Media Advisory: Wednesday, July 15
Contact Kristi Sanford, 773-456-4024 or kristi@thepeopleslobbyusa.org
With no new COVID relief in sight, constituents ask: “Where’s Senator Durbin?”
July 31 deadline looms: Eviction moratoriums, weekly $600 unemployment boost to expire
Tens of millions have NO HEALTH CARE during the pandemic
Black and Latinx people CONTINUE TO FALL ILL AND DIE in outsized numbers
WHAT: Demonstration asking “Where’s Senator Durbin? We need a People’s Bailout NOW!” Without guaranteed healthcare, housing and monthly cash assistance for everyone, Americans could be looking at a future worse than the Great Depression.
WHEN AND WHERE: Wednesday, July 15 at 4PM CDT. Chicago’s Federal Plaza, corner of Dearborn and Adams. Facebook event here.
WHY: Senator Durbin is the Democratic Whip and the second most powerful Democratic Senator in America. Senator Durbin should be at the forefront of the fight for a People’s Bailout that addresses racial disparities and guarantees healthcare, housing and financial relief for people, not corporations. Congress has passed 4 relief bills, but only one has given aid directly to individuals and families, and key aspects expire July 31, including the weekly $600 boost to unemployment insurance and the local ban on evictions.
Although Senator Durbin does support extending the weekly $600 boost to unemployment insurance, extending the moratorium on evictions, and some rental assistance funding, he isn’t fighting for the scale of relief we need: guaranteed healthcare, housing and monthly cash assistance for everyone!
Instead of providing healthcare for everyone, Senator Durbin talks about increasing funding for corporate hospitals. How can you be against Medicare for All during a global pandemic? And while a bloc of progressive Senators supports $2,000 a month for everyone for the duration of the pandemic, Senator Durbin has been also silent on monthly financial support for individuals.
Facebook event here. Follow #WheresDurbin and #PeoplesBailout on Twitter and Facebook.
VISUALS: “Where’s Waldo?” signs with Durbin’s face. Giant calendar, counting the days until local eviction moratoriums and the weekly $600 unemployment boost expire. Giant pill bottles, with our “People’s Bailout” Rx of health care, rent/mortgage relief and monthly cash payments. Tent city to illustrate looming eviction crisis. Moment of silence with tombstones highlighting the deadly consequences to millions uninsured.
WHO: People directly impacted by the health and economic crises caused by COVID-19. Organized by Fair Economy Illinois, this demonstration is part of a national week of action by People’s Action member organizations calling for a “People’s Bailout”.
ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND: Time is running out for the Senate to pass another COVID-19 relief package that serves people, rather than corporations, and is large enough to keep the economy from sliding into a long-term depression. It is also an issue of racial justice:
- Black and Latinx people are three times more likely to contract the virus than whites and twice as likely to die.
- Tens of millions people have lost their jobs and health care. COVID related unemployment for Black workers is 4.5 points higher than whites. Latinos are at 5 points higher.
- Millions more who were unemployed before this crisis also need cash assistance. Even last year, as the national jobless rate fell below 4 percent to its lowest level in half a century, the rate for black men in Illinois was nearly 10 percent.
- The extra $600 per week in COVID-19 unemployment benefits also expires on July 31.
- Chicago’s and Illinois’ moratoriums on evictions ends on July 31.
Previous stimulus packages — including the HEROES ACT sent to the Senate by the House of Representatives on Friday, May 15 — fall far short of addressing people’s needs.
Several bill in Congress would provide large-scale and long-term relief that puts all people before corporations, including:
- Medicare to every uninsured person (H.R. 6674 – Medicare Crisis Program Act of 2020. Senate – Emergency Health Care Guarantee Act)
- Cancelation of rents and mortgages for the duration of the crisis (HR 6515 The Rent and Mortgage Cancellation Act of 2020. There is not a Senate version of this bill.)
- Cash assistance of $2,000 a month to every person. (H.R.6553 – Automatic Boost to Communities Act. Senate – Monthly Economic Crisis Support Act)
###