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For Immediate Release
April, 23 2020, 12:00am EDT
Thursday April, 23 2020, 12:00am EDT
Contact:
Emily Phelps, press@indivisible.org
Indivisible Asks Members of Congress: Pledge to Oppose Covid 4 Unless It (Finally) Focuses On People
On Wednesday night, Indivisible and a host of major progressive organizations sent a letter to the offices of congressional Democrats, calling on individual offices to pledge that they will vote no on the next COVID package unless it prioritizes the People's Agenda principles.
WASHINGTON
WASHINGTON - On Wednesday night, Indivisible and a host of major progressive organizations sent a letter to the offices of congressional Democrats, calling on individual offices to pledge that they will vote no on the next COVID package unless it prioritizes the People's Agenda principles.
From the letter:
"We call on all progressive House members to make clear now that you will oppose any bill in the next round that does not put the majority of focus on the People's agenda that Americans desperately need and expect from our elected leaders.
To achieve this, we believe it's critical that the House go first and pass a Democratic bill early in the next round to set the terms of debate, maximize leverage, and honor all the voters who turned out in 2018 to elect a Democratic House."
Indivisible has opposed the current package before the House, known as COVID 3.5. This letter encourages Members of Congress to take this pledge on the contents of COVID 4, regardless of how they ultimately vote on 3.5.
Full text of the letter can be found below.
# # #
April 22, 2020
Dear House Democrats,
We know you are working hard, want the best for your constituents, and are operating in an environment with asymmetric information. We know that this bill has been negotiated behind closed doors. And, like the last round of coronavirus relief, you likely are torn when thinking about your public stance on the bill before you.
This bill is more of a win for Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump than the American people. Once again, those who need help the most, including communities of color and immigrants who have been hit very hard by this crisis, are told to wait and Democrats are unnecessarily giving away leverage that people depend on you to use in order to save lives. Below is our rationale, but first a request regardless of how you vote.
We call on all progressive House members to make clear now that you will oppose any bill in the next round that does not put the majority of focus on the People's agenda that Americans desperately need and expect from our elected leaders.
To achieve this, we believe it's critical that the House go first and pass a Democratic bill early in the next round to set the terms of debate, maximize leverage, and honor all the voters who turned out in 2018 to elect a Democratic House.
This country is facing an unprecedented crisis. Our communities need Congress -- and the Democrats who control the House -- to fight for the People's Agenda. Put simply, it calls to:
1. Keep people on payrolls: Stop mass layoffs and preserve employment relationships for all businesses, including small businesses. Ensure federal dollars go to workers and small businesses, not enriching CEOs and Wall Street.
2. Provide financial relief: Expand aid for the most vulnerable, including direct cash assistance, increased food aid, debt relief, and eviction protections.
3. Protect public health: Full health coverage for all COVID-19 care and protections for all frontline workers.
4. Defend elections: Enact a vote-by-mail requirement for 2020 federal elections while maintaining access to in-person voting for those who do not have access to mail voting.
Democrats must ensure the next package provides relief to every person in this country, regardless of tax or immigration status, age or disability.
We absolutely want to support small businesses to make sure they can weather this disaster and keep their workers paid. But the small business loan program under Donald Trump and Steve Mnuchin is sending millions to Ruth's Chris Steak House while providing too little for many real small businesses around the country. And if we don't provide support for families -- and for local governments who will soon begin furloughing workers -- the small businesses that have managed to stay open will continue to shed customers.
Here's what we see when we review this bill:
No money to secure our elections
No protections or support for front line workers
No inclusion of immigrants
No sufficient measures to address racial disparities
No additional economic support for workers and families
No additional money for states and local governments
No money for the USPS
Nothing to make sure companies maintain payroll
No cancellation of rent or mortgage payments
No student debt relief or expansion of Social Security benefits during this crisis
No new strings attached to money given to big corporations
Just as importantly as the inadequate policy provisions, this bill gives away Democratic leverage. What Republicans want most is more money for their corporate donors, which means now Democrats have less leverage for a future package. Mitch McConnell has already said he doesn't want to push through another bill, and if he does, it won't be for weeks.
We fought so hard to win back the House in 2018 -- to make sure that we had a voice in negotiations like this. So far we've not seen the House enough of a collective push-back on negotiations for the agenda we really need.
The Senate has had its say on this round and it's a bad deal for American communities. The people's House should now use its power to make it better rather than rubber stamping Trump and McConnell's failed agenda.
We need better covid relief that prioritizes everyone. Regardless of how you vote on this bill, we call on you to make clear now that you call on the House to pass a Democratic bill and that you will vote no on COVID 4 if it doesn't center on a People's Agenda.
Thank you.
Indivisible
United We Dream
Ultraviolet
Women's March
Demand Progress
Bend the Arc: Jewish Action
Center for Popular Democracy
Mijente
Demos
Color Of Change
Black to the Future Action Fund
People's Action
Working Families Party
Democracy for America
Progressive Change Campaign Committee
NextGen America
Community Change Action
Justice Democrats
NextGen America
Jobs With Justice
Indivisible Project (501c4) drives coordinated campaigns, powering the grassroots Indivisible movement to defeat the rightwing takeover of American government and win an inclusive democracy and bold progressive policies.
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Survivors of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima and other nuclear abolitionists renewed calls for ridding the world of nukes on Wednesday, the 80th anniversary of the American attack on the Japanese city.
