Arizonans hope for more pandemic relief
Families anxious about paying bills without aid
Emergency federal measures to support households, businesses and the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic have largely done the job so far.
But several of those programs are scheduled to expire soon, raising the question about what sort of government financial support, if any, might be next.
For Laurin Scarpelli, it’s a critical question.
The Prescott Valley woman couldn’t retain her job as a medication technician at a senior living facility because venturing into work made her more susceptible to contracting the virus and possibly spreading it to her son and daughter. Her children, ages 9 and 6, have cystic fibrosis, placing them at higher risk for coronavirus complications.
Her partner and kids’ father, Douglas Compton, who had been working as a caregiver at another senior home, was in the same position.
While many Americans have lost jobs or suffered from other coronavirus problems, they don’t all have high-risk family members at home.
“The situation that families like mine are in is usually hard to understand and not talked about,” Scarpelli said. “People like us are in trouble.”
The couple used what paid sick leave that was available, received stimulus checks and continue to draw unemployment benefits, including the temporary $600 weekly payments authorized by Congress.
But they worry about what might come next, especially once those enhanced federal jobless benefits expire at the end of July.
“That will put us in a bad situation,” Scarpelli said. “We’d go down so much in income that we’d have trouble surviving.”
As the calendar moves toward midJuly, many Americans are wondering the same thing.
Expanded coronavirus relief is a hot issue in Washington, D.C. — and leaders of both political parties have voiced support for continuing benefits — but it remains to be seen how much might be paid, and to who.
HEROES Act is a blueprint
Among the few pieces of recent relevant legislation passed so far is the HEROES Act, approved by the House of Representatives, controlled by Democrats. The Senate, controlled by Republicans, hasn’t taken it up yet.
Most individuals would receive another round of stimulus payments under the legislation — a mostly acrossthe-board $1,200 per person including children (who qualified for $500 during the first round). As before, people would qualify for some payments with adjusted gross income of up to $99,000 (singles) or $198,000 (married couples), with full benefits paid below $75,000 and $150,000, respectively.
The big partisan divide is over how much to spend on the legislation, which would affect the amount of individual benefits.
Republicans are eyeing a total package of around $1 trillion, while Democrats want closer to $4 trillion, said Mark Luscombe, principal analyst at tax researcher Wolters Kluwer. Some Republicans have proposed much lower income-eligibility thresholds, possibly around $40,000, he said.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said this week that the White House might soon be on board with a second round of stimulus checks.
Members of both parties have been talking about getting something done around the end of July or start of August, Luscombe said.
Jobless benefits and business aid
Federal support likely wouldn’t end with another round of stimulus payments.
There’s also the lingering question of whether federal jobless benefits will be extended and whether the Payroll Protection Program will continue. The PPP has offered forgiveable loans to businesses that retain employees rather than lay them off.
And there are other questions, such as how much assistance to provide states and local governments, many of which have been ravaged by reduced sales-tax receipts and other revenue slumps.
Unemployment compensation is of critical importance in Arizona, which pays a maximum of $240 a week in state jobless benefits, among the lowest in the country.
“The extra $600 has been great, but it will end in late July,” Scarpelli said. Without it, “A lot of people will be in danger of evictions and not paying their bills.”
With these programs, Luscombe anticipates broad bipartisan support for getting something done, with the debate, again, largely over money and eligibility.
Republicans generally seem to support expanded federal unemployment benefits “but want to cut it back a little so people aren’t rewarded for not working,” Luscombe said. “It could be something less than $600 a week.”
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin recently told CNBC that the White House wants to limit these benefits so that workers don’t receive more than they earned at their jobs.
Luscombe also believes that the Paycheck Protection Program could be extended, although the program hasn’t yet used up all its available funding.
The federal Department of Labor reported recently that Arizona has the second highest number of people receiving or awaiting decisions on Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, which provides $600 a week to independent contractors and others who wouldn’t normally qualify for regular unemployment compensation.
Arizona has about 2.3 million people in this category, trailing only Pennsylvania.
Other benefit possibilities
Given that the coronavirus pandemic, at its core, is a health issue, many nonprofit and other groups would like to see expanded paid-leave opportunities.
Some 160 organizations, including the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and groups representing caregivers, diabetes and cancer nonprofits and many others, sent a letter to Congress requesting expanded eligibility for the paid family and medical leave program, seeking coverage for people at high-risk for adverse coronavirus complications and their household members.
“This policy will allow those at highest risk to remain home for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic and will help ensure their health and safety,” the letter read.
Currently, the groups said, paid family medical leave helps only those people with children or adults with disabilities whose schools or regular care providers are closed due to the pandemic.
People who have been advised by health authorities to stay home are eligible for just two weeks of financial support and job protection from expanded paid sick leave, the letter continued.
“This places individuals who live with significant health conditions such as cystic fibrosis, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, organ transplants, sickle cell and others with a devastating choice: place their health or their loved one’s health at risk by going back to work or lose their jobs altogether.”
The organizations would like to see paid family-leave eligibility expanded to include anyone who has been advised by their doctor to stay home because of a serious health condition. They also seek expanded eligibility or other financial support for anyone who has been told by a doctor to remain home because a household member has a condition that places them at serious risk.
The groups also would like to see ongoing paid leave for as long as the coronavirus pandemic remains a serious threat, and they hope any expanded paid-leave program would apply to employers of all sizes, not just large ones.
Expansion of caregiver assistance “would help immensely,” said Scarpelli, who said she faces heightened coronavirus risk because she has type-1 diabetes. “We’re staying home because we really need to stay home.”
“People like us are in trouble.”
Prescott Valley mother of 2