Bipartisan Group Of Lawmakers Proposes Essential Workers Compensation Fund

TOPLINE

A bipartisan group of members of Congress is proposing a compensation fund for essential workers modeled after the 9/11 victims compensation fund.

KEY FACTS

The Pandemic Heroes Compensation Act is co-sponsored by Representatives Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Peter King (R-N.Y.) and Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.).

The legislation would create a compensation fund for workers and the families of workers deemed essential during the coronavirus pandemic who have continued to leave their homes for work even as stay-at-home orders have forced most Americans to work remotely.

The bill would “authorize appropriated funds as needed for 5 years” overseen by a special master, with funds made available to essential workers who worked outside the home and family members who became ill with coronavirus through contact with them.

“On September 11th, it was the firefighters and officers who ran into the burning buildings to save lives,” Maloney said in a press release. “Today, it is hospital workers – nurses, doctors, EMS, janitorial staff, pharmacists, technicians and all essential workers. We owe them more than applause at 7pm.”

King, a Republican who has championed health benefits for 9/11 first responders alongside Maloney and Nadler, called the fund “morally essential.”

“America will be forever indebted to the first responders and essential workers who put their lives on the line throughout this pandemic,” King said.

Key background

Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, there has been a heated debate about how best to support the often overworked and underpaid workers who have kept society running even as lockdown orders have kept most Americans at home. Progressives and workers have raised concerns about essential workers being treated as expendable and about the use of words like “hero” to cast their work as a noble sacrifice that needs no added reward. There have also been widespread reports about essential workers, in both medical and non-medical fields, not getting adequate protective equipment to keep themselves and others safe. 

Big number

20% A survey of essential workers in Western Massachusetts conducted by UMass Amherst found that just 20% report getting hazard pay during the pandemic. Some 51% of healthcare workers and 67% percent of grocery and retail workers said they feel unsafe at work.

What to Look For

As a bipartisan bill that resembles the popular 9/11 Victims’ Compensation Fund in both form and substance, the Pandemic Heroes Compensation Act may have a good chance of attaining broad support from lawmakers of both parties. However, considering that House Democrats have already proposed a $200 billion ‘Heroes Fund’ to give hazard pay to essential workers as part of the HEROES Act, and the fact that Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell has called for a pause on approving new legislation, it will likely run into roadblocks.

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