Rep. Pramila Jayapal Pitches 'Paycheck Guarantee Act'
SEATTLE, WA — U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., has unveiled a plan to guarantee wages for all workers earning up to $100,000 annually during the coronavirus pandemic.
Numbers released by the U.S. Department of Labor Thursday showed 16.8 million Americans filed new unemployment claims over the last three weeks. In Washington, more than 500,000 workers have filed jobless claims.
Under Jayapal's plan, the federal government would provide grants to employers of all sizes, for at least three months, to cover payroll and keep workers from the unemployment line. The legislation would also uphold employer-sponsored health plans and supplement a portion of other business expenses, including rent.
"Without immediate, direct cash support for paychecks, there is a significant risk of Great Depression-era levels of unemployment and permanently shuttered businesses," reads a one-page summary posted on Jayapal's website. "Economic forecasters are predicting nearly 20 million jobs lost or furloughed by July, sending the unemployment above 15 percent. Mass unemployment is the result of policy choices, not pandemics."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/rep-pramila-jayapal-pitches-paycheck-guarantee-act/ar-BB12s8OD?ocid=hplocalnews
