Transcripts For CSPAN Hearing On Coronavirus Racial Inequities 20240712

Muted p. Further, members are required to leave their cameras on the entire time theyre in an official proceeding, even if they step away from the camera in which case we should see an empty chair, as this is an entirely remote hearing. The committees hearing room is officially closed. Members who chose to sit with their individual devices in the hearing room must wear headphones to avoid feedback he can as and disportion resulting from more than one person on the platform sitting in the same room. Were also expected to hear the social distancing Safe Health Care guidelines, including the use of masks, gloves and wiping down the area before and after their presence in the hearing room. And i also note that when you ask questions if youre in the hearing room if the witness is also in the hearing room it would help if you mute while the answer is taking place because the answer is picked up by your mike and then that echoes back in this mutualal distortion. The roll call is not necessary to establish a quorum in official proceedings conducted remotely whenever there is a official proceeding with participation, the clerk will call the roll to help make clear who is present at the start of the proceeding so ill ask the clerk to call the roll. Chairman scott. Present. Mrs. Davis . Present. Mr. Griehal va . Present. Mr. Courtney . Present. Ms. Fudge . Present. Mr. Sublom . Ms. Wilson . Present. Ms. Biamicci . Present. Mr. Tacono . Ms. Adams . Present. Mr. Desagna . Mr. Norcroft . Present. Mr. Ipaul . Present. Mr. Morelli . Present. Ms. Wild . Mr. Harter . Mrs. Mcbabbs . Present. Ms. Shier . Present. Ms. Underwood . Present. Mrs. Hayes . Ms. Shalala . Mr. Levin . Present. Ms. Omar . Mr. Trump . Ms. Stevens . Present, thank you. Mrs. Lee . Mrs. Truhance . Present. Mr. Castro . Mrs. Fox . Present. Mr. Rowe . Mr. Compton . Mr. Wahlberg . Present. Mr. Guthrie . Mr. Burns . Present. Mr. Grossman . Ms. Stefanac . Present. Mr. Allen . Present. Mr. Smuckers . Mr. Banks . Mr. Walker . Mr. Culmer . Mr. Corins . Present. Mr. Fulter . Mr. Watkins . Present. Mr. Wright . Mr. Muser . Present. Mr. Johnson . Present, maam. Mr. Keller . Present. Mr. Murphy . Mr. Va ndrewk . Present. Chairman scott, this concludes the roll call. Excuse me, susan wild, present. Thank you. Anyone else want to note their presence . David trone, present. David trone, mrs. Underwood . Hello . Mr. Chairman, its congresswoman fox. I just want to note that congressman thompson was here and stepped out for just a moment. And also that we have several members at mrs. Barrs funeral today, both kentucky people as well as other states. So there are several absent because of that funeral going n right now. That is certainly understandable. Thank you very much. Pursuant to Committee Rule 7c, Opening Statements limited to chair and Ranking Member alius us to hear from our witnesses sooner and provide members adequate time to ask questions. I now recognize myself for the purpose of making an open statement. First, following up on the Ranking Members comment, i want to express my deepest condolences to our colleagues who are mourning the loss of loved ones. Our thoughts and prayers are with representative omar for the loss of her father, representative bonamicci for the loss of her mother, representative barr for the loss of his wife, and our friend not on the committee but a good friend Jim Sensenbrenner for the loss of his wife. Were living in tough times for everyone but i know that these are particularly difficult times for those mentioned, and we just want to wish them strength and peace and know that we are with them during this difficult time. Today were discussing how covid19 pandemic is exacerbating racial inequalities, education, labor and health and the steps Congress Must take to address these disparities. A mountain of evidence has made it clear that to effectively respond to this pandemic we must address the widening, existing racial inequities in education, the work force, and our health care system. In the area of education, racial bias, both intentional and unconscious and chronic underfunding of schools serving students of color have produced persistent achievement gaps. We know our nations k12 Public Schools entered this pan democrat wick a 23 billion racial funding gap. Thats the difference between the funding of School Districts serving predominantly students of color compared to School Districts serving predominantly white students. As schools abruptly closed this funding gap positioned students of color to fall even further behind their peers. Black and latino students were less likely to attend schools that had the capacity to rapidly establish high quality Distance Learning programs. And also are less likely to have the basic technology such as a personal computer, high speed internet, and the support at home needed to access Virtual Learning. As a result, latino students are expected to lose nine months of learning and black students are expected to lose 10 months of learning due to the pandemic. White students are expected to lose only six months. In addition to the pandemics impact on the achievement gap the center of budget and policy priorities project that states will face a 615 billion revenue shortfall over the next three years due to the pandemic. As the committee discussed during the hearing last week, the Public Education is usually one of the largest expenditures accounting for an average 40 of state budgets and unless the federal government provides immediate relief, the state and local governments, it wont matter the funding of education will be cut it wont matter whether education and funding will be cut but how much those cuts in education will be. While eltier districts can fall back on property tax revenue, low income public School Districts will have to continue to rely heavily on state funding. The School Districts that predominantly serve students of color, severe cuts in education and supporting social Service Programs will come at the time of greatest need. The consequences of these shortfalls are already evident. Nearly 750,000 Public School employees have already lost their jobs since march. In colorado, the state Legislature Just passed a budget that cuts 1 billion in schools next year. In the area of the work force, outlook to workers of color is similarly concerning. Black and latino workers who face significantly higher rates of unemployment and lower wages long before the pandemic have borne a disproportionate share of the lafse you will though the rate for latino workers lowered, rates for black workers increased in weeks and weeks. Among those who remained employed, workers of color are more likely to be employed by occupation such as meatpacking, grocery, health care and transportation with the highest risk of infection. Fewer than 20 of black and latino workers can work from home compared to nearly 30 of white workers. More than 410 black workers lack employment provided sick days. Because of these disparities, workers of color have been disproportionately affected by the department of labors refusal to off to issue enforceable Workplace Safety standards to protect workers from covid19. In addition to working in sectors with the highest risk of covid19 infections, the black and latino workers disproportionately work in low wage jobs. Regrettably congress has not raised the federal minimum wage in more than a decade, the longest period of time in its history. Still weak labor laws in court reeroded Labor Union Membership and workers collective bargaining rights which have left the essential workers vulnerable to poverty and unsafe workplaces and deadly virus. The most profound racial inequality in the society has been the pandemics devastating impact on the health of people of color. Nationwide, africanamericans have been diing from covid19 infections at about 2 1 2 times the rate of white americans. In new york city the epicenter of covid19 infections and death, the death rate for latinos in the month of april was about 22 people per 100,000 adjusted for population size and age. American indian and native communities are suffering disproportionately from covid19 infections and in late may the navajo nations surpassed new york, new jersey with the most infections per capita and follows the pattern of past diseases for native American Communities for the brunt of disease outbreaks due to the chronic longterm underfunding of health care across indian countries. As with these challenges in education and work force issues, the Health Disparities are rooted in structural inequality. People of color in the pandemic with Health Conditions often caused by structural problems including health care discrimination, housing instability, Food Insecurity and limited access to transportation. Years of state led budget cuts and Public Health have led to limited funding of rural health, rural and Community Hospitals in communities of color leaving families with few options to receive quality care. Unfortunately, instead of increasing access to Health Care Coverage, the Trump Administration has been actively working to take it away in the midst of the Public Health emergency. The texas lawsuit affects the entirecy of the federal care acts in all the laws of coverage gains and consumer protections. Hese efforts excuse me. These efforts disproportionately impact people of color. If these efforts these efforts to strike down the law are successful, estimates show that the uninsured rate among the Africanamerican Community would nearly double from 11 to 20 and the share of uninsured hispanic individuals would grow from 21 to 31 . Were not here to talk about the problem or what they call celebrate the problem, were here to discuss solutions. The heroes act which the house passed last month would take important steps towards addressing the racial inequalities that have been exposed and exacerbated through the pandemic. Th respect to education, legislation dedicates nearly 1 trillion in relief for states and localities to help avert painful cuts to Public Schools. It also goes a step further by proposing more than 100 billion in additional emergency Education Funding, to cover the cost of cleaning supplies and other expenses required to reopen, purchase Educational Technology like laptops and hot spots, sustain special education for students with disabilities and help colleges and universities maintain their institutions. To support workers, the heroes act directs osha to rapidly issue Emergency Temporary Standard that would require employees to implement protections for workers who are at highest risk for contracting covid19. It also expands access to emergency paid leave to nearly 140 million workers. While paid leave provisions in the family first Coronavirus Response act took important steps in the right direction, far too many workers including Many Health Care workers were excluded from those protections. So this heroes act puts family and medical back into family and medical leave by dramatically expanding the circumstances in which workers can take 12 weeks of emergency family and medical leave act pay, we should not force workers to choose between a paycheck of health and the health of the people around them. Improved healthy outcomes, the heroes act expands Health Care Insurance coverage for covid19 testing and treatment, provides full coverage for the cost of cobra premiums for laid off and furloughed workers and increases the investment and Health Nutrition and Community Support by including 1 billion to special w. I. C. Funding and an additional 1 billion for Community Services block grant initiatives to help address poverty. Finally, the heroes act invests 75 billion in testing and Contact Tracing to help contain the virus. This includes 500 million to recruit and train contact workers through the public work force system and Community Based organizations. Electively these provisions represent a major step taken by congress to help our nation get through this Global Health care crisis. As we confront this unprecedented challenge, we must accept our responsibility. To build a recovery that uplifts all communities, but if we fail to act well be experiencing a recovery that offers relief to some that leaves many low income communities and people of color to face long lasting or even permanent setbacks in education and access to health care. This systemic problem has sustained our countrys legacy for too long and look forward to hearing from our witnesses who will share with us the scope of the challenge and the policy considerations to get us on the right course. Im now pleased to recognize the distinguished Ranking Member, dr. Fox, for the purpose of her opening statement. Dr. Fox thank you, mr. Chairman. Before we begin, i also want to extend my condolences to our colleagues andy barr, Jim Sensenbrenner, Suzanne Bonamicci and ms. Omar who suffered the loss of a loved one recently. My prayers go out to them and their families during this difficult time. Mr. Chairman, youve heard me express my concerns about these Virtual Committee hearings but it bears repeating, they fly in the face of 230 years of congressional and legislative precedent. These Virtual Events undermine what our founders intended when they created our representative republic. Americans are stepping up to help combat this virus, while the elected leaders in the house entrusted with the job of representing their constituents stay home. Its shameful. Shameful. A number of my and mr. Chairman, just so you know, you mentioned this was an entirely remote hearing. It is not. A number of my republican colleagues and i are participating in this hearing today from the Committee Room in washington, d. C. And i encourage you and all the other members to return to congressional precedent and hold our hearings in person. Now turning to the topic of todays virtual hearing, the coronavirus and related state imposed shutdowns have caused devastating job losses and Unemployment Rates not seen since the great depression. Additionally, schools were forced to close their doors abruptly and switch to Remote Learning overnight which impacted 97 of our countrys students. But lets remember that prior to the covid19 pandemic, the u. S. Economy and labor market were strong. Real g. D. P. Increased 2. 3 in 2019 and 2. 9 in 2018. In february 2020, the Unemployment Rate was at a historic low of 3. 5 . Black unemployment was 5. 4 in august 2019. The lowest ever recorded. In september 2019, the hispanic Unemployment Rate was 3. 9 . Also, the lowest ever recorded. And in june 2019, asian unemployment was a record low 2. 1 . Furthermore, at the beginning of 2020, workers in the bottom 10 of income had higher average wage growth than those in the top 10 . By january 2020, low income workers low income earners saw a 15 increase in pay since the president took office. However, we know that americans, including minority communities, have felt the negative effects of these unprecedented times. The centers for Disease Control and prevention c. D. C. Estimates that blacks and hispanics account for nearly 40 of covid19 deaths in the u. S. Minority communities have also been impacted economically by pandemic related shutdowns with the rate of black owned businesses falling 41 , hispanic owned businesses falling 32 , and asian owned businesses falling 26 . We know the pro growth policies enacted by Congressional Republicans and the Trump Administration benefited workers, employers, and families before the onset of the covid19 pandemic. Reopening the economy responsibly and ensuring Public Health are not mutually exclusive. We can and we must open america again while taking into consideration the recommendations from our Public Health officials. Look at the may jobs report for proof. Last month 2. 5 million jobs were added to the economy. A significant indicator that reopening the economy safely is the best way to help all americans get back on their feet. Also just last week the wall street journal reported that, quote, new layoffs are being offset by employers hiring or recalling workers as states have allowed more businesses to reopen in recent weeks. The white house and c. D. C. Have issued guidelines for opening up america again. These detailed guidelines which include three phases based on professional guidance from Public Health officials are intended to help state and local leaders make timely decisions about reopening the economy and getting people back to work while protecting lives. And in fact, every state has started implementing phased reopening plans allowing nonessential businesses to reopen and operate safely, allowing employees to return to work and allowing americans to begin resuming daily activities. As i previously mentioned, the prepandemic economy ushered in under the Republican Led Congress and the Trump Administration benefited workers, employers, and families alike. Employment was at record lows, including minority unemployment, low income earners saw 15 increase in pay and seven million jobs were available and ready to be filled. If we hope to achieve prepandemic Economic Conditions that enabled americans to flourish and reach their greatest potential, we must continue forging a forwardlooking path to help minority communities to recover and prosper as they were prior to the pandemic. The nations economic recovery and path to prosperity for all americans is contingent upon reopening our nations schools and businesses faithfully and responsibly, mandating further topdown federal laws and policies as proposed by House Democrats will only compound the challenges that all americans currently face as we continue to combat covid19. I want to thank the witnesses for participating in this hearing but i hope in the future we can have all our witnesses testifying here with us in washington as we work in person on behalf of hardworking americans. I yield back, mr. Chairman. Chairman scott thank you and i look forward to that day myself. To all other members who wish to insert written statements in the record may do so by submitting them to the mmittee secretary in a 20th. Format by the and i introduce the professor at emery university, a senior fellow in adjunct professor of the Morehouse School of medicine and past president of the Public Health association. Valerie wilson is the direct of programs on race, ethnicity and economy at the Economic Policy institute and im pleased to note shes an alumni of Hampton University in my district. Mr. Obik s. A. Roy is the president of the foundation on research of equal opportunity and mr. John king is the president president , c. E. O. And Economic Trust and the former partner of the department of education. Instruction to our witnesses we appreciate the witnesses for participating today and look forward to your testimony. Let me run the witnesses that we have seen your testimony and it will appear in full in the hearing record. Pursuant to Committee Rule 7d and Committee Practice, each of you is asked to limit your oral presentation five minutes of your written statement. Let me remind the witnesses that youre aware its illegal to knowingly and willfully falsify any statement to congress so well look forward to your testimony. During your testimony staff will be keeping track of time and use a chime when to signal when one minute is left. A brief chime when one minute is left and when time is up entirely, a more obnoxious chime will occur at that time. At this time, please be attentive to time and when your wrap up er, please your testimony and remute your microphones. If anyone is experiencing technical difficulties during your testimony or later in the hearing, you should stay connected on