Nearly one year into the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. economy continues to reel from the Trump administration’s negligent and insufficient response. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest jobs report, 2020 ended with 9.8 million fewer jobs than existed prior to the pandemic, and the current unemployment rate is nearly double that of February 2020.
With a new Congress and administration in office, federal policymakers must make critical investments across the U.S. economy that will help kickstart recovery, get hundreds of thousands of Americans back to work, reduce poverty rates, and prevent cuts to essential services that sustain local communities. Fortunately, President Joe Biden has indicated his commitment to enacting economic relief that rebuilds America’s crumbling infrastructure; invests in critical green industries; provides support for essential care work; and extends needed aid to state and local governments. In order to ensure that this stimulus delivers on its promise, policymakers must require that the spending creates good jobs for Americans from all walks of life—particularly when taxpayer dollars are going to private corporations.
The above excerpt was originally published in Center for American Progress.
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