Congress has taken an important first step by passing the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.

Members of Congress who pushed hard for swift passage of the bill deserve our gratitude, as do the nearly 50,000 PFAW members who took action to urge Congress to quickly pass the bill. In part because of your activism, millions of Americans will be provided paid family and sick leave, unemployment insurance will be expanded, and free COVID-19 testing will be provided nationwide (although we still need to play catch up on making more tests available – and fast).

The economic effects of this public health emergency are already being felt, but the proper government response, with the scope that this crisis demands, can help mitigate the damage and improve the outcome for all. Any industry relief package must include conditions to ensure that workers are taken care of, not C-suite executives and shareholders. Direct relief payments must be targeted to the workers, consumers, low-income people, and others who are most vulnerable and whose spending will spur the economy much better than massive “trickle-down” tax cuts for corporations and the ultra-wealthy.

And critical relief services will need to be adequately funded if America is going to come out on the other side of the coronavirus pandemic unscathed.

ADD YOUR NAME TODAY to demand Congress pass the next stage of coronavirus relief legislation!