Colorado Newsline excerpt:
By Chase Woodruff August 10, 2020
Before releasing a series of executive moves similar to coronavirus relief at his New Jersey golf club on August 8, President Donald Trump warned reporters that the resolution would “virtually resolve this total situation.” But Colorado officials temporarily joined their counterparts in other states to analyze Trump’s orders, which they say offer little to those who want it most and impose unmanageable burdens on state governments already struggling to provide aid.
Following a break-up in talks last week between Congressional negotiators about a new set of aid laws, Trump, blaming Democrats’ “extreme party demands” for the lack of a deal, signed four executive moves aimed at absolutely circumventing Congress. The measures come with a deferment of payroll taxes for the remainder of 2020, a memorandum that mandates federal public servants to “consider” measures to prevent deportations, and authorizes a new unemployment payment of $400 a week to update earning benefits of $600 per week. . last month.
But the genuine effect of the new measures is certain, and officials in the states of the country, adding Colorado, wonder the feasibility of Trump’s proposed unemployment payment. At best, Trump’s moves are a transitional solution, officials said Monday.
“As long as we expect Congress to succeed in an agreement, the president’s actions, as long as they are deemed valid, can stop us a little longer,” said Conor Cahill, spokesman for Governor Jared Polis. “We look at the effect of the president’s orders and continue to urge Congress to take concrete steps to help the hard-working Coloradons, provide real tax relief, and help small businesses and Americans affected by this pandemic.”
The expiration of the $600 weekly benefit, known as the federal pandemic unemployment program, has left millions of Americans facing new monetary difficulties and increased pressure on Congress to pass a new aid program. But Trump’s order differs from the merit of the FPUC created through Congress in March; authorizes states to make weekly bills of $400 to the unemployed and asks states to pay 25% of the cost.
Paying another $100 a week to millions of applicants is a major challenge for many state governments that lose cash. In a statement, the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment said it is “still awaiting technical advice” from Trump’s management on how the program could be implemented.
“Until more data related to state investment and features related to the state’s $100 contribution are provided, we commented on the feasibility of implementing this assistance program in the state of Colorado,” the firm said.
Speaking at the opening of a new COVID-19 verification site in Adams County, Polis told reporters that the state will likely pay its $400 percentage for just two or three weeks.
Eviction is looming
Trump’s resolve to expand unemployment benefits and suspend payroll taxes has also generated complaints from Democrats, and even some Republicans, who have questioned whether he has the strength to take such action unilaterally. Senator Ben Sasse, a Nebraska Republican, called the orders “unconstitutional.”
Before signing the ordinance, Trump promised to pass even more if he was elected for a period of time, hinting at the concept of permanently cutting payroll taxes, leading Democrats to worry about the long-term consequences for Social Security and Medicare, which are largely funded. . through payroll taxes.
Meanwhile, a third order will have little or no effect, critics say. Trump’s “Trump Executive Order on Combating the Spread of COVID-19 by Providing Assistance to Tenants and Landlords” comprises only a few brief provisions that require federal firm officials to “review” and “identify” possible movements that their facilities can lead to delaying evictions.
“The Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Director of the CDC will determine whether measures to temporarily prevent residential evictions from any tenant for non-payment of rent are rather mandatory to prevent the spread of COVID-19,” a segment of the order. States.
While Trump newspaper headlines give rise to the uncertainty and refusal of state officials, some defenders of greater relief are concerned that the confusion created through orders has done more harm than good.
“We had conversations with tenants and consumers this weekend to explain that there are no more protections that oppose eviction, despite what the president of the United States said,” said Sam Gilman, co-founder of COVID-19 Expulsion founded on the Denver Defense Project, told Newsline in an interview. “Essentially, it’s an equal business for tenants and the eviction process.”
In a report released last week, researchers from the COVID-19 Eviction Defense Project and the Aspen Institute estimated that 29 million tenants nationwide would be evicted in the coming months, adding up to a third of Colorado’s tenants.
“When the additional $600 went into the Colorado tenants’ wallet, they had to hold out,” Gilman said. “Now, because those federal benefits have (expired), state benefits cover 60% of the source of lost income to a cap, and for many tenants, that’s not enough. It’s not enough to stay in the house.”
‘Back to the negotiating table’
Discussions about a new aid program are stalled in the GOP-controlled Senate, where Republicans have proposed a trillion-dollar bill that Democrats have described as “terribly inadequate.” the bill, known as the Health, Economic Assistance, Accountability Protection and Schools Act (HEALS), would not identify a moratorium on evictions and proposes to reduce FPUC bills to $200 according to the week. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, warned last week that 15 to 20 members of his group would have no relief, according to the New York Times.
A spokesman for Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner did not respond to a request for comment. But in a post in the Denver Post, Gardner’s workplace said the senator supported Trump’s actions, but felt that additional action was needed through Congress.
“Senator Gardner will continue to fight for three priorities in a bipartisan and bicameral agreement: making sure to prevent the spread and flatten the curve, help Colorado residents with the immediate relief they want to get through this crisis, and do business. “the saying.
In May, House Democrats passed a law that would increase the weekly payment by $600, impose a federal moratorium on deportations, etc., but the law was not passed by the Senate controlled by the Republican Party. Rep. Joe Neguse, a Boulder Democrat, called the president’s executive movements “weak” and renewed his calls to Congressional Republicans to an aid program similar to that approved by House Democrats in May.
“The President’s executive orders fail to meet this moment, placing undue burdens on states to extend needed unemployment benefits, and threatening the viability of Social Security in order to provide an inefficient and lackluster fix to the economic crisis,” Neguse said in a statement. “Senate Republicans must return to the negotiating table, so Congress can provide the American people the full relief they need.”
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