The Senate Must Act Immediately on Urgent Aid for America’s States, Cities and Towns

WASHINGTON — AFSCME President Lee Saunders issued this statement following House passage of the HEROES Act in a bipartisan vote. AFSCME urges the Senate to act quickly and deliver urgently needed aid to America’s states, cities and towns:

“By passing the HEROES Act, the House has done its job to ensure that we can maintain the public services that our communities depend on, including law enforcement, health care, schools and sanitation. We thank Speaker Pelosi for her leadership.

“Every day that the Senate delays, the road to economic recovery gets longer because millions of everyday heroes on the front lines who are essential to fighting the pandemic and reopening the economy are being thanked for their service with pink slips.

“This isn’t a red or blue state issue – every single community in America is being hurt because of this pandemic and urgently needs strong public services so we can beat this pandemic and safely reopen the economy. Every senator would be wise to think of themselves as city councilmembers right now, because if they don’t act, Americans are going to see more trash in their streets, fewer street lights working, fewer cops on the streets, dirtier water, longer 911 response times. And everyone will know this happened because the Senate laid off millions of front-line public service workers, while corporations made out like bandits.”