The coronavirus is having a huge, negative impact on the US economy. That negative impact will grow over the next several months.

Everyone will be impacted by the downturn in the economy.  Those who must take care of their children while working from home, those who have no sick leave or family leave, and those who lose their jobs will be hit the hardest.

Many corporations are also being hit hard. The airline industry is asking for $50 billion in aid.  Hospitals, hotels, cruise ships, restaurants and restaurant workers, taxi drivers, health care and elderly care workers, and the many other businesses and workers who make our economy thrive are experiencing partial or full loss of income.

One thing which can help both workers and businesses survive through this crisis is to tap into the enormous wealth of our country. The United States is the wealthiest country in the world. Wealth is measured as the difference between total assets (houses, savings, stocks and bonds, retirement accounts, etc.) and total liabilities (mortgage, car loans, student debt, credit card debt, etc.)

People in the US hold over $100,000,000,000,000.00 ($100 trillion) in personal wealth.

Corporations in the US hold $1,600,000,000,000.00 ($1.6 trillion) in corporate wealth.

A very small portion of that wealth can save the economy now and serve as a springboard to a quick recovery and economic expansion after the coronavirus is brought under control.

A one-time, 2% wealth tax on individuals and a one-time, 6% wealth tax on corporations would give our people and businesses the ability to survive this national and international disaster.

2% of the personal wealth of this country equals $2 trillion. That $2 trillion can be used to cover loss of pay due to loss of jobs, no or minimal sick leave and family leave, childcare and elderly care expenses, etc.

From an individual standpoint, the median individual wealth is $38,000.00. On average, a 2% wealth tax on individuals would equal $760.00, Each person in turn would receive back a check for $6,000.00.

Under this scenario, every person would pay the same tax rate, and every person would get the same $6,000.00 payment.

For example, someone who had $38,000.00 in wealth would pay in $760.00 in a one-time and would receive a check for $6,000.00.

Someone who had $300,000.00 in wealth would pay in $6,000.00 in a one-time wealth tax and receive a check for $6,000.00. They would break even on this program.

Anyone with wealth more than $300,000 would start paying in more than they paid into the system.  Here are some examples:

• Someone with half a million in wealth would pay in $10,000.00 and receive back $6,000.00. They would be contributing 0.8% of their wealth to help us overcome the effects of the coronavirus.
• Someone with $1 million in wealth would pay in $20,000.00 and receive back $6,000.00. This person would be contributing1.4% of their wealth to help all of us overcome the effects of the coronavirus.
• Someone with $100 million in wealth would pay in $2,000,000.00 and receive back $6,000.00. This person would be contributing 1.9% of their wealth to offset the coronavirus devastation
• Someone with $1 billion in wealth would pay in $20,000,000 and receive back $6,000.00. They would be contributing almost 2% of their wealth to fighting the negative effects of the coronavirus. There are 607 billionaires in the US.

I think someone with half a million dollars in wealth would not be opposed to contributing $4,000.00 (or 0.8%) of their wealth to help those who are hit hardest by the coronavirus.

I think the same for someone having $1 million in wealth. They would not be opposed to contributing 1.4% of their wealth to this effort.

For the roughly 36,000 households having $100,000,000 or more, some may object to using 1.9% of their wealth for fighting the negative impacts of the coronavirus. The same for the 607 billionaires. However, since most of these folks are connected to some of the wealthiest businesses in our country, I would hope they would see their contributions to both do good, but also to help the economy bounce back more quickly and strongly as the crisis comes to an end.

I would propose that the same type of thought process apply to a one-time corporate wealth tax. A 6% one-time corporate wealth tax equals $96 billion. That money could help businesses stay open, continue production, and continue paying their employees.

Both of these taxes and resulting expenditures would not add a penny to the national debt which currently stands at $23.3 trillion.

Robert Beezat has managed a broad range of organizations in the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors, including many serving lower income communities. He has spoken on behalf of NETWORK at colleges and universities regarding social justice issues and the Common Good.

I’ll be honest. I don’t like working from home! After the NETWORK office went partially, and then fully, remote last week, I thought I had it made. I could wear my pajamas all day and my only commute was from my bed to my kitchen table. Even with the constant worry and threat I’m feeling due to the global COVID-19 pandemic surrounding me, I was at least excited to work from home. Unfortunately, working remotely isn’t all sunshine and roses. Technical difficulties arise almost every time I try to join a conference call or conduct a meeting, and I’m starting to feel disconnected from my friends and family.

