Marin’s congressman delivers grim coronavirus forecast

May 14, 2020

U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman told Marin County supervisors this week that the nation needs to adjust its coronavirus response to prepare for a long, painful slog.

“It’s a solemn reality that we have to confront,” the San Rafael Democrat said Tuesday as part of an update on pandemic efforts in Washington. “This economy is in for a multi-year malaise and probably depression, and we just need to be honest about what that means.”

Supervisor Katie Rice acknowledged the economic crisis would not pass quickly.

“Here at the county level we’re going to be feeling the reverberations of this on our budget for not months but years,” she said.

Huffman said he expects to return to the capital within days for the House of Representatives’ next big vote on legislation to address the crisis.

The $3 trillion pandemic relief proposal favored by Democrats includes $1 trillion for state, local and tribal governments. Huffman has also co-sponsored two more modest bills that address specific issues raised by the contagion.

The new federal relief bill also will include funding for a national vote-by-mail program and a $25 billion bailout for the U.S. Postal Service.

Huffman told supervisors that much of the federal aid provided so far, such as the Paycheck Protection Program, has been premised on the assumption that the economy will snap back once stay-at-home orders are lifted.

“I think we’re all beginning to realize that that is not what this crisis is about,” Huffman said. “I would love to offer some soaring optimism in this moment to give people hope that we are on the verge of turning a corner and having a v-shaped recovery. Based on the facts and science that is just not the case.”

For that reason, Huffman said response efforts need to be designed to provide long-term relief, not a quick fix. He said the additional state and local funding in the proposed legislation would help struggling Marin schools. It remains unclear, however, whether there will be bipartisan support for the bill in the House.

“We’re beginning to bump up against some political fault lines,” Huffman said.

He added that Democrats want to see more federal leadership on testing, contact tracing, isolating infected patients and reporting on the pandemic.

“We’re getting very different standards from different states,” Huffman said. “Florida may be dramatically undercounting its COVID cases for what could be political reasons.”

Marin County Public Health Officer Dr. Matt Willis told supervisors he agreed that the federal government needs to play a stronger role.

“To be honest, we’ve stopped looking to the federal system as being the answer,” Willis said. “In most practical ways we’re on our own.”

Huffman’s other recent legislative initiatives include a bill that would provide an additional 700,000 housing vouchers for low-income people and families, and legislation that would prevent the Trump administration from bailing out the fossil fuel industry using funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

Huffman, who chairs the Subcommittee on Water, Oceans and Wildlife, said coronavirus restrictions have impaired congressional oversight of relief spending. He said members of Congress can hold hearings via teleconference but they can’t issue subpoenas or require administration witnesses to testify.

Earlier this month, Huffman also joined with two other members of Congress to urge the House leadership to put Peace Corps volunteers to work on domestic projects to combat the pandemic and provide the Corporation for National and Community Service with the funding to deploy up to 500,000 volunteers through 2022.

In its letter to House leaders, the group wrote, “As we work to overcome this pandemic, we must invest in resources that will see our country through the crisis and its aftermath.”


By:  Richard Halstead
Source: Marin Independent Journal