the platform and make sure youre muted with your mute button highlighted in red and use your phone to immediately contact the committees it director whose number has been provided. Well let all witnesses make their presentations. The board move to members questions and when answering questions please remember to unmute your microphone and remute when youre finished. Well first thank you, chairman scott and Ranking Member for inviting my testimony this afternoon. Covid19 hased, had tremendously disproportionate impact on the health and all being of communities of color. , ifexample, even right now you compare the death rate from covid19 by racial ethnic groups, like folks are dying at 62 per 100,000, American Indians , already six per 100,000, latin people 28 per 100,000, asian from 26 and 100000 and white oaks with 26 per 100,000. In 100000 and white folks with 26 per 100,000. Communities of color are more likely to be infected with the virus and once infected are more likely to die. They are more likely to be infected because they are more exposed and less protected and they are more likely to die because they are more burdened to chronic diseases with less access to health care. This doesnt just so happen here we are startled by what we are seeing with covid19, but this if equally distributed, there would be no weight we could slice and dice our communities and see any differences in terms of infection. What this indicates is that opportunity is not lead distributed by ralph ethnicity by Race Ethnicity and they name ofributed and the the system that causes this differential distribution is racism. It is assigning value based on socalled race and social interpretation of how one looks, which has three impacts. It unfairly just packs impacts on communities and stops the strength of the whole society through a waste of human resources. I dont some people would assert that racism doesnt exist and if not systemic but an individual character flaw. Use ways to explain how it risks. But if you want me to share in three minutes, i dont have time in my statement. Getting back to what we need to do. We need to act. Saying that racism is the basis of these differences is not an excuse. It is a call to access. Providing and i have my own ideas for action. But you are doing such a great job. I am providing you with tools to guide future action to analyze how you should go. We need to ask the why to get to the what. If you dont have the right answer to why it than the what will never result in improvement. The first tool is to question how is racism operating and looking at elements of decisionmaking in policies, practices, norms, and values, which are elements of decisionmaking and especially who is at the table and who is not and what is on the agenda and what is not. Values decisionmaking and after i outline, i will go back and say how that helps us with covid19. There are three principles for achieving Health Equity aired recognizing that Health Equity is assurance of the condition for Optimal Health and a governmental function. It includes valuing all individuals of populations equally, recognizing and rectifying historical injustices and providing resources but according to need. Application of those principles can guide further action. The third tool is something many. F you may not have heard of that is the International Convention on the elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination, which is an antiracism treaty that was adopted by the u. N. General assembly in 1965, signed by the in 1994. 966, ratified obligations. Ntday one of the obligations is to submit a report about every six years to a human committee, which we do in the last was 2013. The Committee Reviews that report and then sends back its concluding observations. I hope that was the short one. I never heard the short one. You have one minute remaining. I will just point out that we have the concluding observations provided to us in 2014 highlighted concerns and recommendations around racial profiling and the disproportionate incarceration of people of color, around Health Disparities and gaps in education and educate segregation. Who, what, when, where, the structural stuff leading to Educational Opportunities and leading to occupational segregation as we are more on the front line jobs. In terms of policies, we are less protected in terms of ppe and paid six leave paid sick leave. Practices, locations of testing sites in early policy hiring Doctors Orders and the like. Countryenial in this puts the onus of the disproportionate impact on peoples behavior and not recognizing that living in disinvested communities poisoned access to fresh vegetables. And finally, values as reflected and standards of care area thank you for your attention. Thank you very much ms. Jones. Dr. Wilson. Dr. Wilson thank you for the opportunity to testify. Evidence of the infant amick impact of the Economic Impact and were projected solutions that will avoid prolonged effects of the Racial Disparity in the economy. There are three main groups of workers in the covid19 recession. Those who lost their jobs and faced economic insecurity. Those who are essential workers and faiths and face health insecurity. And those who are able to work from the safety of their home. Lacks emma native americans, and ,ow income workers blacks native americans, and low income workers are being affected. The first group of workers in the covid19 recession as those who have lost jobs during the pandemic. In maymployment declined and has left huge disparities. As of may, the unemployed rate was higher. Wasblack Unemployment Rate 16. 8 . Asian was at 15 , and the white Unemployment Rate at 12 point course 12. 4 . Unemployment rate of all groups remains higher than the previous overall height of 10 in 2009. The second group of workers in the covid19 recession are essential frontline workers. They have been protected from job loss and face greater likelihood of contracting covid19 while performing their jobs. Black workers are overrepresented in this group, making up one in nine workers overall, and one in six frontline industry workers. They are also more likely to be uninsured and less likely to have insurance paid leave. A long history of racial exclusion, discrimination and exploitation and economic inequality and race. The black Unemployment Rate is typically double the white Unemployment Rate. This difference cannot be explained away, even for workers with college or advanced degrees, black unemployment is significantly higher than the white Unemployment Rate, including at the record low rates reached prepandemic. Shown us has grown over the last several decades and have grown most in collegeeducated workers. There are higher value rates for lacks relative to white households. For lacks relative to white toseholds four blacks white household. Social economics require that we whilerove any response narrowing disparities. Many of the policies needed to address immediate needs are included in the heroes act and other legislation that has been introduced since. First, the robust economic recovery is directly tied to our ability to cure the health and safety of communities and workplaces across the country. Authorities protect workers by issuing emergency standards that address Worksite Health and safety risks associated with covid19 and workers who voice concerns must be free of retaliation. Contact tracing in communities to provide employment and accurate access and other services necessary. Third, federally funded competence of Health Insurance with full coverage for covid19 testing and treatment as well as paid sick leave and family leave art essential are essential. Crucial provisions will help avoid more serious and persistent damage to the economy. Support isritical tied to automatic triggers measurable and reliable indicators of recovery from all immunities as opposed to arbitrary expiration dates. This and more will be needed to rebuild a better than normal economy with more widely shared prosperity. A key for your attention and i would be happy to answer any questions. Much. Nk you very mr. Roy . Roy chairman scott, Ranking Member fox, members of the committee, thank you for inviting me. The foundation is a nonpartisan think tank that focuses exclusively on ideas that can improve the lives of americans on the bottom half of the economic ladder. An opportunity to discuss work on covid19 economic lockdowns have increased Racial Disparities. Writtenin remarks my remarks show more largescale view. I will touch on how School Closures disproportionately harm minority students and parents. I will discuss covid19 mortality by race and ethnicity and how the failure to protect Nursing Homes has harmed seniors of all races. 2019, black on a plane it reached the lowest in history, 54 . The black Unemployment Rate reached the lowest in history, 5. 4 . 17. 6 . T is in my testimony, i detail how disparities between white and nonwhite Unemployment Rates also reached the lowest levels in history prior to the pandemic, the lockdowns have brought those disparities back to levels seen a decade ago. Compared to whites and asians, lacks they are seeing their jobs and hours aired hourly wage slashed. Own hours it is estimated that blackowned businesses experienced losses of 40 versus 32 for hispanic owned businesses and 17 for white owned companies. Racial and ethnic disparities are worse when the economy is worse and especially during the government mandated shutdowns of the economy that we are experiencing today. As you noted, mr. Chairman, the School Closures disproportionately harmed children from low income families. They are less able to provide opportunities to learn outside of school. They are less likely to be able to take advantage of Virtual Learning because they lack highspeed Internet Access. 30 million low income children reduce free or reduced lunches. School closures affect parents, especially Single Parents who are unable to work if that means leaving their Children Home unattended. Reopenossible to safely schools as papers show. Other countries have done it because children are at extremely low risk of death of severe illness from covid19. One rising concern is how it is affecting racial and ethnic populations overall. Blacksest data indicates have a larger share, even when adjusted for the fact that covid is more prevalent in cities where minorities live disproportionately. Mortality rates are higher in native American Communities, especially arizona and new mexico. Whites are also dying of covid at higher than predicted rates. Hispanics and asians represent a lower share of covid death than would be implied by their geographically adjusted share of the u. S. Population. The likely reason is that morbidity and mortality from covid19 is most common among the elderly. 81 of all of the deaths have occurred in people 65 or older and whites are the oldest racial group in the u. S. , a median age of 44. Expect to see higher fatality rates in whites relative to asians and hispanics due to their age, and we do. Africanamericans are relatively young but still seeing higher mortality among blacks. Some are from a with the research on the tragedy taking place Nursing Homes and facilities. That, 0. 6 of the population, 43 of all deaths from the coronavirus. Medicallymes are in vulnerable seniors with daily activities. Nonwhite,are poor, and enrolled in medicaid. The risk of death from covid19 for the rest of the population is considerably lower than we may have thought. We can use that information to reopen the economy safely and reduce the harm we are imposing on hundreds of millions of americans of all colors. Thank you. Thank you very much, mr. Roy. Secretary . Chairmanyou so much scott, Ranking Member fox, and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify. There are massive global protests against Police Violence and seeking to ensure that black lives matter is more than just a during the murders of. The murders remind us yet again that systemic racism and the legacy of slavery infect our institutions, Public Discourse and daily interaction. Our Education System is fraught with racial inequities that insisted for covid19. There are too few of these children. They are expelled from early living good the pandemic has pushed the Early Childhood Education Sector for lack blacks could be disproportionate. District lines in School Assignment policies still segregate k12 by race. American students spend almost 2000 less per student per year than districts with mostly white students. Students of color are less toely to be having access counselors, advanced coursework, exclusionary discipline. The higher Education Sector doesnt reflect americas diversity. Not one state or Public College have a rep. Davidson representative share relative to to the state population. Debturden of student falls disproportionately on black students who are more. Ikely to borrow and default covid19 has exacerbated these disparities. Black,o, and latino, had less access to online learning, more emotional stressors. In response, we urge congress to take the following actions. First, Congress Must support education and to address devastating budget shortfalls. Allocating 500 million for state and local governments, including 175 billion for k12 education and 50 billion for Higher Education. This must include a Strong Equity revision so states and districts can ensure the most vulnerable students retain critical support. Congress must allocate dedicated funding for broadband extension to support learning time and tackling significant learning address resources to nutritional, emotional, and Mental Health needs. Congress should roof lane historicrom interpretation of the title i Equity Services vision. The federal government must promote diverse schools, required data to be desegregated by race. Congress must enact acquittal reforms to iron education to Higher Education. Targeted debte, forgiveness in recognition of the recession will make repaying student debt impossible for millions of borrowers. To counter widespread losses of financial assistance, congress should double the pell grant find the fafsa process. It would increase enrollment and limit debt for students of color. Expand access to incarcerated students and undocumented students, supporting diversity and educating dutch education programs. Improve outcomes for low income students and students of and education improvement programs. For low incomes students and students of color. In order to ensure that the fiveminute rule is adhered to. Staff will keep track of time and use a chime to signal when isis left and then when it done entirely. They will sound a short time when there is one minute left and a younger one when time is of. Wrap up your time and use your phone to immediate contact the i. T. Director. One issue that goes under appreciation and Higher Education is that of campus climate. Were built fors the socalled traditional student population, largely made up of recent High School Graduates from affluent families. We know that todays students are more diverse and often older or from communities that have been poorly served by our colleges and universities. Not to mention early education. The protests for Racial Justice that have emerged across the need for our Education Systems to address systemic racism and ensure that students of color are well served and supported. Recently, it was revealed that , they discontinued preference for having family members who also attended the university, often called legacy admissions. It was recognized that this shift has allowed space for Pell Grant Eligible students to enroll. Secretary keene, can you king, can you further explain more about legacy admissions in Higher Education. [part Audio Quality poor Audio Quality] in the interest of time, i will jump offline. This may be something we need to reset. Mr. King, if you could please and call your audio again. Call your phone and your phone and call. Let me know if you need the access code. Code. 932 is the access follow the prompts in the affirmative. Can you hear me now . I can. Sorry about that. Question onto the the issue of legacy admissions, what we know is that the legacy advantage translated into as much as 45 increase in the likelihood of a student being admitted due to a similarly situated student who doesnt have the benefit of legacy preference. The consequence for our selective admission universities is that low income students and students of color arent enjoying this advantage and are dramatically underrepresented on those campuses and institutions. It makes sense if universities are true to their commitment to a diverse student body, to eliminate legacy preferences. To really ensure that students of color are fully represented, more is needed. Race needs to be taken into consideration and admissions policies, Financial Aid needs to be provided so that low income students can have access to those institutions. More work needs to be done to recruit a diverse faculty in a positive climate for students and specific efforts need to be made to recruit students from high school that serve large numbers of students of color. Eliminating the legacy admissions would be an important step to improving diversity on the campuses in the nation. Nicu, mr. Secretary. Thank you, mr. Secretary. Encouraging and we also know that early admissions plays a bit of a roll as well. Would you agree with that . Admissions Early Practice has advantages and those students had the most resources. When you think about access to counselors, we have some states where there are ive hundred to 600 counselor. There are 500 to 600 counselors per student. Some students are not able to take advantage of those early admissions processes. How can educations institutions of Higher Education address community of communities of color even in a covid world when they are off campus . What do we have to think about . Campuses need to make sure students can access Higher Education through Distance Learning. We know that low income students and students of color were at risk of not having devices and Internet Access needed. There was an effort put forward to dedicate resources for Higher Education to provide that access. That is critical to make sure advantage thiske fall which will be distance on some and hybrid on others. Thank you. Dr. Fox, do you wish to be recognized at this point . Dr. Fox yes, i do. You are recognized for five minutes. Lowfox we had record unemployment prior to the endemic, including for lack and committees of color. Additional policy options for areessing the pandemic, how the negative economic effects of the pandemic different from previous economic downturns, such as the 2008 financial crisis . I will start with the second question. When statesif and and localities reopen communities, it will be a relatively rapid rebound of his nieces that did not run out of cash during the pandemic. The average Small Business has 30 business 30 days worth of money on hand. Once eight rebounds, we should see unemployment recover relatively rapidly, and we saw that with sars in asia. That is my hope on that front. On the recession in 2008, there were underlying problems with the economy, particularly the inflation and housing problems. Hopefully here, it will be quickly solved if reopening takes place. In terms of your first question, not i lost train of thought. What was your first question . Drivers of the low employment, right. There are several things from a policy standpoint that led to record low unemployment prior to the pandemic. That was something that was going on since the Great Recession from 2008, but the biggest drivers have clearly been the tax cuts and jobs act of 2017 and regulatory changes which have allowed manufacturing jobs and other industries to hire and expand in ways that have allowed employment to rise. When employment rises, who benefits . Typically it is hourly wage workers that are his proportionately light. I dont think there were any of those poles in the heroes act. As you stated in your written research,and in your we have no choice but to reopen responsively, even though a vaccine for covid19 has not been developed and research continues. Could you elaborate on the impact of the state and local shutdowns, whether it is possible to combat the pandemic and safely reopen at the same time, and what effect this will have on communities around the country . Tothe most important thing understand about covid19 is the disproportionate impact it has, not so much on race and that is important, but on age. The fact is that 81 of all deaths due to covid19 are happening in people over the age of 65. As i mentioned in my testimony, 43 are happening in the 0. 