State lawmakers take on COVID recovery’s racial implications
State Sen. Tim Kearney,
D-26 of Swarthmore joined state Reps. Leanne Krueger,
D-161 of Nether Providence and Joanna McClinton,
D-191 of Philadelphia, in talking about actions that need to be taken to ensure a just recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We can’t simply reopen and return to normal,” he said. “We need to push for policies that will help all Pennsylvanians, in particular communities of color who have been hardest hit by the pandemic.”
Some challenges he noted included the two million Pennsylvanians who have filed for unemployment and the racial disparities worsened by the virus.
“Here in Pennsylvania, black people make only 11 percent of our population,” he said, “but they represent 19 percent of the positive cases and 30 percent of the deaths where race was recorded. This is really the result of decades of disinvestment in communities of color. This public health crisis has laid bare what working families have known for years - the system does not work for them.”
To that end, the senator added, “We don’t just need a reopening, we need a recovery and we need a just recovery.”
He said what is needed are measures such as increasing the minimum wage, sick pay for all Pennsylvanians, workers compensation for all workers if they contract COVID-19 on the job, job protection related to the pandemic, protocols for sterilizing workplaces and exempting federal stimulus checks from state and local taxes.
Krueger outlined the importance of access to quality health care.
“Everybody deserves the chance to be able to go to the doctor when they’re sick,” she said. “But unfortunately there are many barriers keeping some members of our communities from being able to access care when they need it ... COVID-19 has brought into sharp focus the disparities that exist in our health care system.”
She said they’ve heard of people being charged $2,000 for a COVID test that’s supposed to be free and others receiving hospital bills for millions of dollars after being treated for the virus and a disproportionately number of diverse communities are particularly vulnerable during health crises.
Krueger added that care should be accessible to essential workers if and when they need it.
“We need to make sure that everybody no matter their race, income or immigration status can seek quality care from a welltrained doctor or hospital with the best equipment,” she said.
She noted HB 1013 makes sure that no one can be denied health insurance coverage because of an existing condition; HB 469 makes sure health insurance policies sold in Pennsylvania cover essential benefits; HB 470 prohibits lifetime or annual limits on essential health benefits; and HB 913 would cover adult children until they are 26-years-old.
Faith Ferebee, who’s worked with the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services for 22 years and a member of SEIU Local 668, said her union was notified that Delaware County offices are going to reopen July 13 and noted some concerns.
She said 14 days of emergency sick leave are not enough. “It’s been proven that COVID-19 can strike more than once,” she said, adding that she herself had two health scares, using emergency sick leave the first time, then being forced to take her own vacation time the second time. “And that was from coming in close contact with someone I work with. I don’t think that it’s fair, nor do I think that it’s right.”
She said workers’ safety was paramount, adding that PPE needed to be readily available, the offices needed to be clean and clients can’t be coming to the offices in huge numbers. She added that plastic barriers are also needed.
“We need to be sure that all of our members are safe before we go back into that office,” she said.
In addition, she said, “We’re fighting two wars. We’re fighting systemic racism and we’re fighting COVID-19. With the ongoing protests and counties and states reopening, our second wave is going to hit us a little more sooner than later.”
She said her members are worried about going back to work.
McClinton talked about two pieces of legislation that will be introduced this week to address policing.
One is HB 1841 and would require thorough background checks for all people who are in the position to hire police and it also establishes a confidential database on information about an officer including criminal charges.
Another is HB 1910, which would require police officers to be trained in racial and ethnic diversity, implicit bias and recognizing and reporting child abuse.
“The time is now that on the local level, we’re interacting with our police officers in a way that shows them that we want a change in the culture,” she said. “We don’t want overmilitarized policing but we want to see community policing where each and every one of us is engaged.”