity that are entrenched in our society, and our collective actions now must not worsen them.