6 of the population that lives in nursing home. Covid19 from immortality and illness standpoint is not really affecting younger people. There are isolated cases, but in general, the probability of dying of influenza is much greater in Young Children than it is of covid19. That gives us an opportunity to reopen schools. Obviously, we have to make sure that vulnerable teaches teachers and other staff and householdso live in with grandparents, that we can open schools. Other countries are doing it and it is important for this committee to consider. Pointant to build on that that you just made. Could you explain further the impact the actions of these governors who forced Nursing Homes to accept covid19 dischargedter being from the hospital. Can you talk about death rates and which have experienced the highest rates . And mr. Chairman, for your information, mr. Thompson is back in the room. I have detailed data on both the share of overall covid19 deaths taking place in nursing home state and also the percentage of nursing home and longterm care facility residents in that state that have died your worst state by far have died. The worst rate is new jersey. 11 in Nursing Homes have died. That is in part because new jersey, like new york and michigan that have forced Nursing Homes to accept people with active covid19 infections were being discharged from hospitals. That contribute significantly to the spread of covid19 in our longterm care facilities. That is the same state where the state Health Director took her own mother out for lunch or care facility out of the longterm care silly before she allowed care facility before she allowed them to come in. That is one of the most shameful things in our country that happened, in my opinion. Thank you, mr. Roy. I yield back. Thank you. Inc. You, mr. Chairman. You. Ank from to refrain are inequities in educational funding. Educational debt has become more apparent as a result of the covid19 pandemic. Happen if congress doesnt act with a level of urgency to pay back some of those debts for communities of color and education arena and pressure to reopen schools, k12 in particular, intensifies the cost tonces of that local communities as well as to open up schools . At this moment, what we know is that School Districts are getting 90 or more of their funding from state and local. Those local budgets had taken a huge hit from covid19. That will translate into significant cuts to School District funding. Some School Districts are preparing around the country for 20 to 25 cut in state aid which will have a devastating impact. It is estimated that could mean approaching 2 million jobs lost in the Education Sector, layoffs of teachers. It will mean elimination of programs, particularly programs that are for the most vulnerable students. We also know that if those cuts happen, districts will be less able to do the kinds of practices that Public Health acquires requires. We need congress to step in to prevent those cuts and Additional Resources to address the consequences of covid19. Thank you. Curiosity come in your verbal testimony you mentioned out of curiosity, in your verbal testimony you mentioned Small Businesses, particularly that had a disproportionate negative impact and businesses open owned by people of color and that is so important to the recovery you mentioned unemployment in response to that. As we struggle to make sure the money we vied to local communities we supply to local communities and the supplemental support of Small Businesses that are discipline shortly affected, do you think it is appropriate and necessary for thea determination part of the 650 billion that was directed to ppe and the framework to see what impact that money is having . Do you think those figures should be released publicly . I do, yes. We need to structure and make sure the money goes to the right places. One of the things i was concerned about the ppp was it favored medium to large as this businesses over Small Businesses. If you are small, you dont have the resources. Did notlest businesses benefit from ppp as much as they needed to. Thank you. I yield back. Tennessee,leman from doctorow . Rowe . Mr. Thompson . Mr. Thompson . Dr. Rowe is one of our members at the funeral. Stir thompson is ready. Mr. Thompson is ready. He is having a problem. Could you come back to mr. Thompson. The gentleman from michigan. Inc. You, mr. Chairman. Thank you mr. Chairman. We express our condolences to her for the loss of her mother. Going back to the statements that began about the heroes act. I think we need to understand that the heroes act is a messaging piece with no expectation. It is cynical to keep bringing it up as legitimate. Citiess a reason major with Terrible Health and education outcome are in longheld democratcontrolled government. That is a fact. Even in my boyhood home growing up in chicago. The challenges are there, but has been the efforts of the longheld democrat leadership that always complains about not having the outcomes we want and get the policies are still the same. I think it is time to stop blaming the republicans, who have been, especially in the last three years, very evidently against pushing real change that works and brought about Economic Growth in this country, only impacted by covid19. I think until we stop opposing educational choice for minorities, the complaint three hollow. The complaints ring hollow. We know that covid19 is much more lethal for those over 65 years of age, like myself, with certain chronic conditions. Sadly, we now have a sobering figure that shows Nursing Homes and assisted facilities were some of the hardest hit. In my home state of michigan, as of last monday, almost 2000 deaths have taken place among individuals who lived in nursing home facilities, which represents approximately one third of the deaths statewide. Your testimony mentions that over 40,000 seniors have tragically died under this care. What percentage of the u. S. Appellation lives in longterm care facilities and how does u. S. Population lives in longterm care facilities and how does that compare . Residents live in Nursing Homes or facilities and yet they represent 43 nationwide of all deaths from covid19. Unbelievable. Unfortunately, michigan was one of the handful of states where the government governor forced Nursing Homes to admit covid19 positive patients back into their facilities. Even more sadly, it is reporting that the state implemented the policy contrary to information it received from the nursing home association. How did this create such a dangerous situation for seniors and what should be done to address the challenges Nursing Homes face while caring for covid19 deaths . There is no doubt that governor whitmers order to forced Nursing Homes to accept patients with covid19 made the foot tell tees worse made the fatalities worse. One fourth of deaths are coming from Nursing Homes. The integrity of michigans data is not clear, because michigan was one of the last states to report the data. They also have had a big outbreak overall. , 3 ou look at Nursing Homes of all people who live in longterm facilities in michigan have died covid19, one of the highest rates in the country. It is a real problem and what concerns me about michigan is the fact that michigan refused to disclose the nursing home fatality until cms forced a nursing home to directly report that data to cms and go around the state governments that were being cagey. It was a week and half ago that michigan began giving that data, but it was underreported. What can be done to address the data shortcomings Going Forward to ensure we have the best information make crucial policy recommendations . Reporting to the federal government from the Nursing Homes. That starts on may fifth and only applies to Nursing Homes and not to assisted living facilities, which is another form of longterm. Weight will not get pleat care, but it will help with the it will not give complete care, what we have to have strict policies about visitation from policies and strict about testing staff and make sure they cant go from place to place and better oversight. Many of the Nursing Homes were not designed to protect infection. That has been a huge problem for previous pandemics also. I yield back. You. Ink you thank the gentleman from connecticut. Thank you chairman scott and for all the witnesses for being here. I am surprised to hear my good friend disparaging or dismissing the value of the heroes act provision for state and local assistance. Perhaps he missed it, but a couple of days ago, the u. S. Chamber of commerce came out in favor of congress providing assistance to state and local government. Powell, joining jerome who has been highlighting that in terms of fiscal stimulus that is still required despite the best efforts by the Federal Reserve. The National Governors association which is a Bipartisan Group that supported heroes act both at state and local. It is not because these individuals or groups have been hijacked in a partisan way, it is about math. The erosion and collapse of state revenue across the country is required that Congress Take this measure up. We are seeing signals out of the senate they will be moving toward some version of fiscal listens to what the economic stewards of this country, particularly the Federal Reserve, have been calling for. I would like to bring up another part of the heroes act that addresses part of the fallout from the coronavirus recession, which is the erosion of Health Insurance. Testimony, in your you noted that 13 unemployment and are 30 higher than at the and of the 2009 recession the impact it is having on employerbased coverage. I was wondering if you could talk about that in more detail and what that means to hourly workers, which predominantly or disproportionately is workers and employees of color . Colleagues of my estimated that as of may 9, 16. 2 million workers likely lost their employerprovided Health Insurance. What this means in terms of the Racial Disparity going into the likely toey were less have employerprovided Health Insurance to begin with. Thehour we workers hourly workers are also less likely to be insured. Writing coverage to these workers and is also important in communities and workplaces to get one back to work. Thehe heroes act requires states basically reopen their exchanges for special enrollment period. Foxy for00 continuity of coverage. Is that right . That is what i understand. Your. Roy come in testimony on page 10, you alluded to the fact mr. Roy, in your testimony on page 10, you alluded to the fact of the disproportionate insurance coverage. Do you support the cobra provision that the council has endorsed . Cobraont think the Subsidy Program is the best way to improve we dont have a lot of time. We improve the exchanges better by finding reinsurance that allows premiums to be lower in the aca exchanges and more accessible to people who need insurance between jobs. We need to move from employerbased coverage which is what the chamber of commerce wants. We should move to a system where individuals on their own Health Insurance. I agree with you on reassurance, but in real time, i will give you an example. In connecticut, the native hadican casino, foxwood, 6000 workers employed at the beginning of march. They have reopened and they went more aggressive than the governor wanted. They only require 1500 workers, so there are so 4500 people who lost her health coverage. Having that cobra subsidy would extend that coverage and not disrupt access to the network care. Exchange, in terms of the long game, i couldnt agree more. But we are trying to protect people in an emergency situation. That is where i think the cobra subsidy, which is temporary, not permanent, actually addresses the need happening. It is disproportionately hitting hourly workers, which in the case of foxwood has a high minority. I yield back. You. Ank is mr. Thompson ready . Pennsylvania . From ready. Rman, i am the gentleman from pennsylvania is recognized for five minutes. Thank you. I am making do here. You foro thank joining us. Due to covid19 and statemandated shutdowns, there has been a dramatic negative impact on economy, workers, and families. Employment fell by 70,000 jobs in march. In my home state from pennsylvania, employment fell by more than one million jobs in april, including declines in all 11 sectors. Due to the reopening of the state, employment rose by 2. 5 million. That is the largest number of jobs gained on record. Are you seeing signs that the economy is recovering and jobs will continue and what could economy from rebounding quickly . Know, we arere you seeing some gradual improvement from the depth of the lockdowns, particularly as some states start to reopen. There is a clear correlation between states who reopened or didnt really close severely, like florida. The evidence gives us some hope that a rebound can happen relatively quickly as the economy has reopened. I hope we can get to that point as soon as possible. We shouldve gotten to that point for a good section of the workforce much earlier than we have to this point. Able tohompson, are you get your camera on . Yes, hold on a second. Now it should be on, chairman. It is a little confusing. I am using the phone to speak. If you give them another 30 seconds for me interrupting him, i would appreciate it. The message i would like to reinforce for all on the committee is before we panic and look at creating that we are staying the course prior to covid19 in terms of ladders of opportunity. One of the things we have been working on in a bipartisan way has been education training. I know there are issues with people who have jobs who were lost because of the dictates of a governor or impact of risk of coronavirus red. As that has resolved, those jobs will be there. The overall arching need we have is to focus on getting people access to job training, and Career Training for those jobs. The white house and cdc has issued guidelines for opening up america, which include advice from Public Health officials. The guidelines are intended to help local officials make decisions about reopening the economy and getting people back to work while protecting lives. Mr. Roy, i know you looked closely at the need to reopen safely. What additional points would you like to highlight on safely and sesponsibly opening businesse and society. As you may know, we have written extensively on how to reopen both the workplace and schools. I will start again. As you may know from the paper we put out for reopening workplaces and schools argues that the president s plan is to cautious, particularly when it comes to opening schools which could be done earlier and reopening places, particularly for younger members who are at low risk for serious illness or death from covid19. In context i will finish the answer for the record. Once a number of states have considered, and more states should consider, starting the full school year earlier to make up for some of the lost time from the spring. The other thing we would talk about is maximizing testing in particular targeted and at risk populations that are asymptomatic, like children who live with grandparents or other atrisk individuals at nursing home facilities, because the more we can isolate and trace nursing home interaction, the more we can reduce the spread overall. You, mr. Chairman. I yelled back. Thank you i yield back. Thank you. From ohio thank you so much, mr. Chairman. Once again, my colleagues on the others of the aisle live in an alternative universe with alternative facts. I interesting to me wonder if theyre watching the people marching in the streets today. They are marching not because they feel like marching, they are marching for justice. Sometimes if they would listen to what like people actually is, if they know any black people well enough to have the conversation with them. Secretary king, from your experience, what can we do at the federal level to prevent students of color from falling further . There is a long list. I would start with a few priorities. One is we have to save the child care sector, the underrepresented and equality childcare, and without 50 billion to stabilize the childcare sector, we will lose many of those providers. Schools are already highly segregated by race. The strength and diversity act would help to address that and help us move towards more integrated schooling. We also desperately need resources, resources to stabilize districts budgets but also to address the learning loss, particularly students of color who are less likely to have all of the things in place necessary to benefit from Distance Learning the last few months. Many students will return to school 9, 10 months behind in learning and will need additional support, afterschool time, extended school year, intensive tutoring to address those needs. They will also need emotional and Mental Health support, as isolated many students from the relationship of schools which matters so much to them. Thank you. Dr. Jones, how can we build trust between underserved communities and local institutions, including hospitals and Health Care Providers . First of all, there has to be communication. So i think that the hospitals need to be asking folks in the community, what do you need . There have to be community and Advisory Boards and delight. There has to be it and the like. There has to be attention in terms of the practice and sending people away from the emergency department. So the hospitals have to be unafraid to collect data by race and actually investigate possible differences in their practice by race. A there has to behd and there has to be investment in the community, Community Health workers, health centers, even if they are not directly associated with the hospitals. There has to be some linkage. It gives to the question of who is at the table and who is not, what is on the agendas and what is not. As you said, so many people think they can figure out what is good for those other people. We need to have the people who are impacted by decisions at the decisionmaking table. Thank you. To go further with you, dr. Jones, can you talk a bit very closely about the impact of poverty on Health Outcomes for people of color . First of all, it does not just so happen that people of color in this country are overrepresented in poverty while white people are overrepresented in wealth. I have been writing so many about notes talking frontline workers tend to be more people of color. That does not just so happen. So we should not take that as a baseline when trying to move people from their. Becauset thing is it is of historical injustices that are being perpetuated that we even see an association between social class and race. Those structural