COVID-19

Negotiations for another round of COVID relief have stalled. Members of Congress have just a couple weeks remaining before leaving for the elections. Now is the time to pull out all the stops and press for robust and immediate COVID-19 relief.

President Trump tried to bypass congressional negotiators over the weekend by announcing several executive orders on unemployment insurance, housing, student loans, and payroll tax deferment. Billed as relief for people suffering the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, the pronouncements failed to address the scope of the crisis and are an inadequate replacement for Congressional action.

As expanded unemployment benefits and eviction moratoriums expire, Senate leadership released a package of multiple bills to address the economic fallout from COVID-19. The package falls dramatically short and fails to address the unprecedented need experienced by many throughout the country.

We’re at a decision point. As unemployment, hunger, and housing insecurity rise, Congress is negotiating the single most important bill for the remainder of 2020.

Washington, DC – This morning, dozens of leaders of faith groups from across the religious spectrum released a series of videos urging the Senate to rise to the moment and pass their own version of the HEROES Act designed to further handle the COVID-19 pandemic. Communities of faith have become concerned that the longer the Senate delays in enacting another pandemic relief bill, the more people will suffer as benefits expire and states are forced to impose severe budget cuts. This will leave those deeply impacted by the COVID-19 economic impacts with little to no safety net.

In the United States, 100,000 people; across the globe, 350,000 people. All dead from the COVID-19 pandemic that has hit our country like a tsunami; that has devastated people across the globe. It is a time of cosmic sadness that calls us to pause, to reflect. At FCNL, we join with siblings from many faith communities in a time of mourning, a time of lament for the lives lost, the families in despair, the feeling of hope diminished.

On April 30, the Federal Reserve expanded its Main Street Lending Program to allow small and mid-size oil companies to access emergency COVID-19 funds. As a result, oil and gas companies have received over $113 million in COVID-19 relief meant for small businesses.

Washington, DC – Late this evening the House of Representatives passed the Heroes Act (H.R. 6800). The $3 trillion bill is the fifth relief package designed to deal with the economic and health impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The House passed the Heroes Act (H.R. 6800), a comprehensive bill to further address the COVID-19 pandemic and economic fallout. FCNL has been lobbying Congress to include many policy provisions in the next COVID-19 bill.

Seven hundred and fifty billion dollars. That’s roughly how much the United States is spending annually on weapons and war. About $35 billion of that is for nuclear weapons, which, in a best-case scenario, sit in holes in the ground and never get used.