Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and 14 Senate Democrats on Thursday proposed to invest $350 billion in communities of color, which have been hit disproportionately by the coronavirus pandemic, as part of the next aid package.
The proposal would provide $135 billion for child care, mental health, primary care and job training and $215 billion for infrastructure including high-speed internet; tax credits for homeowners and renters; and Medicaid expansion. The proposal would be partially paid for by re-programming $200 billion of unspent funds provided by the CARES Act passed in March.
"Long before the pandemic, long before this recession, long before this year’s protests, structural inequalities have persisted in health care and housing, the economy and education,” Schumer said in a statement. “Covid-19 has only magnified these injustices and we must confront them with lasting, meaningful solutions that tear down economic and social barriers, and reinvest in historically underserved communities. The Economic Justice Act is a needed step in a long journey to address systematic racism and historic underinvestment in communities of color."