factors are part and parcel of structural or institutionalized. Racism so so even if we have the most successful antipoverty withoutes in the world, the antiracism strategy, we would not take care of that. Mechanisms are in housing, in our schools, in investment in communities and businesses, in green spaces, and sacrifice zones, placement of communities of color around known polluting industries and the like. Areoverty and race correlated because of Structural Racism. We need to understand that and have both antipoverty and antiracism strategies. Thank you so very much. Chairman, i want you to know that i learned a long time ago that if you are not at the table, you are on the menu. Black people are on the menu. Thank you. The gentleman from kentucky, mr. Guthrie. Gentleman from alabama, mr. Burns. Thank you, mr. Chairman. That about acerned third of the people in my district or africanamerican and we know that about 50 of the people that have died from covid19 in my district are also africanamerican. There is something going on there, and it bothers me greatly. I have learned a lot from listening today. I have been doing a lot of research before today. But i think, as a nation, we need to get to the bottom of this. Something is very wrong here, and we need to address it. It is also true that a disproportionate number of people in my district who are africanamerican have been affected economically. The worst thing we can do for them, back in the spring of this year, was to shut down the American Economy, shut down society, and shut down our schools. There is no question that africanamericans in the my district were disproportionately affected when their jobs were wiped out. Africanamerican Small Business people lost their businesses as a result of it. And all children when home when they closed the schools, but some children have parents and households that can support them while they were trying to learn from home, and far too many africanamerican children did not. So the best thing we can do here in washington, decides we have got to get to the bottom of what has happened here with the Public Health issue, is to get the American Economy going again. Without it, i am afraid we are only going to make inequality worse in this country. You know, a lot of people, and a lot of people in my district, just cannot do the jobs they were trained to do on a zoom meeting from their home. They just cannot do that. When we take their jobs away from them, we take their opportunity away from them. Mr. Roy, i would like you to discuss the precovid19 trump economys effect on disparities between whites and minority Unemployment Rates in this country. Thank you for the question. As i mentioned in my written pandemic, before the the disparities between the white and black and up limit rates and the disparity between height white and hispanic none up limit rates, had reached record lows, along with the overall Unemployment Rate reaching record lows. So that was something that i should have celebrated at the time. Whether we did or not, i dont know. But you have all seen the charts from bls that show the data very clearly and since the lockdown occurred. And if we look at asian americans, asian americans, for most of the 21st century, have had lower Unemployment Rates than whites. As a result of the economic lockdowns, that completely changed. Now asian unemployment as much, much higher than the white Unemployment Rate. So that is useful and illustrates how the Racial Disparities that have been created by the pandemic, as opposed to the Structural Racism, legacy of slavery and segregation issues, we have been discussing, as well. One of the things i have also noticed, mr. Roy, is there has been an uptick in Mental Health issues as a result of lockdown. Do you have information about how that uptick in Mental Health issues has affected minority communities . It is a huge problem, so many different dimensions. You have people who were already fragile from a Mental Health standpoint who are being pushed over the edge, and then you have ordinary people who might have median or normal Mental Health prior to the pandemic who are struggling now. And there is all sorts of ways this can happen. You have people who are in isolation in their homes, not merely in terms of their employment. You have people who may be in a very crowded living facilities, particularly true in new york city were people who live in intergenerational households with maybe three generations or more living in the same space are at greater risk of transmitting covid19, let alone having potentially mental challenges. And that is disproportionately minority, disproportionately immigrant phenomenon, both in the United States and elsewhere. So there are a lot of things to be concerned about. Last question is this. Effect of shutting down schools on minority kids . Yeah, that is one of the most difficult things to understand from a science standpoint, what we have been so aggressive at shutting down schools. Shutting down schools can work with influenza, because influenza does kill young people, but covid19 is not influenza. It is a very different disease that seems to largely spare younger children. So if you look at countries that have reopened their schools in europe, western europe, in particular, they have done pretty well with school reopenings. We should learn from their example. Thank you very much. I yield back. Thank you. From northern marion [indiscernible] ms. Wilson. Gentlelady from florida, ms. Wilson . Gentlelady from oregon. Thank you, mr. Chairman, and Ranking Member fox and colleagues thank you for the kind words and some of the pure thank you to the witnesses for being here for this important conversation. I am concerned about the suggestion that this is somehow a nursing home issue. A couple days ago there was an article in politico looking at harvard analysis of National Center for Health Statistics data, particularly focusing on the disparity in the light next commit the latinx community. Is that latinos age 35 to 44 have coronavirus mortality rate nearly eight times higher than white people in that age group, and black people in the same age range have a mortality rate nine times higher than white people. The inequity part 2 persist with latinos age 25 to 44 and those 45 to 54 who have a coronavirus mortality rate to be five times higher than caucasians. About what is happening in Nursing Homes, which of course is a concern. I want to follow up on secretary kings comment about childcare care and Early Childhood education. We know the childcare sector already faced series charges, not just in oregon but across the country. There was vast unmet need, high cost for families, and also insufficient conversation for Early Childhood educators. Fixing the childcare system is important to children and families, and it is important to the economy, but it is also an issue of Racial Justice. Secretary king recognize that the childcare workforce is overwhelmingly women and predominantly women of color. There are many barriers, especially with children of inor, least likely to be put supportive childcare settings. So we have some work to do need to make sure the resources are weitably distributed, and needed dual focus, to stabilize the system but also vastly improve it. I recently released a report, workinge in crisis, for families, children, and educators, in which i call for the passage of the childcare is essential act and the childcare for working families act, which represent a critical federal investment in childcare sector that also advances equities. How would providing equitable access to highquality childcare and Early Childhood education benefit children and society as a whole . And what are the repercussions, particularly for lowincome children and children of color, if we continue the status quo . Thanks so much for the question. The nobel prizewinning economist, james heckman, has written on the return on investment of Early Childhood education, you can get a seven to 1,821 return on investment because students get highquality Early Childhood education are more likely to rise from kindergarten prepared academically, more likely to graduate high school, more likely to go on to college, and more likely to have longterm longtermuccess, and Health Benefits from having participated in quality Early Childhood education. So the potential return to an investment like the childcare for working families act is quite powerful and odd to be rationale for bold action at this moment. If we fail to invest in Early Childhood, what we know is that we see the achievement gap already present in the kindergarten. Kids who are holding a book upside down because they are so unfamiliar with letters. We know there are a lot of folks who will not be able to go back to work if the childcare sector collapses, and that will disproportionately harm low income communities and communities of color. I appreciate that. I quote professor heckman in my report for that reason, that this is a good investment that actually pays for itself over time but also really gets our children, who are our future, off to a great start. King gave, secretary compelling testimony about harmful gaps in longterm outcomes for children of color, and you know that the divide has not been bridged. Educational attainment, why is the institution to close labor market gaps for workers of color . Educational attainment is important because it provides ability. No question that a worker with a higher level of education is more likely to have higher wages and be employed than one with less education pure the problem in the labor market is that, at the same level of education, we see disparities in employment, as well as wages. In fact, over the last 40 years or so, the wage gap is actually grown the most among the most educated workers in our economy. So that raises another question of what is going on here, and i think it raises the issue of what we are here to discuss today, the role of Racial Discrimination and creating unequal outcomes in our economy. Educationeral role in is about [inaudible] i intend to continue addressing it, and i know that is the balance of my time. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Genter meant gentlemen from wisconsin. Thanks for having me. A little difficult to be on here because it kind of appears in this committee we are supposed to always kind of look at people racially and just not look at people as people, so i have to kind of switch my mindset for this committee. Mr. Roy, today, i do not know if you had a chance to look at it, but after yesterday we had a total of 267 lives lost due to the covid, which is, while not good news, is the lowest we have had since march 23. And i feel good about it because a lot of the socalled experts in the Public Health field were predicting disasters as states opened up their economy. 267 lives, weve have i believe now 10 days in a row of under 1000 lives lost, so it seems as though the socalled soerts have rarely been wrong. Do you want to comment, mr. Roy, on the fact that we only had 267 lives lost . A website that a lot of people tell me to look at that has been cited nationwide. Do you want to comment on the relatively small number of deaths now that we have had so many states open up their economies compared to where we were a month ago . Yes, all of your points i agree with. There has been a precipitous decline in the daily death rate, and the predictions of what the death rate would look like today after states reopened their expertss from certain were completely wrong, completely wrong. By the way, we should emphasize that the impact of those experts advice on low income americans, including minority americans, has been disproportionately harmful. Ok. I think in the future, we should be a little more jaded about the Public Health establishment . Here is the thing, it is like cbo estimates. You can have a lot of expertise generally and still get predictions wrong. Predictions are not facts. What happened here is you had a lot of people making educated guesses to the best of their ability, we might say, but they were just guesses, yet we were expected to treat them like they were certainty. Thanks. My own personable weighing in, my little world and individual congressmen gets, is there is a growing body of information that the way to avoid covids have more vitamin d in your body. It is a strong correlation between vitamin d and not getting covid. Are you familiar with that sort of thing . And would it perhaps be better off in a rather than analyzing the chance of getting covid by race, analyzing the chance of getting covid by the amount of vitamin d in your body . As you know, correlation is not causation. The reason i mention that in this context, we do not know if peopleter response in with high vitamin d is due to the presence of vitamin d or the fact that they are outdoors more. If you are outdoors and exposed to sunlight and you are not in closed, confined areas with people who are covidinfected, that seems to be a major factor of transmission. Outdoor infection transmission seems to be very low. But if youre in an enclosed space, like a subway in new york city, for example, or a small apartment with three generations of your family, that tends to be where the transmission occurs, or a nursing home, for example. Ok. So you would say that a lot of this advice, at least in the state of wisconsin, youre getting advised to stay indoors, lock yourself away that was exactly the opposite of the advice we should have been giving people . In fact, it is quite possible that the lockdowns worsened transmission by forcing people indoors and preventing them from being outdoors more, therefore being around other transmitters of the disease less. I want to talk about race, like i said, but vitamin d, is there any difference by race . Dataah, i do not know the well enough to comment, so i will leave that one for now. Some of my colleagues talked about difficulty getting into college racially and such. , very,state of wisconsin very maybe smaller percentage than normal. I am under the impression talking to people at our university systems, they already go out of the way through affirmative action to try to push more people of color in the universities. Is that typical around the country . You know, it is typical, but i will mention, because this came up earlier in the hearing, i am coming to you from austin, texas, and the university of texas has a very interesting model in which they take the top i think the top 10 of students from every high school in the state and guarantee them admission at the university of texas. The highws you to find achieving students in every High School Even if that high school is in a disadvantaged area. I feel like that model could be used more widely as an alternative to affirmative action. Thank you for having this, mr. Chairman. Thank you. Next, gentlemen from california. Thank you mama mr. Chairman. I thank you for this very important hearing on how covid19 has increased racial inequities in the country. The shift to Distance Learning has exposed the educational inequities many students of color have been facing for decades as states open up and grapple with depleted budgets. It is the role of the federal government to ensure equity in every sector. Many colleges like the university of california system, private school such as harvard university, have suspended the a. C. T. And s. A. T. Scores in the admissions process to help level the playing field. How much is the process reliant on these test scores . No question that reliance on those tests periods a disadvantage for students who have had less access to quality k12 preparation. There is also some evidence that suggests that those assessments, the more they are relied upon, the fewer black and latino students will be admitted. Movedrry i have is folks to test optional is that just changing the use of test scores is unlikely to produce the kind of increase in black and latino representation that we ought to see. So it is important that universities also take other steps. Financial aid is critical. Making sure that resources are available to support students as they come to campus. It is critical that colleges and universities consider race as they make admissions decisions here it is critical that they reach out to high schools that are in high needs communities so students know about the opportunities. So the test optional piece can be part of a package of efforts that would produce more diverse classes. Do you believe that, you know, we have an opportunity a. C. T. s s. A. T. s and now being very difficult to attain because it is inadvisable to test large numbers of students and congregate settings, and i do not think they have found a way to do testing remotely for student purposes and integrity of the test is there an opportunity to reexamine College Admissions generally . Yeah. What i hope colleges and universities will do is look at their entire admissions process and as, what more can they do to make sure they have a representative class . , moretudents of color firstgeneration students. And they ought to also consider the role of extracurricular activities. They ought to credit the students who work in their familys bodega each night the same way they credit playing on the lacrosse team, for example. Many of many ap programs. Have these programs also rely on some form of testing. But im worried about those schools that do not have a history of strong curriculum and that universities may be looking and favoring students who come from schools with a history of teachers who can teach these curricula which often are not offered to lowincome and minority students. Exactly right. They are typically underrepresented and access to ap, and it is a problem across schools and within school speeds students of color are less likely to be in schools that offer those courses. And even when they are in schools that offer those courses, they are underrepresented really have to their population. We know there is implicit bias that effexor gets referred to those courses that fx who gets referred to those courses. In some cases, there is automatic enrollment to those who qualify to try to reduce the role of implicit bias. Of course, i have long thought about how we have an alternative to access to higher ed where the gateways are kind of characterized by testing, different kinds of admissions testing. I have long been interested in concurrent enrollment strategies, such as college high i would like to think about alternatives such as that. Programs can increase the likelihood of those students graduating from high school and going on to college. But there are challenges. The district that needs the dual Enrollment Programs the most of the ones with the least resources, so we really need the infusion of additional dollars for k12 and the Higher Ed Institutions that serve high needs communities. It does take resources to make sure that they have the teachers who are qualified to teach those courses, who know about the pedagogy. The School Systems will need support in implementing the strategies of dual enrollment in the college high schools. Exactly right. And we know that low income students and students of color are disproportionately enrolled in the districts getting the least resources, and that is likely to get worse if states have to make huge cuts as a result of the covid19 economic crisis. You talked about the maintenance of equity requirement. We will not have time. I yelled back, but wonderful to talk to you, mr. King. Thank you so much. Thank you. Next, gentlelady from new york. Gentlemen from georgia. Mr. Chairman, i want to say that misstep on the cat to step out, so thank you. You. Ank she had to leave, but i wanted to call her name just in case she stepped back in. Mr. Allen from georgia. Yes, sir. Can you hear me . I can hear you. Super. Thank you for holding this hearing today. One of the things that i brought up in the last hearing, and i haded to make sure that we some feedback on this, i havewant to make sure we 2018 our spending was for truly discretionary at 1. 