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Silent prayers were held in the Japanese city of Hiroshima, marking 80 years since the atomic bombing of the city by the US on August 6, 1945.
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— Al Jazeera English (@aljazeera.com) August 6, 2025 at 6:35 AM
The mayor also urged the Japanese government to respect the wishes of hibakusha, or survivors, and join the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), which was adopted in 2017 and took effect in 2021.
"The treaty not only bans nuclear weapons and all activities related to their production, deployment, and use, but also mandates that countries that joined the treaty provide support for people harmed by nuclear weapons in the past and for the cleanup of areas that were used for nuclear testing," survivor Terumi Tanaka noted Wednesday in a New York Times opinion piece.
Tanaka was 13 years old at the time of the bombing—an experience he recounted last year, while accepting the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of a group he co-chairs: Nihon Hidankyo, also known as the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers.
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— Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (@cnduk.bsky.social) August 6, 2025 at 8:03 AM
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"Don't let the far right's demonization of public education fool you," said one commentator. "People support their local public schools."
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Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker also expressed doubt that his state would participate, saying "it doesn't seem fair" to support a program that "is taking away money from people who can't afford to go to a private school, who would like to go to a public school."
But several other Democratic governors didn't respond to Education Week's query, and others who have been supportive of school vouchers in the past, including Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, said they were "reviewing" the program, which does not go into effect until 2027.
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The survey of governors was taken as two reports in The New York Times and The Washington Post detailed the damage school vouchers have already done to public school districts.
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Although Florida is one of a few states that has a growing instead of shrinking population of children, its public school systems are facing "significant declines," reported the Times, with more than 400,000 children in the state using the Florida school voucher system, called the universal education savings account—the largest voucher program in the United States.
In Orange County, where Orlando is located, the school-age population has grown by 5% since 2020—but the school district is expecting a 25% decline in kindergarten enrollment this year—and a potential loss of $28 million in federal funding, since schools are funded according to the number of students they enroll.
In Arizona, the Post reported, nearly 89,000 students receive vouchers the state government calls Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, while 62,000 receive taxpayer-supported scholarships for private schools through another voucher program and more than 232,000 students attend charter schools, which are publicly funded but independently run.
The state's embrace of the "school choice" movement left just 75% of Arizona children attending public schools in 2021, according to the Post, and school districts are responding by closing schools. Roosevelt Elementary School District in the Phoenix area will operate just 13 schools this year—a third less than last school year.
"You're taking the same size pie and cutting it into more pieces," Rick Brammer, a consultant who analyzes school enrollment, told the Post. "As we've created and funded alternatives, we've just emptied out school after school from the districts."
Instead of adopting an anti-voucher, vehemently pro-public school stance as a signature issue, the Democratic Party is split on the issue, with a number of Democratic governors backing charter schools and vouchers and some veterans of the Obama administration, including former Education Secretary Arne Duncan, backing a group called Democrats for Education Reform (DFER), which has advocated for states to embrace the federal voucher program in Trump's domestic policy agenda.
As the Times reported Monday, DFER's chief executive, former Democratic Providence, Rhode Island Mayor Jorge Elorza, traveled to a Democratic Governors Association in Madison, Wisconsin this past weekend with the goal of convincing governors who are still "reviewing" the federal voucher program, as many told Education Week, to opt in.
"This is literally free money that is broadly supported by the majority of voters who have steadily drifted away from the party," Elorza told the Times, referring to Black and Latino voters, who some polls have shown believe public schools are failing children. "It just makes sense."
Other Democratic strategists who have previously been involved with DFER have shifted their focus to growing charter school networks in southern states.
Former Georgia state lawmaker Alisha Thomas Searcy, who co-founded the Center for Strong Public Schools Action, which is pushing the charter school effort, told Chalkbeat Tennessee on Monday that the group will not embrace vouchers.
"I want to be clear about what sets us apart," Searcy told the outlet. "It's our commitment to public education. It is foundational for us, and it's nonnegotiable. We're committed to remaining focused on strengthening public schools, not creating pathways that take away from them."
Public education advocates have warned charter schools, like vouchers, drain funding from public schools with less oversight, and research has shown mixed results in terms of academic improvements.
Many Democratic lawmakers, said Tennessee state Rep. Gloria Johnson (D-90), "have an education plan, it’s fully funding public education so every child has a well-resourced classroom, providing wraparound services so families have needed resources, smaller class size, and teacher autonomy."
Jennifer Berkshire, host of the education-focused podcast "Have You Heard," noted that popular Democratic politicians including Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper have been vehement critics of school vouchers and defenders of robust funding for public education.
"And yet there is intense pressure to get Democrats to embrace vouchers in order to 'stay relevant,'" said Berkshire last week.
Vouchers were resoundingly defeated in a number of states last November—including those that votes for Trump.
A ballot initiative in Kentucky that would have sent public money to private schools was defeated by a 30-point margin, and in Nebraska, nearly every county voted to repeal an existing voucher program. Colorado voters, despite their Democratic governor's support for school vouchers, voted against adding a "right to school choice" to the state constitution.
Considering the broad public disapproval of school privatization, Pepper offered advice to Democrats last week.
"Don't let the far right's demonization of public education fool you," he wrote. "People support their local public schools. Whether it's an attack from Washington, an attack from your statehouse, some new privatization scheme, a billionaire-backed referendum or a candidate who is all-in on attacking public schools—oppose them fiercely and call them out bluntly. Go on offense for public schools, and against efforts to attack public schools."
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