While one in five young children goes hungry in the United States, money that Congress already allocated for coronavirus relief isn’t making its way to the people who need it. The $2 trillion CARES Act passed in late March, but The Washington Post identifies billions of dollars that haven’t yet been spent. In fact: “Overall, about half of the more than $3 trillion approved by Congress over four separate coronavirus bills has been obligated or committed, according to calculations by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.”
When it comes to the Trump administration and things that cause vulnerable people to suffer, you always have to ask if it’s malice or incompetence. Democrats are saying it’s incompetence and insufficient urgency. “In preparing for and responding to this pandemic, status quo bureaucracy is not satisfactory. It is clear evidence that President Trump has failed to meet this urgent challenge, and it is up to Congress to act,” Sen. Patrick Leahy told The Washington Post in a statement. And, he said, there’s urgency for Congress: “The Trump administration’s failure to get these resources out the door and into our communities is not a sufficient reason for slow-walking the next, desperately needed emergency relief bill.”
Food banks should have gotten $850 million, but only $300 million has made its way to them so far. “It’s just a convoluted process,” said the chief government relations officer at Feeding America.
Nursing homes, which have accounted for a disproportionate number of COVID-19 deaths, should have gotten $100 million for improving compliance standards. The money hasn’t gone out. Neither has $100 million for rural broadband access. Neither has $100 million for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to get protective equipment for firefighters.
Community Development Block Grants and Emergency Solutions Grants should be funding some of the most critical needs, from help for seniors and homeless people to child care centers. They got $9 billion, of which just $250 million has been spent.
Spending large amounts of money all of a sudden is a big task—something former Vice President Joe Biden knows a lot about from his experience with the 2009 stimulus—but these needs are desperate. The urgency of the effort should match the urgency of the moment. Unfortunately, the government that’s trying to respond is hollowed out by years of Republican efforts to shred the safety net and make government ineffective, and that’s only accelerated under Donald Trump.
The government needs to step up, but you can help, too. Can you give $1 to each of these organizations doing important COVID-19 relief work?