Fortunately, I don’t live completely alone. Like many millennials living in a big city, I have roommates —three to be exact. As COVID-19 spreads across the world, they don’t have the privilege that I have to simply work from home. One of my roommates is a hairdresser and one works at Trader Joe’s while also a full-time student. Both of these roommates are currently facing challenges due to the COVID-19 outbreak, and both of their struggles are being widely felt by all vital workers and those working in the gig economy.

For my roommate, who is a hairdresser, she is technically classified as a gig worker or an independent contractor in her salon. Andi relies on payment from her clients and does not receive payment from the salon itself. So, when her salon shut down due to fears over coronavirus spreading in Washington, D.C., she was not given any paid leave from her employer. In order to pay her rent for the next few months while the entire city is on lockdown, she has been cutting hair in our house, purposefully breaking the CDC’s self-distancing and quarantine guidelines out of financial necessity. My roommate has been constantly cleaning and disinfecting the house to try and keep us all safe. She has described her debilitating fear and anxiety that she’ll get sick to me, but her need to remain financially stable outweighs any illness she faces.

One of my other roommates, is facing similar issues in her job. She works as a cashier at Trader Joe’s while paying her way through college. When coronavirus became more of a threat in Washington, my roommate knew that she was still going to work, because her job is a vital part of our nation, especially as more and more people begin to panic shop at grocery stores and retailers across our nation. While people are staying home and working, she is coming into contact with hundreds of people every day at the grocery store in order to provide an essential service that keeps our nation running. My roommate worries because she is at risk of contracting COVID-19 every day at work, yet she does not have any guarantee of paid leave if she feels sick and has to quarantine.

This global pandemic has revealed a glaring injustice in our nation’s labor system: our heinous lack of federally mandated paid leave. The vast majority of working people in the United States do not have access to comprehensive paid leave. Across the nation, less than 25% of middle to lower-income workers have access to paid leave. With this highly contagious, deadly disease spreading through our communities, it is more important than ever that people are able to stay home when they are sick. Lack of paid leave means low-income workers are required to go to work, even when they are sick, and even when they could be carrying coronavirus.

Luckily, the House and Senate passed a historic paid leave bill this past week in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It allows for 10 days of paid sick leave for full-time workers and up to 12 weeks of unpaid emergency family leave if they or a loved one gets sick for a long period of time. This bill is a historic first step in ensuring that all people have access to paid leave, and it will vastly reduce the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the United States. Unfortunately, this bill still does not ensure that all workers have access to paid sick leave, specifically health care workers and employees who work for corporations with over 500 and under 50 employees. For these workers, more must be done so that they can stay home when they are sick and care for their loved ones during this trying time.

No one should have to go to work when they are sick with a deadly virus, simply because they are financially forced to. They could potentially infect and endanger others when they are sick and more and more people could die. It is imperative for our nation’s health that we are all ensured comprehensive paid sick leave.

There’s always one thing we can look forward to every four years and no, it’s not the summer Olympics. I’m talking about the United States presidential election. In less than seven months, the American people will vote for their next commander in chief. Amidst everything that is happening, especially with COVID-19, who we elect matters now more than ever. This country needs a leader who will put its citizens’ wellbeing, health, and safety first. We at NETWORK, understand the importance of being able to participate in such an important and historic election, so we have designed a toolkit to prepare folks for this moment.

Our election toolkit has everything you need to help assess who the right candidate is for the job. With the help of our 2020 Mend the Gaps Policy Platform, we’ve created a list of questions to ask a candidate at a town hall to gage how they intend to mend the gaps in our nation. Our letters to the editor (LTE) toolkit will help you produce compelling writing that will be read in both local and national newspapers. Use our “Do It Yourself Candidate Side-By-Side” to determine which Presidential, Senate and House candidate aligns closest with NETWORK’s 2020 Policy Platform and your personal views. Finally, don’t forget to engage with the candidates on social media using our social media pro tips.

Show your commitment to being a “Mend the Gaps Voter” this Election Season with the use of NETWORK’s newly created placards. Make your voice heard in person and online! Take a picture with the placards and use the hashtags #MendtheGapsVoter and #My2020Vision. Be sure to tag @NETWORKLobby as well. Whether you’re at a candidate’s rally, polling place, or Member of Congress’s office, snap a photo of yourself with the placard.

Discover your choice candidate in our election toolkit. This is a living document that is continuously being updated to reflect what is going on in the election and adding new resources to alleviate some of the stress that comes with the voting process. Continue to check out the webpage and stay up to date by following us on social media!

