Congress can stop a pandemic depression
In the first three months of the pandemic, a record 6 million people enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Last month, nearly one in five parents were struggling to put food on the table for their children. Nearly three-quarters of New York City food pantries and kitchens have reported serving more New Yorkers than they had in the months before.
As demand rose, the ability to meet it plummeted. Half of the food pantries and soup kitchens in the Bronx — nearly all in neighborhoods already grappling with food insecurity — had to close temporarily by mid-April.
That meant the line at Agatha House Foundation Food Pantry in the Bronx was growing longer every day. But bringing more people into their small enclosed space simply wasn’t an option. They had to innovate: tables were set up outside, gloves worn, masks secured. Families went home with essential food.
The challenges that Agatha House and its community have faced through the COVID-19 pandemic, and the resilience they have shown in response, are significant but not uncommon. This pandemic has thrown New York and the country into an economic crisis that is deepening inequality, straining the social safety net, and getting worse every day. More than 50 million Americans have lost their jobs, and the threat of a tidal wave of evictions and foreclosures looms. You can’t put food on the table if you live on the street.
The federal government initially responded with important steps that have kept Americans afloat. Expanded unemployment assistance provided an additional $600 each week to Americans who lost their jobs. Expanded food assistance is helping families buy groceries. Federal foreclosure and eviction moratoriums have kept many families in their homes.
But Republicans in Washington let the clock run out on renewing any of these policies.
We could have prevented this. The House of Representatives passed the HEROES Act more than two months ago, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has ignored it, abandoning struggling Americans as the economy crumbles.
The relief package he proposed last week is woefully inadequate and does far too little for families on the brink. Outrageously, the HEALS Act prioritized doubling the tax deduction for business lunches while failing to expand SNAP or the Pandemic EBT benefits that support families with children who no longer have access to reduced-price or free school meals. Food assistance can’t wait; you can’t provide a meal for your family retroactively.
As families continue to struggle, we must support them by reinforcing the entire social safety net. Extending the pandemic unemployment insurance and passing the Protecting Renters from Evictions and Fees Act would both go a long way toward helping families directly. We also have to make sure the state and local programs that families rely on can stay afloat.
State and local government budgets are running on fumes; the Urban Institute estimates that the pandemic has cost states alone nearly $200 billion in tax revenue. The federal government must send them direct relief so that they aren’t forced to make cuts to services and programs that lower-income communities and communities of color, those hit hardest by COVID-19, rely on.
The virus is still spreading, and a pandemic depression is a real possibility. We can’t ignore the problem and watch the social safety net collapse.
Heroic organizations like Agatha House will continue to fight on the front lines, but they can’t do it alone. Everyone in Washington needs to fight for strong federal policy and not just pass the buck to charities to address hunger and poverty. Low-income Americans need a comprehensive response to this crisis to help them find jobs, keep their homes, and put food on the table for their families. The federal government must step up to address the scale of national challenges. No one else can.
Gillibrand represents New York in the U.S. Senate. Gordon is the president and CEO of Food Bank For New York City.