2 trillion mandatory with straightforward a trillion 8 trillion. In 2020, that has gone up substantially. We are at 3 trillion in trillion in1. 485 discretionary. Billions gone up 500 dollars. My question is simply this, and this is to mr. Roy. Almost 4 trillion since covid19, and you have heard mentioned the heroes act, an additional 3 trillion, which would more than triple discretionary spending. Mr. Roy, have you looked at the situation as far as discretionary as far as the spending goes, and its impact on the people of this country, i have taking on never liked debt and obviously i do not my doing debt when you have collateral and that sort of thing. Thatt looks like to me, we are on a downward spiral that is not going to be good for anybody in this country. Can you comment on that, mr. Roy . Mr. Allen, it is interesting because tomorrow im has dried fight testify gate for the house budget may on this topic. How the combination of congressional spending and declining revenue from the lockdowns is going to lead to a massive explosion of the deficit this year. By the way all that does is move closer to us, the ultimate fiscal reckoning which will happen, when we have two crashes federal federal spending when we have to crash federal spending because nobody wants to buy Treasury Bonds because the u. S. Is insolvent. Who will that harm . Mostly people who are dependent on public assistance, medicare, social security. Ourhe more we destabilize fiscal situation the more we are putting at risk economically vulnerable populations. We have had to deal with the covid19 crisis. And the next it looks like if we do not do something about it, do believe that fiscal crisis is rapidly . On us, and in both directions. Who knows, we cannot protect when the fiscal crisis will come, from the debt we are piling on year after year. But we know that it will come because the laws of math and economics, we do not get an exception from those loss in the United States. Toand really the only way overcome where we are is a Strong Economy. As far as the workers that were affected, the workers that benefited from our Strong Economy, three months ago 22 trillion going on three 2320 and. Dust going on 23 trillion. Who benefited most from that Strong Economy . Low income americans. The disparity between the white and hispanic Unemployment Rates were at record lows prior to the pandemic, and those disparities have now widened. The lockdown is driving those disparities. As far as the Biggest Issue, and we have one minute, the Biggest Issue in my district is people who are on unemployment, do notng the 600 onus, want to return to work and theres a lot of animosity between the employers and the employees about returning to work. Have you looked at how this is affecting folks going back to work and rebuilding this economy . There is no doubt that the 600 bonus is retarding the recovery, even in those states that have reopened, because people have a powerful economic incentive. You cannot blame them for it. A powerful economic incentive to stay on the sidelines. So i would love for congress to revisit that piece of legislation, and reform the bonus so it is more targeted to the people who truly need the help. Good, and of course the liability question is the other issue we have out there as far as employers worried about liability and bringing their employees back to work as far as lawsuits. Yes. What is your take on that . It is absolutely a very Important Program problem. If congress is set to vita safe harbor for people to go back to work and employers to open the doors it would be important. Chair from north carolina, dr. Adams . The heroes act requires osha to issue a temporary Emergency Temporary Standard that requires employers to develop and implement an Infectious Disease plan, to protect workers from exposure to the coronavirus. This provision also makes it a act toon of the osha retaliate against workers for raising concerns to the employer or to the government about inadequate Infectious Disease protection. Dr. Wilson, in your expert an enforceable safety standard a necessary step to economic recovery . Or what it impede economic recovery . I think it is a necessary step to economic recovery. Ensuring the health and safety of American Workers and communities across the country are a critical step in building a solid recovery. We know from surveys that 60 of those who work outside their home expressed that they have concerns about contracting coronavirus. Among workers of color, black and latino workers in particular, it is closer to 70 of those workers expressing concern, in addition to the fact that they express greater concerns about retaliation as a of speaking up against that. So it is very important that the workers, as workers go back to work and as frontline workers who are already out there, that workers are empowered to advocate for protection of their own personal self health and safety as well as the health and safety of American Workers. Thank you very much. According to research from the brookings institute, we can expect 40 of borrowers to default on their loans by 2023. That does not begin to account for the impact of the covid crisis. To me this indicates Student Loans and a default crisis. We know certain students are at greater risk of default. The study find the rate of default for students across schools is four times that of students who attend committee colleges. Black borrowers who have completed a bachelors degree default at five times the rate of white borrowers complete their degrees, and are more likely to default than white borrowers who leave College Without a degree. I am concerned the student loan default crisis will worsen in the wake of covid19. Secretary, what can you tell us about those who struggle most to pay back their loans . And what you see covid19, how do see it impacting these struggling borrowers . Thank you, congresswoman. Certainly the racial wealth gap is driving the degree to which black students are disproportionately likely to default on their loans at every income level, even at the highest income levels, black students are still seven times as likely to default as white students. The key is, to provide targeted debt relief, to try to address this. And to ensure that college is more affordable. If you look at the amount of the cost of attending a Public College, that was covered by pell grant in 1980, it was 80 . Today that is down to 28 . We need to make sure college is affordable for all students. That investment in Higher Education will have longterm benefits for our economy. That was going to be my last followup question, what can congress do, and i believe you have answered that. Thank you for your work and thanks to each of our individuals who came to testify. From pennsylvania, mr. Smucker . Thank you. I want to go back to the discussion around the disproportionate deaths in Nursing Homes. A highict is home to number of Senior Housing facilities, Nursing Homes and assisted living facilities and other senior residential communities. My state, Governor Wolf in pennsylvania, was one of five decision who made the to force Nursing Homes to take covid positive patients. Were not in aomes good position to handle infection, or prevent the growth of infection and they were at capacity. I talked to nursing home workers and administrators who are frustrated when they were at 98 capacity in one case, difficult to isolate patients. We were moving patients, the governor was moving patients to the Nursing Homes in the hospitals were virtually empty edward best equipped to handle this. Virtually empty and the hospitals were best equipped to handle this. Nearly 70 of the deaths in pennsylvania have occurred in Nursing Homes. 6,426 deaths in pennsylvania and more than 4000 in Nursing Homes. To make the decision worse, at the same time, the governor was not adequately prioritizing Nursing Homes for ppe. Onlywere receiving ppe after hospitals had what they needed, so it was devastating. 4,389 deaths in Nursing Homes in pennsylvania, how many of those can be attributed to that policy . Mr. Smucker, good to see you. I do not know the answer to that because we have to look facility by facility in a retrospective analysis. I hope those are done by researchers when we have more time to look at this problem. It is a catastrophe. 68 of all deaths in pennsylvania are in Nursing Homes. And by the way one thing apart ,o mention his this was not some, look at what happened and we should not have done that, at the time governors put these orders into effect, the Nursing Home Community was up in arms fighting these orders, arguing they would devastate. You are exactly right and i was talking to them at the time and they were desperate for help. And notn pennsylvania new jersey where the secretary of health removed her mother from a nursing home in the mist of the crisis, think about that. Telling pennsylvanians it was safe to keep your loved ones there. It makesstrating and me angry to understand what has happened. One of the things i have not onrd, can you shed light disproportionate impacts of nursing home residents who are minorities . Are there more minorities who have died in Nursing Homes as well as in the general population . As i mentioned in my written testimony we have tried to do that work so we have done some basic correlations and aggression analyses of racial demographics at the state level and nursing home for tally days. At this a nursing home fatalities. At the state level we do not see a correlation. We hope that county by county we can see if there more correlations of the county level or at the facility level, but we do not know yet. We have continued to be in lockdown and a shutdown in pennsylvania. How do you think that would have changed had we given adequate consideration to have any of the deaths were, we were seeing that in Nursing Homes . This is the two points i really want to drive home in this hearing. The first is that we did not do enough to protect people in Nursing Homes who are disproportionally nonwhite. The second thing is that in the state like pennsylvania where 70 are happening in Nursing Homes, that means the risk for the average pennsylvanian is not in a nursing home, the 99. 4 of pennsylvanians who do not live in Nursing Homes, the risk is cut by two thirds which means you can do more to reopen the economy and schools and we have unnecessarily harmed populations. [loud beeping] chair the gentleman from california . From new jersey, mr. Norquest . Thank you. I want to follow up. We hear about the Fiscal Health of our country. Obviously very important. For those discussing the debt, apparently that was not an issue when they get away 1. 3 trillion to the top 1 which now shows they are not paying anywhere close. And the unfunded wars. If we were in a war, would we talk about the debt . No, we would talk do what we have to do is a country. And we are in a war, except it is the virus. Nursing homes, i keep hearing are crucial. So hospitals. The difference is Nursing Homes were not prepared. Nursing homes take into consideration medical considerations. Theyo not have to ppe, did not have the respirators or hvac systems. Pay them aers, living wage and they would not have to go from nursing home to nursing home. With that said, i want to talk about schools. When relook look at what is going on and my colic talked about the osha standard. Right now there are only guidelines. Can you talk about the difference schools, particularly in areas with challenges to the budget, urban that if you have a standard which we have talked about quite a bit here, we would know how to prepare for it. We are in june, july, august, the construction. For schools. Yet we are not seeing schools follow any standard. [indiscernible] kids are coming back. September. D what is going to happen if they do not have the facility set up for covid, dr. Wilson . That is the question most of us do not look forward to seeing the answer to it for schools and facilities that are unprepared to welcome back students and large numbers as well as teachers and faculty and staff. O, having standards in place, so students are safe. So teachers and staff are safe, is essential to reopening. That is a part of our recovery. Part of the recovery is people having confidence that they can safely return to work, safely return to schools, safely return to their way of living without putting their health at risk. Right now if i understand, most schools [indiscernible] callstates have what they public osha determined by the state, yet even though states are not accepting the standards. September when told her go back, what confidence in september when children go back, what confidence with parents have that the school is ready for it . I do not know that parents will feel very confident in sending their children back to school if we do not have consistent enforceable standards that are in place to protect students, teachers and other staff at schools. So what we see is, we heard about safe harbor in that discussion and that can happen. But without standards everyone is doing their own thing. For those focus more on the economy than people you represent, i want to say one thing. Theres an old saying, those with the most toys or money when they die, when. Win. But it does not matter how much money you have when you die. Chair gentleman from indiana, mr. Banks . Gentleman from north carolina, mr. Walker . Gentlemen from kentucky . Dylan from idaho . Gentlemen from idaho . Gentlemen from kansas, mr. Watkins . Gentlemen from texas, mr. Wright . Tillman from pencil by new, mr. User from pennsylvania, mr. Mr. Meusser . Thank you. Suggests we had the strongest economy in 50 years prior to the covid academic , endemic. Does the data also support that this economy was very beneficial to low income minority americans . Yes, sir. The on employment rate for afghan americans, the unemployed men rate for hispanics and the on a planet rate for minorities overall was at record lows prior to the pandemic. Rate foremployment africanamericans, hispanics and minorities overall was at record lows prior to the pandemic. Would you say the improvement in our economy was a significant improvement economically for americans including low income men minority workers . Rateving the under plummet at record lows is obviously an important achievement but not the only thing we have to do to ensure all americans prosper. We have to bring income and wealth up and things like that. But we were headed in the right direction. Thanks. Does the data projections suggest a safe opening will have dramatic improvements for low income americans and minorities . Theertainly i think dispersion of policy responses we are seeing now so if we compare florida which never locked down severely and then relative toly on, other states, the Economic Performance of all people and certainly of economically vulnerable populations is much greater there than elsewhere. So the safe opening of schools . The safe opening of Small Businesses . Very important for our overall economy . But rain pardon as well for low income minorities . Especially so and this is not just 82020 thing. If you look historically at any time in which we have had a severe recession, whether in he early 1980s or 2008, minorities and lowincome income americans were always the ones most harmed. Economic growth helps economically Vulnerable People more than it helps the people who are already prosperous . Right. Small businesses and particularly schools are very concerned about liability. Passing liability to hold harmless schools and businesses i am told by schools is critical. A Liability Reform bill would be important for low income and minority students as well as workers . Essential, obviously a lot of reopening policy its not the state level by congress is in a position to act on the liability issue and it is arguably the most important policy to get reopening to work a safe reopening to work. You would agree that a transportation infrastructure bill would be important for all americans according minority and low income . It depends on the details but it would be useful particularly when you think about Public Transportation and the sanitary concerns about Public Transportation is something we need to address. You are a data driven individual. I want to ask about Nursing Homes. In pennsylvania. 70 of our fatalities Nursing Homes. In Washington State and other areas in early march, we soffit holidays we saw fatalities howrring in Nursing Homes, can we explain that two weeks after that, on march 18, some states including pennsylvania, order patients from the hospital with coronavirus back to a nursing home . And as congressman smucker said earlier, the Nursing Homes were at capacity with them at its base and hospitals were at 20 capacity maybe. How can you explain that . How can summit he see the data and make that decision . It was clearly a reckless and catastrophic decision. What they would say in hindsight i suppose, is, well, we were worried the hospitals would get overwhelmed with Covid Patients and that is why we wanted the Nursing Homes to accept the least severely l of those actively infected Covid Patients. That was a wrong way to think about it. If you worsen the disease in Nursing Homes you will have more people come to icus and to hospitals because the people most at risk of dying or beaks really help were nursing home population. [loud whistle] chair gentlelady from washington . Thank you. I have been surprised to share comments around lockdown somehow harming our efforts on covered given that Washington State was the first state to have a case and we have managed it remarkably well. Through aggressive lockdown policies. I think the data has shown this was exactly the right approach. I would like to focus on people of color and health care. We know people of color are disproportionately on the front lines as healthcare workers, janitors, Postal Service employs and farmworkers. People of color are overrepresented among covid19 cases, with black americans four times more likely to die from covid19 than white peoplens, and latin x comprising a greater share of covid19 cases than their share of the publishing in 42 states. They have allowed us, frankly, to stay safe, while they have been risking their own lives. Yet we continue to fail communities of color by not insuring Equitable Health care for all. We know that people of color are disproportionately lacking access to health care, representing over half of americas over uninsured population. Why do people of color are lack access to health care . A lot of disproportionate lack of access to health care is related to the fact that for so many of us, Health Insurance is connected to employment. We note there are persistent disparities in the labor market, in terms of implement outcomes and also the kinds of jobs or positions peoples hold and the disparities that exist across those different kinds of occupations. Whether a fulltime employee or parttime employee. Between us disparities in employment, on top of the occupational segregation that tense about workers of color in occupations where they are less likely to have empire provided Health Insurance, all that contribute employer provided Health Insurance, all that tribute to disparities in Health Insurance. The crisis has made