I did not expect to text my high school classmate this weekend to ask about her mother’s coronavirus experience. The truth is, I haven’t texted this classmate in almost a decade, but circumstances change. Global pandemics put things in perspective and you find yourself reaching out to all manner of people you have really talked to in years. Hi, How are you? How are things back home?

My classmate’s mother, Beth, went through a bureaucratic nightmare with deadly consequences. After returning from a trip abroad more than a month ago, she found herself exhibiting symptoms of coronavirus. She decided to take extra measures and self-quarantine. But, at that time, information about the virus was sparse in the United States, and county health officials had no tests available to administer when she asked. They recommended she quarantine herself.

“At that time, we knew so little, and I was at a real loss as to how even do that,” she said. Over her quarantine, she suffered a sinus infection and unfortunately ended up infecting her 83-year old mother, at high-risk of developing deadly symptoms. She tried to get her mother tested too but was faced with the same shortage of answers.

Almost a month later, a doctor declared that Beth and her mother had had the virus, after reading their chest x-rays. “When the nasal congestion turned into a sinus infection, I thought I was no longer contagious. Now I find out that I probably was,” Beth wrote. The consequences for her mother could have quickly turned deadly. But for now, Beth says,“[she] is still in isolation.”

Beth’s nightmare doesn’t end there: Beth’s entire family will remain in quarantine, including my classmate who is a seasonal worker, and is likely to be laid-off in the next few days. Sarah, Beth said, is bracing for a future without a job.

The demands of responding to a pandemic is beyond what any one family should have to go through alone. What kind of nation would we be if we didn’t respond to a salient public health crisis now, when the consequences of inaction can be deadly? This virus is crystalizing our need to redress inequalities in our healthcare system, guarantee paid family and sick leave, and support families through smart economic policy.

Last week, the House passed the Family First Coronavirus Response Act (H.R 6201). The bill would put resources in testing and treatment. It would affect sweeping changes in our nation’s paid sick leave and unemployment insurance laws, ensuring that working family’s livelihoods are not disrupted. It makes sure families are fed, by expanding nutrition programs, and health care and other workers are protected. It ensures states are well prepared to respond, by boosting federal funding for Medicaid.

As the Senate prepares to act and soon vote on the House bill, additional steps will need to be taken to address wide-scale financial distress caused by the economy constricting. The hallmark of Congressional efforts to stem this health emergency and any related economic downturn should meet the needs of working families. Above all, Congress must ensure accessible and affordable testing and treatment for the Coronavirus, regardless of income, location, disability, or immigration status. It must also:

• Ensure all have the support they need to take sick leave and care for family members without risking their jobs or their paychecks.
• Ensure low-income workers and individuals facing hardship have the assistance they need to put food on the table and provide for their families.
• Give special care and attention to individuals at increased risk of infection, including individuals in prison, immigrants and children in detention, in long-term care facilities, and experiencing homelessness.
• Economic stimulus measures should focus first on low-income and vulnerable communities. Such policies also have the strongest economic impact. Any bailouts and emergency assistance for major industries and businesses must be paired with comparable assistance for low-wage workers and vulnerable individuals.
• Oppose any efforts to use the pandemic as an excuse to further militarize the border or exacerbate immigration deportation and detention.

While we laud recent passage of the House bill, and recommend swift action on these emergency measures in the Senate, we recognize the need for a stronger and wider social safety net, especially for the disproportionately impacted like low-wage workers, domestic workers, and people of color. In terms of paid family and sick leave, we strongly Congress take up and pass the Family Act, and the Healthy Families Act, which would guarantee seven days of paid sick leave.

Our federal tax code incentivizes massive wealth accumulation and the prioritization of profit, driving a greater wedge between the share of the population who have only some, if any, savings for an emergency, and those who a lot. This preferential treatment for the wealthy can only have consequences down the line, as we’re discovering, since the Federal Reserve’s fiscal response to economic crisis has done little to touch on the lives of everyday working families. The slow degradation of our nation’s labor laws, the stagnation of wages and benefits, and the country’s insistence on lending a lifeline to corporations and not people is a thorough indictment of our economic policy.

Coronavirus’ indiscriminate path is showing us that the inequities in our systems continue to leave millions of Americans vulnerable to economic instability and health care insecurity. Because it’s no longer a manner of if, but when, we rewrite our nation’s social and economic policy to better meet the needs of families in crisis, we must summon the same political courage and haste it will have taken to pass these emergency measures.

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Beth is an ordained minister with the United Methodist Church. I am thankful of her courage in sharing her account of living with coronavirus and for reminding me that spiritual practice can serve as a lifeline in times of hardship.