Our COVID-19 economic solution is the HEROES Act!

While the U.S. government hits a wall on passing an economic relief bill for COVID-19, Americans across the country are struggling as unemployment benefits fizzle out. Millions of lives are at stake - where is our plan?

Back in March, the government passed the CARES Act, which provided direct cash assistance to Americans, supplemental unemployment benefits, and forgivable loans for small businesses. The CARES Act helped millions of Americans, but most of the benefits of the bill have long expired. Now our government is at a stalemate trying to negotiate which plan will be passed next. There are two bills on the table -- the HEROES Act passed by the House and the HEALS Act passed by the Senate, and lawmakers on each side have major differences to reconcile before potentially meeting at a negotiated solution. Speaker Pelosi has put a deadline of today on the negotiations if they want to pass an economic relief bill before Election Day.

Here's what you need to know about each bill:

HEROES Act

• $2.2 trillion in total aid
• Provisions for hazard pay for essential workers
• Housing relief
• Direct payments of up to $1,200
• $500 in aid for dependents (no age cap)
• Extends the $600 per week unemployment benefits payments
• Extends the federal eviction moratorium
• $100 billion to rental assistance & $75 billion to prevent mortgage defaults
• $7 billion for child care
• $200 billion in hazard pay
• State and local disaster relief aid
• Extends the CARES Act's suspension on interest and payments for students with federal loans through Sept. 2021

HEALs Act

• $1.8 trillion in total aid
• Direct payments of up to $1,200
• Up to $1,200 for dependents (up to 3 per household)
• Cuts unemployment insurance from $600 a week to $200
• Does not call for an extension on the federal eviction moratorium
• Allocates $3.3 billion for already-existing housing vouchers
• $5 billion to child-care providers and $10 billion to "back to work child-care grants"
• No hazard pay
• Cuts student loan repayment options from nine down to two
• Liability protections for businesses

The U.S. unemployment rate is still very high at 7.9%, over 220,000 Americans have died due to COVID-19, and there are over 8 million confirmed cases of the virus. Americans need help now.

We need to pass the HEROES Act before it's too late. Call your Senators now!