it clear need to address these inequities by on tethering health care from employment. What other steps should we be taking right now in the midst of the pandemic to address inequities in access to health care . It is important we consider how in the Current Situation we can make universal coverage available to everyone. That would include people not money to pay additional to be tested or to get treatment for cover 19. This is for covid19. This is unique situation we find ourselves in and it is important people have the confidence to go and get care and testing and treatment that is essential for fighting the virus and for building a followup success. Thank you. This pandemic has made it clear when some members of our communities are excluded from equitable access to necessary resources and services, it hurts us all. The pandemic, obviously free testing and treatment at the eventual vaccine for covid19 is critical. As more and more people lose their employment, lose their source of income, almost 44 million americans without, that have filed unappointed claims and 27 minimum who have lost health care, the reality is they also have other Health Care Needs that are going to need to be covered. And that is why i have introduced the edit care Crisis Program act, which would expand Medicaid Eligibility to those who are uninsured and extend medicare to recently unemployed individuals and their households during the covid19 crisis. Dr. Wilson, should access to health care be tied to employment . Who does this benefit and who does that leave out . Again, when we are talking about what needs to be done to make sure we are living and a more equitable society, [beeping] there are clear and persistent labor disparities Racial Disparities and gender disparities that tying Health Insurance to employment is not the wet best way of achieving a more equitable solution to the lack of Health Insurance, unless we are also addressing those underlying disparities in the labor market. Thank you so much for your testimony and your work. I do not think anyone can make the case that the Current Health care system is working for. Covid19 has provided a clear case that when health care is provided by an employer, and somehow tethered to our work, access to that health care is just as volatile as your employment status. So we are working hard to rectify that. And we must boldly call out this systemic inequities in our health care system, and achieve Health Justice as a meaningful and necessary step toward racial injustice. In my view the best way to do that is provide universal Health Care Coverage for everybody, from the government as so many other countries do. M. Chair, i yield back. Chair the gentleman from kansas . Thank you. It is important now. Estimates wecbo may never return to the record though Unemployment Rates of recent years but i believe we can safely get people back to work faster than economic estimates but what is your sense of how quickly jobs can return . I think many jobs can return quickly. What i am more concerned with is not so much jobs returning quickly. There are certain sectors like hospitality that would be more challenging. Bars and airlines will be more challenging. The bulk of the economy i think can come back. I worry about consolidation. We have had Small Businesses get crushed because they do not have the cash reserves and leverage to stay afloat if we are going to lockdown the economy this long and i fear we will see bigbox large multinational corporations fill up the space Small Business and entrepreneurs are not able to fill because they are more economically unstable. We are beginning to understand the impact of impact feltnd the lockdown have had on the american worker. Anddamaging were lockdowns can you comment on the impacts on Small Businesses versus Large Businesses . Included in our written testimony, we document a lot of research out there that Small Businesses have 28 days of cash on average in reserve if they do not have revenue. For certain types of business, like restaurants, retail shops, repair shops, it is more like two weeks. Those businesses have gone belly up. 000 Small Businesses have closed permanently as a result of the crisis and the true number may be higher so it is a serious problem. In terms of how to get the economy on track, the states that have reopened have shown a withnd for the most part, the exception of some sectors i mentioned. Mentioned limiting company liability. Precedent i could look back to serve to understand . Im sure there is and i would have to go back and look to see if theres one that makes sense here so i do not have a good answer now. And i mentioned earlier that the tax cuts and deregulation were a few of the main reason for such a strong economic or such a Strong Economy and low unemployment before covid19, can you expand upon that . And touch on how we can continue to grow these policies . And how can these policies help our economy bounce back in response to this downturn . There are some anything to say about this and we do not have time to go through them all but the glitch were initiatives played a big role. The tax cuts particularly reducing the Corporate Tax rate to a level more competitive with other countries, met a lot of multinationals moving jobs out of the United States to other countries like ireland and canada are moving those jobs back to United States. Understood and thank you. I noticed the favored theman you chairman the gentleman from virginia before and today you keep skipping over him and i have to pick up for him because he has been with us from the beginning and have gone over him for time so the next time you recognize a republican i would ask that you come back to mr. Klein. Chair thank you and i appreciate that and i apologize to by the stingless colleague to my distinguished colleague. The gentlelady from floor to has returned. Ms. Wilson, you recognize for five minutes. Thank you, chairman scott and raking numbers fox for holding a hearing to best yet how the covid19 pandemic has widened rachel inequities in education, health and the workforce why did racial inequities in education racial inequities in education, health and that workforce. This challenges us to think more critically about the impact of systemic racism in our nation. This is necessary if we are to move this country closer to the more Perfect Union spoke about in the preamble to our constitution. We must acknowledge the role race at place place in the distribution of benefits in this country if we are to address at. Part of that acknowledgment comes in the form of pointing out the disparities, impacts that catastrophic event have on black and minority communities. Many of us have heard the old saying that when america gets a cold, black america gets pneumonia. That happens to black america when america has a pandemic. Negative Health Outcomes and disproportionately negative education outcomes and is purportedly negative employment outcomes. , for dr. Wilson, in the aftermath of the Great Recession, you and your fellow economists sound the alarm about elevated levels of longterm unemployment which just proportionally affected africanAmerican Workers. Which disproportionately affected africanamerican on what workers. What is longterm unemployment and do we need to be afraid longterm on a planet will surge again among workers of color in this crisis . Longterm unemployment. Longterm unemployment is 26 weeks or longer. We saw extended, higher rates of longterm unemployment and extended duration unemployment during the Great Recession, because of the length of time it took for the economy to fully thus reaching committees of color later in that recovering as opposed to sooner. When we look at our Current Situation, and is reasonable to have concerns about whether we are going to see that same kind of pattern. Looking at one model of data we saw in may where the black on a planet rate picked up while the overall on a planet rate declined suggests covering may not be as even as the initial impact the pandemic had on the economy. The black Unemployment Rate. Rateongterm unemployment and the evenness are both issues. What policy solutions can prevent longterm unemployment, particularly for workers of color, black workers, hispanic workers. To prevent longterm unemployment it is essential to get the economy reopened at people back to work as safely and quickly as possible. Prioritizing full employment, in terms of helps and fiscal policy decisions in terms of Health Decisions as well as fiscal policy decisions can help. Targeting efforts to create jobs in underserved committees were rates of unemployment are consistent a higher ways to address Public Health issues and the jobs. You pointed out black and hispanic workers often continue to experience recession low conditions long after the overall Unemployment Rate drops below 4 or 5 . Black and hispanic workers suffered for years after the economy appeared to be fully recovered for white workers. Thinking ahead to this economic recovery, im curious whether you believe the Federal Reserve and policymakers need to shift how we define full employment. What effect could shifting this measure have on Racial Equity for workers . I think in order to more accurately evaluate full employment we have to consider the different rates of unemployment that exist across communities. It goes beyond looking at one number. Example that has consistently overestimated where unemployment should be in order to have a full equally shared recovery. It requires we Pay Attention to what is going on at different communities. And full employment should not be declared until we see recovery happening in our communities across race. [whistling] from virginia . Here in virginia our governor has placed restrictions on places of work. State,s from state to workplace settings vary greatly with respect to how much risk of covid19 spread exists for workers, and for customers. Have the restrictions of toferent states contributed the impact of covid19 on minority communities, and have the restrictions recognized the differences, and should states refine these restrictions based on actual risk present . Isone great example of this the towns on the border between virginia and tennessee. Tennessee has pursued a policy of opening and done a better job of controlling the spread of covid19 in Nursing Homes and had a more open economy. We are seeing better performance for economically bondable populations and medically bondable populations, a better performance than virginia. Yet virginia is continuing to lock down in one of the most aggressive states in the country with economic restrictions relative to Public Health utility. See looseningcan of restrictions and improvement in economically vulnerable areas of the state and i think that because your point. Elating to Higher Education, some students are really yearning to participate in the normal oncampus college experience. What to the students be aware of if they had to school in a couple of months, and what can they do to minimize the risk of contracting the coronavirus. And how can students diminish the likelihood of passing the virus on to older family members they have at home . Something that will be part of a report we will put out on reopening schools, including post secondary education. You want to obviously adjust campuses to have more physical distancing. That means some students, particular for most colleges, you do not have to have everyone in the dormitories and most do not have enough housing spaces to house most students. Allowing students and enabling students to come to class from home will be important, particularly those in more viable populations. Maybe you have a student who needs to live in a dormitory as a way of avoiding being around their grandparents or other atrisk individuals so it is important or the housing policies of a diverse is that colleges and post secondary facilities to take that into account, the individual risks of students. You want to be careful and safe, particularly around older faculty and staff, but in general people in the age bracket of colleges are at very low risk of severe illness and mortality from covert. Covid. I would recommend the testimony to the Senate Health committee, which was compelling on these points. The sixth district has more colleges and universities than any other except for one in boston. We also have James Madison university in harrisonburg, a crowbars hotspot. It will a coronavirus hotspot. When they return to campus it will have to be a lot of education and work on pop of the whole community on the part of the whole community to ensure it stays safe in our efforts to bring numbers down continue aggressively. Thank you for answers to those questions. Whatever time i have remaining, i yield. Low income students and students of color have experienced disproportionately negative impacts. [ringing] given the body of Research Showing improved educational outcomes for protest mens of choice programs and their overwhelming bipartisan support among the public do you think congress should examine ways of expanding school and twice as we consider the possibility of future packages . One is that School Choice can be useful. Allowing students to have inperson instruction in less hotspot areas, so if you live in areas where the pandemic has had an outbreak School Choice might allow you to get education somewhere else. And one area that is important is not just choice of your school but twice in a class twice in a class. Choice in a class. Maybe a student good in math but their own high school is not have the capability to teach, maybe through a virtual modular educational choice they can get that instruction from a Different School or teacher. There are elements to disaggregating School Choice ofo a broader racial concept educational choice and we have been a pioneer in that area. [beeping] articlel street journal on School Choice among minority and low income students. Chair thank you. From new york, mr. Marelli . Thank you. I want to acknowledge and appreciate you and your staff. Since march we have experienced internet bouts of insurmountable challenges and heart wrenching losses. Four months we have relied on reacting to this unprecedented crisis to support communities and constituents. As we regain footing in many places, we have a real opportunity and responsible date to take intentional and primitive actions to safeguard the nation, intentional and preemptive action to safeguard the nation against further fallout. We talked about that racial and ethnic inequity stuff existed for generations. The virus is bringing that into stark relief. And demonstrating to our nation how deep these inequities go. From, to point out data ground health, a notforprofit in rochester, and the Monroe County Public Health department. Here in rochester we have four times the rate of infection and five times the hospitalization rate and 2. 5 times the mortality rate among our lack citizens and people of color in our community. The statistics are unacceptable and represent the deeply entrenched inequalities and inequities and barriers to communities of color. So as we have discussed in the hearing today and last week, the depths go deep. Last week we talked about education and inequities in our educational system which are staggering. How big itdivide, is and how unprepared our institution serving low resourced students are. As we begin to rebuild our community it is critical we look at recovery through the lens of addressing these underlying social determinants of health, education and economic stability. Want to acknowledge mr. King, previously secretary of education and commissioners goals and in new york and he and i worked on projects together. Dr. Jones, during her testimony a questionou invited or ask about an allegory which talks about Structural Racism and i do not think anyone has done that. I would like to hear that. Youuickly because i know also want to ask this extra question. This is an allegory based on my life. The moral is racism exists. When i was a medical student, studying long and hard one saturday with friends. We got hungry and i had no food in the apartment and we go into town to find something to eat. At a restaurant we walk in and sit down with menus presented. We place our order and food is served. As i sat with my friends, eating, i notice across the room the sign, a startling revelation about racism. The sign said, open. If i had not thought more about it i would assume other hungry people could walk in any. Because i knew of the twosided nature of the sign i recognize now because of the hour the restaurant was closed, and other hungry people a few feet away from me on the others the sign would not be able to come in and sit down and order food and eat. I understood how it racism structures open and closed signs in society. For those in the restaurant at the table of opportunity eating they look up and see a sign that says open, they do not recognize there is a twosided sign going on because it is difficult for any of us to recognize the system of an equity that privileges us. It is difficult for men to recognize centuries of sexism. Yet on the others is aware because they can look through the window and see people inside eating with a closed sign. For those in the restaurant to ask is there really a twosided sign and does racism exist . I see i notice hard for you when you only see openand that is part of your privilege and hard to see that once you do know you can name residents some you can name racism. It does not compel you to act but if you care to act you can talk to the Restaurant Owner inside with you and tate are hungry people outside and open the door and let them come in. Youll make more money or the conversations we can have or may be a push for to the window or maybe you will not tear down the sign erected the door but you will not sit back and say i wonder why this people do not just come in and eight. You will understand about the twosided sign. Justy dont these people come in and eat. I have another question for you dr. Jones and i appreciate the panelists and their work. Gentleman from south dakota, mr. Johnson . And mr. Kleino were talking about reopening in the fall focused largely on the collegiate system. Lets talk about the k12 environment. Theou are giving advice to School Board Members or administrators who wanted to make sure they reopen in an appropriate and safe way in the fall, what guidance would you provide them . Chair mr. Roy, you are muted. Sorry. S i mentioned in my testimony, we have a paper forthcoming which im happy to share once it is out in a few days. Let me start with one thing, we are going to have to make accommodations for people who cannot physically attend school. If you are a child who lives with your grant parents her grandparents or individuals who have to stayathome, or teachers who are elderly or at risk will need paid labor other accommodations. Leaving those two will be paid leave or other connotations. Leaving those two things aside. We have been working on with coauthors, at the state level centralizing the virtual curriculum so you do not leave the burden on an individual School District to create the virtual curriculum that runs in parallel to the end person curriculum. Have that done at the state level so if you are student he needs to stay at home there is, that process is scaled up more and leverages resources of a state rather than a district level. For people who are able to go to school, we can be more confident the risk of transmission is low. Research fromof outside the u. S. That shows transmission of covid19 in children is very low. In iceland they did a study of the entire population and found