AAF Resources for the Next Coronavirus Aid Package
As Congress considers the next coronavirus aid package, the following resources from the American Action Forum assess the impact of past policies and propose new policies to aid the recovery.
- State Unemployment Benefits and Returning to Work: AAF’s Labor Market Policy Data Analyst Isabel Soto finds that 63 percent of all workers make more on maximum unemployment benefits than when working, and reducing the federal supplement to $100 still leaves 25 percent of workers making more on maximum unemployment.
- Unemployment Benefits and Returning to Work: Soto finds that the maximum unemployment benefit is now greater than the median wage in the majority of states.
- Parsing the Reasons for Layoffs in State and Local Governments: Soto writes that work incentives created by the federal unemployment supplement are likely contributing to states and local governments laying off workers.
- Safely Opening the Economy: AAF President Douglas Holtz-Eakin sketches a tax-credit proposal that would encourage businesses to take the steps necessary to open safely, allowing them to operate in the presence of the virus.
- The FDA and COVID Testing Priorities: Holtz-Eakin explains the advantages of less-accurate but significantly faster coronavirus testing — testing that current regulations do not allow.