USDA: USDA Now Accepting Applications for Coronavirus Food Assistance Program. “You can now apply for USDA’s Coronavirus Food Assistance Program, which provides direct payments to farmers and ranchers to offset impacts from the coronavirus pandemic. Applications will be accepted through August 28, 2020. We now have the application form and a payment calculator available on farmers.gov/cfap. And we have a call center (877-508-8364) set up to help you with your questions.”
financial assistance
Voice of America: New York Governor Pushes Trump for Infrastructure Spending
Voice of America: New York Governor Pushes Trump for Infrastructure Spending. “New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo pushed President Donald Trump on Wednesday to embrace a massive infrastructure spending plan to get Americans back to work in the face of the coronavirus commerce shutdowns.”
The New Yorker: The “Glaring Holes” in Congress’s Plan to Stabilize the Economy
The New Yorker: The “Glaring Holes” in Congress’s Plan to Stabilize the Economy. “I recently spoke by phone with Bharat Ramamurti, a lawyer and political adviser serving on the covid-19 Congressional Oversight Commission, which still does not have a chairperson, because Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell have not agreed on whom to appoint to the role. Ramamurti is also the managing director of the Corporate Power program at the Roosevelt Institute and a former economic adviser to Elizabeth Warren. During our conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity, we discussed why our economic system is best equipped to save bigger businesses, the real reasons that so little money has reached its intended recipients, and the next steps that Congress should be taking to help struggling workers.”
Gotham Gazette: Front-Line Workers Must Prove They Contracted Coronavirus on the Job to Receive Workers’ Comp
Gotham Gazette: Front-Line Workers Must Prove They Contracted Coronavirus on the Job to Receive Workers’ Comp. “Infected front-line staff, from health-care workers to grocery store clerks, are being asked to prove they contracted the virus on the job in order to receive workers’ compensation and death benefits, union leaders and elected officials say. In some cases, insurance companies are asking nurses to identify which patient may have exposed them to the virus or when they had a breach of personal protective equipment, the officials said.”
New York Times: Wealthiest Hospitals Got Billions in Bailout for Struggling Health Providers
New York Times: Wealthiest Hospitals Got Billions in Bailout for Struggling Health Providers. “With states restricting hospitals from performing elective surgery and other nonessential services, their revenue has shriveled. The Department of Health and Human Services has disbursed $72 billion in grants since April to hospitals and other health care providers through the bailout program, which was part of the CARES Act economic stimulus package. The department plans to eventually distribute more than $100 billion more. So far, the riches are flowing in large part to hospitals that had already built up deep financial reserves to help them withstand an economic storm. Smaller, poorer hospitals are receiving tiny amounts of federal aid by comparison.”
Phys .org: 4 ways COVID-19 has exposed gaps in the US social safety net
Phys .org: 4 ways COVID-19 has exposed gaps in the US social safety net. “As a scholar who studies how people enroll in public programs, I and my colleague Cecille Joan Avila, who researches social programs related to women’s health, have seen how well-intentioned policies can sometimes fail those they are supposed to help. We took a deeper look at how difficult it might be for people to navigate their way through the U.S.”s patchwork of social safety net measures as they try to stay afloat during the pandemic and economic downturn. Here are four gaps that we found.”
Washington State Attorney General: AG Ferguson Challenges Department Of Education Decision Blocking Coronavirus Aid For Thousands Of Washington Students
Washington State Attorney General: AG Ferguson Challenges Department Of Education Decision Blocking Coronavirus Aid For Thousands Of Washington Students. “Attorney General Bob Ferguson today challenged a U.S. Department of Education decision that deprives thousands of Washington college students from receiving critical aid included in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief & Economic Security (CARES) Act. Under its Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, the CARES Act appropriated more than $12 billion to higher education institutions across the nation to prevent, prepare for and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The CARES Act required that at least 50 percent of the funds be disbursed to students as emergency grants for expenses related to the disruption of campus operations.”