there was not a single incident of a child transmitting covid to his or her parents, which is remarkable given that they live together. That gives us confidence children are not vectors of transmission and that means a lot of the per cautions schools are making regarding we only have to have classes of six people or desks have to be six feet apart, we do not necessarily know if that is true. All of the a lot of the precautions schools are making. Thank you. As theseowup, restrictions are raised, their blunt instruments and everything shuts down and they are being lifted now. How should states and cities approach their decisions to left restrictions allowing businesses and people businesses and schools to reopen while keeping schools safe. A very instructive example you gave us from iceland. Yes there is a lot of evidence accumulating that children are not vectors of transmission which should give us more confidence when it comes to reopening Childcare Centers and k12 schools, and even potentially post secondary college instruction. We have to obviously do more research to confirm this but we have good reason to believe that will work and as i mentioned a lot of European Countries such as your germany and switzerland and austria have reopen schools without an impact on their caseload, their hospital load from covid19. That seems to indicate your vulnerability to covid is related to [bell ringing] is related to the degree to which you are a vector of transmission. We have reason to be optimistic that younger populations can go back to school and that younger workers can go back to work. State can thing about industries, sectors and businesses where the workplace is disproportionately younger because those are things you can bring back more quickly for states and the more hesitant, yeah. Gentlelady from pennsylvania . I am here. Eight of that 60 retail drivethru covid19 sites that have opened as part of the president ial administration publicprivate partnerships are located in black communities. A company in my Congressional District has received grant money for the development of rapid self covid tests an athome test. How important is it that the federal government permit these tests to be purchased overthecounter and without a prescription . And to subsidize the cost of these tests and or make these free . Coversensure insurance these tests with note costsharing, and we Protection Fund the Postal Service so people can receive these without having to travel to a store. And is very important we would increase testing in communities hardest hit. That is the first thing. I have not researched the new athome tests you were talking about. I would say additional ways to support testing in communities is to work with community organizations, work with the ymca, and others placed in community. And i do not know because i do not know about that particular test to clarify, the test is not yet available. A company is working on it and developing it, but it is anticipated it will be available this year. I do not think it should be about the test center is not in your neighborhood you will have to default to a home test. I think we need to make sure we have the same level of testing availability in all of our communities, and perhaps more in the hardest hit communities. So, nothing good or bad about that test and it does not answer the question of why do we not have more testing in our most heavily hit communities . We need to have different partners and different strategies. We need to invest in minority owned businesses in those communities, to do the testing. Because ed could be that if you do your home test, that something about the connection, about the communication, or what you do go, based on what result, how should you pursue extra care, might be lost. So yes, good for that. But not as a substitute. That is helpful, thank you. King, even before before earning their certificate or degree, and that this has been disproportionately likely to occur among low income students and students of color. I am deeply concerned that with the Health Pandemic that the small progress we made increasing college completes and will completion will vanish. College graduation among different types of students and whether we have actually made progress in closing that gap among low income students and students of color. It is on mute. Did we lose dr. King . Can you hear me . Now, we can. Yes. Thank you. We have significant disparities for low income students and students of color in completion, and we know some of it is driven by financial gaps. Likelytudents are more to be negatively impacted by loss of employment, change in their familys financial situation, they are particularly vulnerable as universities are ,truggling financially particularly to make cuts as a result of the covid19 crisis. We know that targeted investments doubled completion rates in community colleges, a mix of Financial Support and better advising. Those can actually lower the per graduate cost in the long run if we make those kinds of investments. Thanks. I yield back, mr. Chairman. Thank you. Jim and from pennsylvania. Thank you. And thank you to the Ranking Member and our panelists today. I wanted to cover a couple of things. A lot has been discussed about Nursing Homes and what happened in my state of pennsylvania as far as how it affected the ,opulation, relatively smaller and the deaths are relatively high. I take a look at them on that side of it, but how did the other 45 governors in the states that handled it better, are they looking at different information . What might have led them to make decisions that protected the population versus the governors of new jersey and california that had the problem in these facilities . This point, i would not want to rank pennsylvanias governor 45th or 47th, but i have say, the states that john the best, and i will use florida as an example, what florida did early on, their are tosecretary they offload them to Nursing Homes. To fight the hospitals, and to get them in the nursing home, because then he will get more patience later. She was aggressive about that and about limiting and restricting visitation rates, which is also heartbreaking. If you have a loved one in a nursing home, you want to see them and make sure they are ok. That was a painful decision at florida did take early on. You and later ran that facility. They can actually keep them safe. The wholerough pandemic amash the shutdowns of larger operations and retailers we knowle to stay open, is their any reason to believe the Small Business cannot practice the same the rules byven cdc and so on but the larger retailers were able to do it during the time the economy was shut question mark if youre referring to the fact that large retailers were able to open and that was aare not, because smally businesses help communities thrive and competition and help provide lower costs. It is important to have Small Businesses competing with large business. They have the capacity to and we see that in restaurants. Texas has allowed restaurants to open to a certain point. Every restaurant cares not just about workers but also customers to be sure they have the confidence to patronize the restaurant knowing that they are doing what they can from a cleanliness point of view. Businesses have a powerful incentive to not only ensure that employees are safe but that the customers are safe. That is far more powerful than any government mandate. It is part of why we should look at liability protection. For retail operation. We talk about any kind of resurgence when we start to reopen the economy. We talk about positive cases and how many cases there are. Is there another metric to look to be sureng to understand and make decisions based on rational information question mark im glad you brought this up. This is an important point. Parte in cases was in brought up by a rise of testing. You double the tests, you might have double the cases. We are not seeing a corresponding spike in deaths. A lot of people testing positive at this point in the pandemic are less medically vulnerable. They are relatively younger as manyr duma have preexisting conditions like heart disease, and diabetes, etc. We do not have a granular level of detail that we know the death rate appeared to be significantly lower. Kind, youcs of all see the Vulnerable People die first and the virus starts to affect less foldable people were do not die at it thank you. I yield back. Thank you. The gentleman from california. The young lady from georgia. Must so much to our guest. Thank you for joining us to talk about a pressing issue. I want to be completely clear clear. Covid19 did not create the inequities we are talking about today. It revealed long born suffering of the minority communities in the in america. Symptoms of racism, restricted access to services, and high rates of poverty. These are manifested in poor outcomes of every part of american life. K12 budgetd on the cuts of covid19 will disproportionately impact students and low income School Districts where black and brown students make up a larger share of the student body. Background every deserve better. Black populations are at least 3. 5 times more likely to die of covid19 than the white neighbors in the hispanic population is at least two two times more likely to die. It is incumbent on any of every citizen of the nation to take seriously what were eyes,sing before our whether democrat or republican, black, white, were brown. It is time for us to take seriously the challenges we are facing. My question is for dr. Wilson. Section you entitled in your report that states the fallacy of race neutral policy is further exposed by covid19. Policiesrace neutral failed to offer general Genuine Solutions to all the inequities, and what is an example of this failure in the covid19 area . The issue of race neutral policymaking ignores many disparities i highlighted my testimony today and ignores the fact that even if a policy on is race neutral, and does not reference race in any way, it will not have race neutral affects because of the structures and society are not race neutral. Every policy will have an effect death wealth, an opportunity will flow. That is no different from the current crisis. We talked by the disparate on those ofas had color who already had more wealth,lower levels of and other resources critical to weather the economic downturn. Even when we implement a policy that is good for a nation as a whole, because of underlying wealth,ies in health, and other economic outcomes, we get very different results in terms of how it impacts communities. There is a portion of my district, i see it as plain as day, the inequities, the disparities, the largest cases that have contracted covid19 and the largest numbers of individuals within my district that have been seriously affected and died have been a part of my district, that of diverset number individuals and people in the community. So thank you. Thank you for your answer. The problems are anonymous and continue to raise the disparities that we see every day. No problem is greater than the american spirit. Americans have never shied away from a fight and we will continue to work as hard as we no better face challenges than and free society. To mys my challenge colleagues and neighbors, to think seriously about the site the type of society you want to live in and that you want constituents to live in. Who severed in times of tragedy . They are neglected and feel they have no value. They deserve better. Will we continue to perfect the union looking to the future, and fight for a society that strives toward justice and equality question mark i would ask all of my colleagues that today. I yield back my time. Thank you. Dr. Murphy. And the gentleman from new theey question mark gentlelady from washington . You and thank you to the witnesses. Commento make a quick about schools simply because the vast majority of people schools as weut do not know transmission. It is still a big black box and we will not know until schools reopened. Understandingeral that they are better off in school. There barely affected, at least acutely, but no question there. The United States is not iceland. Fatter, kidney disease, heart disease, all conditions that put you at mups much higher risk for disease. The ones that are at the most risk of getting this disease and dying from it. I want to clarify that is a pediatrician. I want to direct my question today to dr. Has a large latino population. We have seen them disproportionately hit by the disease first because of working conditions, which are more crowded but then because 80 happens in the home and home is more crowded. We have seen a greater amount of community spread. Because housing is a part of how it is spread, we have known that housing is tied to Health Outcomes. In recent weeks, we have talked about how housing is fundamental to Building Wealth and achieving security. Can you talk about the changes we can make and the difference between policies that help with rank versus ownership in the longterm outcomes of a change in policy . Thank you for the questions. There are structures and patterns we observe in terms of Housing Access and housing affordability, directly related to a long history of policies that excluded certain populations and people of color from homeownership but also isolated people economically and socially in communities where the quality of housing was less available and is driving up the cost of housing in many communities. I think the issue of affordability as well as housing equality are an important step in addressing inequities that we see in terms of housing, and also spill over into outcomes in health, as you indicated, as well as employment and schooling. I had another question about paid and sick leave and family leave. Samee finding that the communities are affected by not having the same access to leave and also, if they are in close proximity to infected people, they might need several series of quarantine time off. Twonder if you can speak to weeks of sick leave and family in theseat happens particular, at risk communities, when you have to take time off, one multiples, colleagues at work at this disease and need quarantine . Between lacktion of paid leave and other outcomes really puts workers in an impossible situation, to make a difficult choice. They choose between their health or economic wellbeing. Without paid sick leave, workers forgo earnings that are essential and critical for the economic wellbeing of their because they are making decisions that are better for their health. By having paid sick leave more equitably and broadly available to workers, we empower workers to make the decisions that are best for optimizing their security. Thank you. I yield back. Thank you. The gentlelady from illinois. Thank you. The coronavirus pandemic left no corner of our communities unscathed. Lost in my have been district in Northern Illinois and in communities across the country. It is why i am concerned with theroys comments about role of children. There is a lot we do not know. Does point guidance at that children are in fact risk of contracting the disease and could possibly be carriers. When we are addressing the United States congress, we should have factbased findings to present and also make sure we are encouraging the American People to consult with National Experts on the issue. Hasdamage from the crisis not been inflicted evenly on the community. The pandemic inside the pandemic is the disproportionate health and kind consequences on communities of color particularly black americans. Die at fiveans times the rate of counterparts and disparities are larger for young adults. These are glaring but not surprising. They reflect a deeply entrenched racial inequity. A key driver of these disparities is unequal access to care. The uninsured rate for African Americans is more than 1. 6 times higher than the rate for white americans. Reduce disparities, we must expand access to Affordable Health care, which is why i introduced the Health Care Affordability act, which increases the size of those credits. This will bring affordable Health Insurance and bring two more americans. It is very important we have access. That is lately value people equally. We need to take away any economic areas. I would also say we need to make sure that ambulance at the bottom is there. It does not absolve us from addressing strengthen the aca, to get universal access to highquality health care. Thank you. Andlarming disparities Health Outcomes. I have supported bipartisan efforts to extend medicaid coverage from 60 days to one year. Dr. Jones recognizes that medicaid covers more than 65 of africanamerican can you describe the importance of extending Medicare Coverage to close racial gaps . The Maternal Mortality rate , depending328 times on which part of the country. Within the are dying first year of childbirth is alarming. We need to support them in all the ways we can. It is about saving lives. Why do need the policies like the ones we included for data we need to know what the problems are. Data,tees with all of the to lift as a risk factor so we can address them. Are workings tirelessly to develop a safe and effective vaccine for covid19. Development is only the first step. We will need to deploy in to every community in the country and we knowble way African Americans currently have loan unitization rates. I would like to think the chairman for having the hearing and the opportunity for discussing the issue of critical importance. Im a Public Health nurse. We need to end Racial Disparities in our health care that as wemake sure are communicating with the American People during the pandemic, were lifting up factbased information to inform the American People. I yield back. Thank you. Thank you. The young lady from connecticut. You, mr. Chair. Thank you to the witnesses who are here. Today, i have just been have beenand overwhelmed because i recognize once again so many colleagues do not get it. Like the gentleman from wisconsin, i look forward to a time when people do not look at me racially and i do not have to do with these issues this way. We had a hearing on shutting down schools last week but my response to that is so much bigger than just how the economy looks and how we will deal with things economically. I can assure everyone on this committee that when my husband was diagnosed with covid19 and , neverd for his check once did i think about his job. Never once did i think about the economy. I thought about my husband getting healthy and us being safe. In the same vein, as we look forward to september and schools fema indicated they have no intention of supplying ppe for our schools. I live in a state that is already disproportionately impacted and has very large equity gaps. 4 of our students graduate high less than five miles down the road, 74 of students are High School Graduates and apparent was sentenced to 12 years in jail for what they call stealing education for sending the child outside of the School District. Of that is how desperate people are for their children. King,good to see you, dr. And you open up your comments with something that, as you know from prior conversations, the brown versus board of education decision. Whether it is uncomfortable or not, we have disparities in our school and the Public Education system and we have the ability to change those things. Can you talk about, we heard to make upng earlier for academic loss, but im thinking about the trauma and all of the other things that are going to happen when children return to campuses. Can you talk about what the inequities will look like after the covid19 pandemic and the financial crisis if we do