DPCC Report: Economic Justice - Fighting Racial Disparities during COVID-19 and Beyond

As the COVID-19 Pandemic Hurts Communities of Color at Disproportionate Rates, Senate Democrats are Fighting to Correct Historic Inequalities 

Senate Democratic Policy and Communications Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (MI) and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (NY) today released a report outlining why communities of color are suffering higher rates of unemployment and other consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report highlights how the Senate Democrats’ Economic Justice Act is an important step in providing urgent support to communities in need and creating meaningful change for a more equitable future. The report can be found here.

“COVID-19 is shining a bright light on generations of discrimination and racist practices that are leaving people of color most vulnerable to the economic fallout from this pandemic. It’s not a coincidence that Black, Latinx, Native American and Asian American communities are experiencing higher unemployment yet are receiving less help. Democrats introduced the Economic Justice Act to tackle these inequalities and address historic, systemic racism and underinvestment. Through both short-term and long-term investments, we can begin to do our part in correcting decades of discrimination,” said Senator Stabenow. 

“As we know all too well, long before the recession, structural inequalities have persisted in health care and housing, the economy and education. Covid-19 has magnified these injustices and we must confront them with lasting, meaningful solutions and reinvest in historically underserved communities. The Economic Justice Act is a needed step in a journey that we must take to address systematic racism and historic underinvestment in communities of color,” said Leader Schumer.

The Economic Justice Act is a plan to make $350 billion in immediate and long-term investments in communities of color through ten major investments over the next five years. This important down payment would begin to address systemic racism and historic underinvestment.

The first objective is to immediately help communities of color respond to the pandemic through a $135 billion investment in jobs, child care, and health care including mental health. The second objective is building long lasting wealth and health in these communities over the next five years by investing $215 billion for infrastructure, a homeowner down payment tax credit, Medicaid expansion, and more.

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