On July 20th, critical business awaits members of the US Senate as they return from a two-week summer recess: the passing of the HEROES Act. The US House of Representatives passed the $3 trillion Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act on May 15th, and it’s now up to the Senate to decide whether this federal aid will be there to provide relief to state, local, territorial and tribal governments as well as businesses and citizens who have been negatively affected as a consequence of COVID-19.
If the Senate fails to act, essential services will be gutted and hundreds of thousands of educators, healthcare workers and public employees such as firefighters, police, transportation and EMS personnel, teachers and other vital workers who keep us safe will be laid off. The HEROES Act offers comprehensive funding to maintain these jobs.
Review this summary to see the range of support extended by the Act. Provisions specifically for Higher Ed have been summarized here, and benefits to Pennsylvania can be found here.
Join representatives from TAUP and other AFT unions at noon on Wednesday, July 8th, to deliver a failing report card to Sen. Pat Toomey for his failure to support the HEROES Act. Social distancing and mask wearing will be observed, and a limited number of people will be attending from each local. If you’d like to be among those attending from TAUP, please RSVP.
What does the HEROES Act Include?
Among the comprehensive and essential funding within the Act, there is:
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Broad relief for college students.
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New stimulus checks which will include adult dependents (such as our students) and immigrants.
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Expanded student loan relief which will include economically distressed borrowers who have either federal or private student loans. It will also include many who were excluded in the CARES Act because they were not eligible for federal student aid. This penalized students based on their citizenship status, the currency of their loan payments and their academic standing.
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Suspension of payments and interest on student loans in addition to up to $10,000 in student loan forgiveness.
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Protection for students who are behind in their payments from wage garnishment and other forms of compulsory repayment.
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Extensive healthcare measures, including the elimination of certain out-of-pocket expenses for COVID-19 treatment and vaccines, and there will be $100 billion in reimbursements to hospitals and eligible healthcare providers for certain expenses and lost revenue to prevent, prepare for and respond to COVID-19.
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An extension for those eligible for COBRA to maintain their employer-sponsored coverage without paying premiums through January 2021.
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Expanded federal, state and local COVID-19 testing and tracing.
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Requirements from OSHA to establish temporary emergency standards for employers to protect any worker at “occupational risk of exposure” to COVID-19, and the Department of Labor will need to create permanent standards to protect workers from infectious pathogens within two years.
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A prohibition on t employers from retaliating against employees who report publicizing health and safety hazards.
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Funding for hazard pay..
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An extension of COVID-19 Unemployment Compensation: the $600/week FPUC, the PUA program for gig workers, independent contractors and business owners, and the PPP program for small businesses.
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An extension of housing and food assistance.
Republican leaders in the Senate have stated that they will not vote on the HEROES Act in its current form and would prefer to wait to see if previous stimulus packages improve the economy, and the White House has stated that it would veto the Act.
It is up to us to push our representatives to pass this critical legislation.
Tell your senator to pass the #HEROESAct at http://go.aft.org/