HB 24-22: Covering For Our Citizens Act (Debating)

[Joseph Cao]

This is a reasonable bill and I strongly support Section 3 in particular. As we have seen at home as well as abroad in Singapore and other countries, undocumented workers are especially susceptible to slipping through the cracks of our healthcare system, a situation we cannot afford in the midst of a public health crisis. I will defer to others on the finer points of Section 2's funding allocation, but it appears to be broadly sound.

I'd also like a clarification from the sponsor regarding Section 5, given that the temporary UBI signed into law is meant to last until October 1. Is the key change meant to be the expansion in coverage from "child" to "dependent"?

[Joseph Cao]

Is the sponsor available to address the concerns raised in this discussion? It's a pretty important part of COVID relief and I'd prefer that we are able to get an adequate sense of how the bill will help our citizens.

[Joseph Cao]

No problem; take the time you need. Though I will note that it's been a week.

[Joseph Cao]

If nobody else has done so, I'd like to ask if we are in agreement on the final text of this bill, which after Encke's amendment above (declared friendly by the sponsor) should stand as follows:
 

Covering For Our Citizens Act

Section 1: Title

1. This legislation may be cited as/referred to as Covering For Our Citizens Act, or CFOC as a shorthand.

Section 2: Providing Security to the Homeless

1. The federal government shall ensure fair housing and living to the homeless through the establishment of a Department of Landless People (D.P.L.)
a.The budget for the department shall be 0.6% of the federal budget for the previous fiscal year

b. The goal of the department is to ensure that the needs of the homeless are covered

I. 15% of the allocated funds shall be designated for the nutritional needs of the homeless
II. 20% of the allocated funds shall be designated for the housing needs of the homeless
III. 20% of these allocated funds shall go towards the creation of public homeless shelters
IV. 30% of these allocated funds shall go towards sanitation and inspection control
V. 10% of the allocated funds shall be designated for job and vocational training programs
VI. 5% of the allocated funds shall be directed to subsiding the medical needs of the participants

Section 3: Better Conditions for Undocumented Workers

1. The application and enforcement of work security standards for undocumented workers to ensure that the same work standards apply all across, and to prevent them from being a source of infection.
a. Additionaly undocumented workers will be given the same rights to compensation and benefit rights that non-undocumented workers have, in accordance with the fact that many of them pay into state and local taxes in an amount not ignorable by the government.
b. Any testing of COVID-19 infection shall remain anonymous to ensure that no deportation takes place.

Section 4: Penalties for Employers

1. If an employer has been proven to have not provided it’s workers with the necessary PPE equipment when they have ability to purchase such equipment, said employer shall be penalized $1,000 dollars for the violation for every 3 employees endangered by the lack of supplies.

Section 5: Equal Stimulus Check Program

Section II of the SB 23:06 COVID-19 Economic Stimulus Act shall be changed to

1. Beginning April 1, 2020 and ending on August 1, 2020, every Atlasian who has lived in the nation for more than one year and is of 18 years of age or older, regardless of income or employment status, shall receive $2,000 on the first day of each month and $1,000 for each dependent.

[Joseph Cao]

Very well, then. It was a good amendment, but it's also regrettable that the sponsor wasn't able to get back to our further concerns on the bill in time to improve it before this proceeded to a final vote. I encourage the Senate to give this a good long look once it reaches them.

Aye.