Letter to Senators on Economic Stimulus Package

February 5, 2008

Dear Senator:

The seven unions and six million members of Change to Win urge the Senate to approve the bipartisan Senate stimulus package. At a minimum, the Senate should ensure that the final package includes two critical elements of the Finance Committee package: extension of unemployment insurance (UI) and rebate payments for those whose income consists of Social Security or veterans’ disability benefits.

Working families have seen their purchasing power stripped and their economic well-being eroded by rising unemployment, declining real wages, and rising costs for necessities such as gas, housing, and health care. To be effective, a stimulus package must help those hardest hit by the economic downturn and put money into the hands of those most likely to spend it quickly. The expanded rebate provisions, extensions of UI, and increased home heating assistance in the Senate package fit both of these criteria and should be quickly enacted.

While the stimulus package is welcome, much more remains to be done to address the underlying causes of our economy’s weakness and the decline in worker living standards. In the short run, Congress should pass additional stimulus measures to provide: aid to the states, funds to accelerate ready-to-go construction and neglected infrastructure repair projects, and increases in food stamps to help those struggling to pay for necessities.

Sustained economic recovery − for our country and our nation’s working families − is made in working America. The purchasing power of working families, and thus economic growth, is fueled by good jobs with wages that can support a family and that provide affordable health care and adequate retirement benefits.

Sincerely,

Greg Tarpinian
Executive Director