nothing to intervene . The impact of covid19 for kids, and i think about the kid who relies on school for positive relationships with adults and peers. They have been without that. Some kids at homes with eviction , abuse, to mr. Violence, kids are in homes with economic trauma and they have been without the support. When they come back, they will need more support, which means we need Mental Health services and investment in the socioemotional support that students need and that will not be there if School Districts are forced to make cuts. Thank you. I am happy you used the word investment. Forward, if we were to look at what types of investments im sorry . To make Public Education more equitable to address underlying issues, in the same way we investments in Small Businesses and the larger economy, what would investments in our children look like moving forward . We ought to close the 23 billion gap the chairman talks about between students of color and school spending. In the learning loss and emotional needs of students with supplemental dollars. That would mean making it possible for low income students to pursue Higher Education. Thank you. You hit on something because i know most Education Funding comes from municipal factors, which already puts our kids at a disadvantage. That, the to change property taxes as the basis of funding schools because april neighbor poor neighborhood, another generation lost. Vigorously inest Early Childhood education and Teacher Education and to have a mentorship position for teachers for two years after. Thank you. I thank you. I am not sure which bell that is, but either way, i am done. Thank you. Thank you. Of mac obnoxious. The gentleman from michigan. Thank you so much, mr. Chairman, and happy pride month, everybody. President trump and secretary devos just last week claimed School Choice is a civil rights cause of our time. That is honestly comical, but it is unsurprising. Know that School Choice causes segregation in our time. These seeing impacts of policies right now in michigans ninth district. Mount clemens School District has seen massive numbers of white students partaking in to go tof choice nearby whiter School Districts. Michigans School Financing moves with the student, meeting meaning that when a School Student leaves to go to another School District, the funding goes with them. Mount clemens School District with a majority black student body has faced major budget deficits for the past two decades and struggles to rebuild infrastructure that have met been updated and more than 50 years. The covid crisis. The students are being intentionally left behind. There is no coincidence here. Pushvice is trying to these harmful policies on the entire nation as secretary of education. The department of education last week finalized a rule that would funnel critical emergency money away from School Districts and students most impacted by intended,as congress and send it in to private schools, even those serving the wealthiest students. I would like to ask you about this. Would you agree that school with fundinges models like michigan has disproportionately harms students of color by funneling money and other resources away flex the choice that secretary devos favors is one that is harmful. The evidence is clear in michigan. It is a problem of funding structure and unregulated charter, which allowed for profit charter operators not serving students, without meaningful accountability. Schools is vision of part of the problem that we have to solve. Michigan, secretary devos has had an impact for many , charters have had no regulation ended its been a harmful thing. What happens to Educational Equity if we do not save Public Schools . If we shift to the gop idealized free market Education System, which students will be hurt the most . Quest there is no question it will hurt students of color and low income students the most. Public education is the foundation of our economy. The majority of kids in Public Schools today are kids of color. We have no future as a society if we do not invest in their education and in the short run, one thing they have to do is make sure that we correct the misinterpretation of the cares dollarserally taking intended for Public Schools and taking them to private schools. Thank you. Public Public Education told middleclass bank. Middle class. How will they propose rules we have been discussing in equity and systemic racism in our Education System . You have almost a minute to answer. Blinders that do not want the ghettos in the reservations, we can get along very well. Thoseinders hurting children, they are sapping the strength. We can be doing so much better as a nation if we invest in Public Education. You are seeing the whole community and said the he valued. And yes, vigorously investing in of education is one. Thank you very much before the horrible second bell, i yield back. Ok. Thank you. The gentlelady from minnesota, the gentleman from maryland. I am ready, mr. Chairman, if i am up. Five minutes. Thank you. The business has been hard because they are disproportionately owned in industries that are vulnerable to shutdowns. We note that black families face vast wealth gaps compared to white families. What effect do you believe this will have on wealth gaps, and what should we be looking at here in the federal government to try and address the wealth gap, which is so profound, starts with homeowner ownership, then it goes to owning businesses. How do we change this . The wealth cap is one of the reasons we have seen the disparate impact of covid19 in communities of colors color, at least in terms of economic outcome. As i mentioned before, having wealth and savings puts you in a shutdowns in the things we have had to do, without adequate savings and orlth, you have no cushion you will rapidly teary raid. Theou do not address that is in terms of as disparities. Er they are not starting the businesses. They are building up equity. Homeowners the other piece where equity is and that legs. We need ideas to stimulate its and find the pump. Business,s of small it is important to recognize that Business Owners are less than 2 in the United States. If we think about the larger businesses that employ people, africanamerican owned businesses are only about 4 . The issue also wealth building is about having opportunities to expand and grow the businesses so they are able to build the wealth important in communities in terms of making Jobs Available as well as building personal and community well. We have to address the weight that Racial Disparities. Another reason why black is the sister not have as many opportunities to expand and grow predatory thate need to expandey businesses. A large income gap and wage gap to make them. Lets jump to the racial inequities of the criminal justice system. 40 and that is the reality for color in anty of unjust justice system. What things do we need to do to drive unemployment numbers down for impacted individuals so when they come out, they can stay out and not have a circular recidivism . [indiscernible] from asking people about how big of a difference do you think the ban the box makes . I think it is exactly that for the whole country. Itk about the difference makes. It is an important first step but there are other things that need to be put in place. It only gets your foot in the door. There are policies that are important. Thank you. I yield back. Thank you. Thank you. From michigan, and from nevada, and from massachusetts. Thank you for the panel today. This is a terrific hearing. Communities of color have always experienced Racial Discrimination in health care settings. Dating back hundreds of years, race has been used as a weapon to undermine and dehumanize black patients. As my colleagues from georgia mentioned, covid19 did not create the disparities, but it has exacerbated them. Black and brown patients struggle to access covid19 testing and treatment, dr. Jones, according to the american medical association, only 5 of physicians are black, 5. 8 are only 24 are native american how does the covid19 pandemic underscore the importance of increase diversity in medicine . It is always been an because if wee train more physicians of color, they tend to serve communities of color in a more respectful kind of way. On likely to be less happen. Problem and we. Eed to dress it the pipeline starts very early on. Great. If you can elaborate on how increasing diversity in medicine and Public Health prevents discrimination. There are so many ways that biases actually impair care they can then change some of the things. What other recommendations for decades, in the Affordable Care act that enables students from low income communities to actually go to medical school in the first place. That is a very specific thing. If that can become huge, that would go a long way. Thank you. I yield back. Thank you. Has anyone here not been recognized . If not, a couple of questions starting with ms. Wilson. We have responded trying to stimulate the economy by using primarily unemployment compensation, Food Assistance, and other things. Initiatives can incentive it the economy the most . Which gives you the best bang for the buck . According to a recent analysis, Food Assistance one dollar spent in Food Assistance generates 1. 67 in gdp a year from now. Unemployment Insurance Benefits are second with 1. 46. What about your payroll tax and the Capital Gains holiday, how do they score . I do not remember off the top of my head the number there. They are under one dollar. Direct assistance programs such as unemployment insurance, well over one dollar payroll tax and other kinds of tax incentives. Can you tell me about the importance of potential summer programs . Yes. Trying to make up for the law, we have to put in place summer programs in person when possible. We know students will come back to school having lost as much as more. Math, 30 or the way to address that is providing additional structural support. Particular critical for English Learners without Services Since march. Thank you. Can he Say Something about how funding the property tax affects equity . Yes. Taxessults of property are huge disparities. Students of color districts with large portions spend 80 . One thing to address this is to as a condition for new stimulus dollars that states have to protect their highest met districts from cuts and districts have to protect their highest need schools from cuts. If you have property taxes, that inherently creates inequity . It does. In an environment with the financial crisis, it means wealthy districts will be able to go back to the property tax owners, increase a small amount and generate significant revenue to sort of the cuts, whereas poverty districts do not have that in the cuts will fall hardest on them. Dr. Jones, we have talked about subsidies. It is my understanding, if you lose your job, you lose insurance but if you get the subsidy, you can continue insurance. You end up having to get a new insurance policy, new providers, and start your deductible all over and when you get your job right back, you have to tell those providers it is nice knowing you for a couple of months, and then get back your then start your deductible all over. It does not make a lot of sense to do anything we can to maintain i think subsidizing coverage is a good idea. Thank you. Finally, i think we can all to open is a good idea schools as soon as possible if it can be done safely. Available, howt do you reopen schools safely . Is not the only part of the equation. In texas where summer schools are able to reopen, a lot of schools are applying a hybrid approach where they are using temperature checks, which are not nearly as definitive, but temperature checks, to look at whether children might have covid infections, but again, it is more about Risk Management on the other side. Testingou get to the stage, making sure the kids are not transmitting the disease and that people at risk to work at those facilities and people who with elderlyholds grandparents, that they are removed from the setting. It is more about preventing the risk of infection from happening in the first place that about testing, but testing can be a part of the solution if we scale it up. You do not need testing to open the school. You do not know whether people are transmitting a lot, if you wait until they are will betic because many transmitting before they are symptomatic. One thing the heroes act includes is money for school. Onstruction a lot of schools do not have proper ventilation. That is a key safety requirement, to make sure you have good ventilation. To open up the soonest possible but if you cannot do it safely, i think we may have a problem. I want to thank all of our witnesses for their testimony. Any other business . Anyone else have comments . I want to remind my colleagues that pursuant to Committee Practice materials, the hearing record must be submitted to the Committee Clerk within four days following the last day of the hearing. Preferably in microsoft word format. Only a member of the committee or invited witness may submit materials for inclusion. Documents are limited to 50 pages each. That, they can be incorporated at a it may not be available in the future. Items for the record should be submitted electronically by emailing submissions. Without objection, i would like following into the records, the following report. Black workers face two of the most lethal preexisting conditions for coronavirus. Inequality. Conomic published by the Economic Policy institute. I want to thank witnesses for their participation today. Members of the committee may have additional questions they will submit. We will answer them as soon as possible. I want to remind my colleagues that pursuant to Committee Practices, questions for the hearing must be submitted by the majority, committee stabbed or Committee Clerk within seven days. Questions submitted must address the subject matter of the hearing. Recognize the Ranking Member for a closing statement. Thank you, mr. Chairman. I want to thank witnesses for participating in the hearing today. We should return congressional sentiment and hold our hearings in person. Ryan the country through virtual proceedings is unacceptable. As we consider how to mitigate the impact of covid19 on families and communities, we must highlight the benefit to children and families into parent households. The likelihood of poverty draft single parent families. This is crucial to remember. 88 to 69 since 1960. While single pass me tremendous not have other options, we can encourage and remove barriers to raising children into parent homes. Before covid19, unemployment was at record lows, including minority unemployment and a flourishing economy ushered in under a republicanled congress, and the Trump Administration workers, employers, and families alike. The coronavirus and those shutdown has caused devastating job losses. Is aositive news is there half forward. We have seen from the jobs report last month, 2. 5 million jobs added to the economy, that reno reopening our economy safely is helping america get back on their feet. Like toirman, i would ask unanimous consent that the june 21 editorial from the wall street journal, failure in the virtual classroom, be included in todays hearing record. Give quotesit from it to explain some of the problems we are having now that no one has discussed. Room d failure in the in the virtual classroom, the Remote Learning experiment is not going well. The university it washed and center on reinventing Public Education published a report has at how 400 responded to the covid19 crisis. Findings reveal widespread neglect of students. This should concern all of us, mr. Chairman. The report found 27 of districts required teachers to record whether students participate in remote classes, while remote attendance has been abysmal. During the first two weeks of the shutdown, 15,000 los angeles students failed to show up for four class or do any schoolwork. 10 weeks in, the philadelphia School District registered just 61 percent of students attending schools on an average day. The same week the boston globe reported that only half of students are logging into online classes or submitting assignments online. Students have an incentive to ditch digital classes because the work counts for little to nothing. Only 57. 9 of School Districts do any progress monitoring. The rest have not even met set minimal expectations that teachers review and keep track of the work students turn in. We are failing our students. It is because, primarily, as the article points out, of teacher unions. They go on to quote people in the teacher unions. Open ando get schools do anything we possibly can. I also want to point out, to tie it back into the economic situation, yesterday, the wall street Journal Editorial Board pointed out that states that are reopening faster are recovering faster and easy more economic suffering, specifically the board rates, nine of 10 states with highest jobless rates are run by democrats, who have tended to demand that the economy should stay locked down and in some cases are still resisting opening. One exception is colorado, where our former colleague, democratic governor jared polis, was one of the first to reopen. Decision is paying off as colorados jobless rate in may inl to 10. 2 from 12. 2 april. To lead our country back to a thriving economy, we can and must reopen america. There is one other thing i noticed in one set of comments that were made near the end of the hearing. That was the comment that it is to basically give welfare than it is to help people get a job. Mr. Chairman, that goes against everything we have ever known in the country, which is that you get a better bang for your buck from welfare than by people going to work. I just do not think that is true. I think everything we can do to help people go to work, it diminishes poverty and gives people options. I hope we will take more focus on that in the future and talk about those statistics. With that, i yield back. Commentsyou for your ofthe Economic Impact certain initiatives. That is arithmetic, some investments in the economy do better than others. Just a fact, the tax and the Capital Gains tax, they do virtually nothing to stimulate the economy worse where other reports do much better. There is a lot we can do to help the nation get to the pandemic. And also reduce Racial Disparities. We want to thank our witnesses and pointingdance out that the heroes act is a major step in the right direction to get us through the pandemic. If there is nothing more to come before the committee, the committee now stands adjourned. What do you think we can do about that . Protest,olice reform, and the coronavirus continuing to affect the country, watch our live unfiltered coverage of the governments response, with three things from the white house, congress, governors and mayors across the country. And from the campaign 2020 trail. Join the conversation every day on our live callin program. If you miss any of our live coverage, watch any time, at cspan. Org or listen on the go on our free radio app. On tuesday, the House Energy Committee will hear from White House Coronavirus task force members. Watch live, tuesday morning, at 11 00 a. M. Eastern on cspan. This week, watch house on policing reform and d. C. Statehood legislation. Thursday, live on cspan, the house will debate and vote on the democrats policing reform bill, the George Floyd Justice in policing act. Voteiday, the house will on legislation to designate the District Of Columbia as a state. Watch this week, live, thursday and friday. In new york, incumbent jerry nadler faces to democratic primary challengers