Media clips

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• Layoffs Hit Record High in March as Job Openings Sank

  Elise Gould, senior economist at the nonprofit think tank Economic Policy Institute, noted for comparison that in April 2009, the worst month of the previous economic collapse, layoffs totaled 2.7 million.

  “Layoffs in March were more than four times larger than the worst month in the Great Recession,” she said.

  Courthouse News Service May 18, 2020
• Layoffs hit record high of 11 million in March

  Heidi Shierholz, policy director at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, noted that 24 million American have filed new claims for unemployment benefits since the end of March, tweeting that Friday’s data “only shows the beginning of the devastation.”

  “The human suffering and lost productive potential represented by these numbers is immeasurable,” she continued.

  The Hill May 18, 2020
• Rent Strike Nation: May Day Actions Seek Payment Relief

  D.C.’s Economic Policy Institute reported that one in six workers, or about 36.5 million Americans, have filed for Unemployment Insurance since the COVID-19 pandemic began. From March 28 to April 28, “for every 10 people who said they successfully filed for unemployment benefits, three to four additional people tried to apply but could not get through the system to make a claim.”

  The Cheyenne Post May 18, 2020
• Letter: Medical resources not shared equally

  Last month the Economic Policy Institute analyzed ventilator rationing policies and guidelines from 30 states. All but five took into account factors that disfavored those with disabilities: “patients’ expected lifespan; need for resources, such as home oxygen; or specific diagnoses, such as dementia. Some even permitted hospitals to take ventilators away from patients who use them as breathing aids in everyday life and give them to other patients.”

  Bennington Banner May 18, 2020
• Harris, Sanders, Gillibrand, Booker, Warren, Markey, Merkley Introduce Emergency Health Care Guarantee Act

  The bill enjoys the endorsement of 32 national organizations and unions including the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, National Nurses United, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers of America; Center for Popular Democracy, Indivisible, League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), MoveOn.Org, National Domestic Workers Alliance, People’s Action, Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Public Citizen, Social Security Works, Sunrise Movement, United We Dream, Working Families Party, Business for Medicare for All, Debs-Jones-Douglass Institute, Democracy for America, Democratic Socialists of America, Economic Opportunity Institute, Economic Policy Institute, Faith Action Network, Healthcare-NOW, Hometown Action, Jane Addams Senior Center, Labor Campaign for Single Payer, Legal Voice, Medicare for All Now, Partners for Dignity & Rights, Presente.org, and Progressive Democrats of America.

  Sen. Kamala Harris May 18, 2020
• Sanders, Gillibrand, Booker, Warren, Markey, Merkley, Harris Introduce Emergency Health Care Guarantee Act

  Sanders’ bill enjoys the endorsement of 32 national organizations and unions including the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, National Nurses United, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers of America; Center for Popular Democracy, Indivisible, League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), MoveOn.Org, National Domestic Workers Alliance, People’s Action, Progressive Change Campaign Committee, Public Citizen, Social Security Works, Sunrise Movement, United We Dream, Working Families Party, Business for Medicare for All, Debs-Jones-Douglass Institute, Democracy for America, Democratic Socialists of America, Economic Opportunity Institute, Economic Policy Institute, Faith Action Network, Healthcare-NOW, Hometown Action, Jane Addams Senior Center, Labor Campaign for Single Payer, Legal Voice, Medicare for All Now, Partners for Dignity & Rights, Presente.org, and Progressive Democrats of America.

  Sen. Bernie Sanders May 18, 2020
• Tackle the financial burden of Covid-19 with patient-tailored payment plans

  Many times a job loss comes with the loss of employer healthcare coverage. According to the Commonwealth Fund, about half of the U.S. population is covered by employer health insurance plans. In fact since the devastating impact of Covid-19 began, the Economic Policy Institute expects an estimated 12.7 million workers to no longer have employer-provided health insurance.

  MedCity News May 18, 2020
• Study finds 44% of U.S. unemployment applicants have been denied or are still waiting

  According to research from the Economic Policy Institute released on April 28th, for every 10 people who said they successfully filed for unemployment benefits during the previous four weeks, three to four additional people tried to apply but could not get through the system to make a claim.

  EPI researchers also found that two additional people did not try to apply because it was too difficult to do so.

  “About half of potential UI applicants are actually receiving benefits,” reads EPI’s report.

  NBC News May 18, 2020
• Affordable child care is increasingly difficult to find in the U.S.—coronavirus could make it harder

  But who’s going to pay for these increased expenses? American parents with children under the age of five are already forking over a total of $42 billion for early child care and education, such as preschool programs, according to progressive think tank Economic Policy Institute.

  NBC News May 18, 2020
• Companies are giving essential workers bullshit rewards

  “Every job should be a safe job, no one should be risking their lives, and one of the biggest problems with trying to incentivize people to work in unsafe conditions is that it is inevitably condescending,” said Celine McNicholas, director of government affairs and labor counsel at the Economic Policy Institute.

  VOX May 18, 2020