Without a Robust Federal Response, the Economic Crisis Will Get Worse For Marylanders
As the clock runs out on some provisions of the initial federal economic relief bills, thousands of Marylanders will be facing increased economic hardship if Congress does not act quickly. Federal leaders must put people first and immediately negotiate a bipartisan agreement that provides substantial aid to state and local governments and meaningful assistance for low-income people who have been hit the hardest by the pandemic and recession. If they fail to act or pass an inadequate bill, the damage to our economy will leave all Marylanders worse off.
Unfortunately, the proposals Republican leaders released earlier this week fall far short of meeting Marylanders’ needs in this unprecedented economic crisis. To protect families and stabilize our economy, the next federal package must include increased food and housing assistance, relief for state and local governments, continued expansion of jobless benefits, and support for immigrant families who were largely left out of earlier relief efforts.
The evidence is clear that a growing number of Marylanders are struggling to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table. More than 3 in 10 renters in the state are behind on rent, putting them at risk of eviction once state courts begin processing eviction cases again at the end of August. A larger share of renters in Maryland are behind on rent than in any other state except Louisiana and West Virginia. And nearly one quarter of adults in households with children said they couldn’t afford enough food to feed their families.
The Republican proposal does not respond to these needs. It leaves out key supports, such as an increase in SNAP benefits to help people buy food for themselves and their families and funding for homelessness services or additional rental vouchers. And, it proposes a massive cut in benefits for laid-off workers even though the resurgence in COVID-19 cases means that many people are unlikely to be able to return to work soon. Each $1 in SNAP or unemployment benefits can boost the economy by up to $2.10, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
By not acting on legislation that passed the House of Representatives weeks ago, Republicans in the Senate allowed the across-the-board $600 increase in weekly unemployment benefits to expire. They are proposing to replace it with a $200 per week payment. Cutting unemployment assistance by $400 per week would bring a dramatic cut in spending at local businesses and cost nearly 45,000 jobs in Maryland alone.
Further, the Republican proposal’s failure to provide additional relief for state and local governments will deal another blow to our economy that we can ill afford. Without additional federal aid, Maryland will be forced to make big cuts in support for schools, health care, transit systems, and other public services that are the foundation of our economy. And that would mean laying off thousands of teachers and other public sector workers.
As we saw in the Great Recession, these actions would not only harm the public services Marylanders rely on, they would have ripple effects throughout our economy. Failure to provide additional federal aid will lead to the loss of an additional 5.3 million jobs nationwide, including 97,000 here in Maryland, according to estimates from the Economic Policy Institute.
Families need more help to get through this crisis, and our country needs a stimulus package that is big enough to jumpstart our economy. A package that is too small, like the Republican plan, will make the recession longer and more painful. Congress must prioritize support for people hard-hit by the crisis and provide more money to prevent states, cities, and towns from making deep budget cuts that will hurt tens of millions more people.
