An equitable recovery will not be possible without big thinking. Moving towards recovery will require stimulating the national economy in new ways and including everyone in the path forward.
Federal, state, and local governments are likely to advocate for more infrastructure spending to create jobs and improve our roads, highways, and water systems. There also seems to be broad consensus on spending to expand broadband and 5G capabilities, particularly in rural and low-income communities that personify the digital divide.
But how do we create more employment and link those out of work with new opportunities? As President Franklin D. Roosevelt did with the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) after the Great Depression, the federal government must create systems that create economic security for all Americans by putting Americans back to work.
Beyond economic stimulus, a healthy recovery requires a healthy democracy. This fall, with Presidential and Congressional seats on the ballot, voters should not have to choose between protecting their health and exercising their right to vote. Before the coronavirus outbreak, the United States already struggled with voter participation through a tortuous system of state laws and procedures designed to suppress the vote. We have to make it easy for people to vote from home and safe to vote in person. In order to ensure that all Americans have the ability to safely vote and have their vote be counted, we have to expand voting options to include vote-by-mail and improve the safety and accessibility of polling places across the nation. These measures include: ensuring that vote by mail is available, reliable and all ballots are counted; reforming policies and practices which have the impact of disenfranchising minority voters, and expanding measures in the states that will make it safe and convenient to vote.
