PITTSBURGH, PA (March 23, 2020) Mayor William Peduto is working with municipal and labor leaders around the country in support of financial aid for workers, small businesses and cities impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Mayor issued a letter Friday to the leaders of the state House and Senate in support of American Working Family Relief Action Plan, which would provide vitally needed support for working families and vulnerable populations in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, and is supported by more than forty organizations representing 1 million workers in Pennsylvania.
“People, and the small businesses that employ them, are under tremendous stress right now and we need to support them – just as they are supporting us as we deal with this pandemic. It’s time for our federal and state governments to do all they can to step up and deliver significant emergency funding,” Mayor Peduto said.
The Mayor also signed onto a letter by the Service Employees International Union to Congress seeking support for workers in the airline industry. “Any economic relief to the airline industry must also protect and invest in the employees of their contractors whose health and livelihood is on the line,” the letter said.
Mayor Peduto also joined more than 300 mayors from across the country calling on the federal government to issue $250 billion to municipal governments on the front lines responding to the pandemic. The U.S. Conference of Mayors is leading that drive, and telling Congress the following:
“As the spread of COVID-19 continues and demand for our services increases, cities will also experience significant declines in revenues in areas such as tourism and visitor-related hotel and lodging taxes; sales, use and general excise taxes; personal and corporate income taxes; and revenue from utility enterprise accounts, among others. Cities could be hit with additional pension liabilities due to market volatility while, at the same time, having to shoulder the cost of responding to the crisis. Lost revenue from economic contraction will put pressure on the ability to deliver basic services - including police, fire, water, and sewer - or aid business sectors that serve as the foundation of our metro economies.”
A copy of the letter to state leaders is here, a copy of the SEIU letter is here, and a copy of the USCOM letter to Congressional leaders is here.
