Rep. Pramila Jayapal Pitches 'Paycheck Guarantee Act'

SEATTLE, WA — U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., has unveiled a plan to guarantee wages for all workers earning up to $100,000 annually during the coronavirus pandemic.

Numbers released by the U.S. Department of Labor Thursday showed 16.8 million Americans filed new unemployment claims over the last three weeks. In Washington, more than 500,000 workers have filed jobless claims.

Under Jayapal's plan, the federal government would provide grants to employers of all sizes, for at least three months, to cover payroll and keep workers from the unemployment line. The legislation would also uphold employer-sponsored health plans and supplement a portion of other business expenses, including rent.

"Without immediate, direct cash support for paychecks, there is a significant risk of Great Depression-era levels of unemployment and permanently shuttered businesses," reads a one-page summary posted on Jayapal's website. "Economic forecasters are predicting nearly 20 million jobs lost or furloughed by July, sending the unemployment above 15 percent. Mass unemployment is the result of policy choices, not pandemics."

Jayapal's legislation encourages employers to rehire laid-off of furloughed workers, and the grants would cover salaries dating back to the start of the crisis. Payments would be distributed by the U.S. Treasury, the IRS, or through a partnership with an existing payroll firm.

Keeping workers intact and businesses primed to reopen is key to speeding up the economic recovery after the virus is defeated, Jayapal said. While a cost estimate has not been attached to the plan, the congresswoman argues the long-term cost of doing nothing would be far higher.

"If American businesses first have to rehire and retrain their labor force, our recovery will lag far behind our peer countries, and it will cost our economy enormously."

Vox reports there has been some support for similar plans from across the aisle, pointing to a recent op-ed in the Washington Post from Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., which advocates for the government to cover 80 percent of wages up to the national median.

One-time economic stimulus payments, up to $1,200, will start to arrive in taxpayers' bank accounts beginning next week, the IRS announced Friday.