The coronavirus crisis is
changing life as we know it.
A lot of bad economic 
news that's come in.
Americans are hunkering 
down this morning
as a pandemic brings 
us our personal
lives to a complete
standstill. 
It is very scary.
The global coronavirus pandemic
has put our economy in free fall.
Even through Donald Trump's 
reckless economic 
policies, like his pointless 
trade war with China
or his deficit busting tax cuts
for his billionaire donors,
the economy has somehow 
managed to keep chugging along, 
until now.
All of the stock market gains 
from Trump's time in office 
had been wiped out 
and over the course of just
over one week in March,
the Dow Jones industrial
Average experienced 
its five largest 
drops in history.
Worse than a plummeting 
stock market,
businesses and major 
industries  have been forced 
to shutter their windows to
help combat the rapid 
spread of the virus,
putting hundreds of thousands
of workers' paychecks at risk.
A recession is inevitable 
at this point.
Here are three things we can
do to prepare. 
Number one,
we need to reform unemployment 
insurance so it reflects 
the needs of today's economy.
When it was
first created in 1935,
unemployment insurance 
was  designed to help 
full-time workers 
weather downturns
until they got 
their old jobs back.
But there are fewer full-time 
jobs in today's economy 
and fewer people who are
laid off get their old jobs
back ever again. 
As a result, only 27% of 
unemployed workers receive
benefits today 
compared to 49% of 
workers in the 1950s.
We need to expand 
unemployment coverage 
so that everyone is protected.
Number two,
we need to strengthen Temporary 
Assistance for Needy Families,
also known as public assistance.
Since its creation in 1996,
the number of families 
receiving cash assistance 
has declined dramatically 
and  not because 
they're doing well.
Between 2006 and 2018 
just  13% of families 
were lifted out of 
poverty while the
number of families receiving
public assistance fell by 39%.
Already weak, the 
program didn't hold up
well during the great recession.
Funding doesn't 
automatically expand 
during economic downturns,
meaning the more 
families are in need,
the less money there
is to help them.
The program also has strict
work requirements
which can't be fulfilled in 
a deep recession.
Worse yet,
many individuals in 
need have already
exhausted their five 
years of lifetime
eligibility for assistance.
We need to reform the 
public assistance
program so that more 
families in need
are eligible.
It should be easier to waive the 
strict work requirements 
during economic downturns
and the lifetime five-year limit 
should be suspended.
Number three, 
we need to protect 
the supplemental 
nutrition assistance program,
also known as SNAP or food
stamps. Unlike public assistance,
SNAP responded well during
the Great Recession.
Its requirements are 
designed to expand 
during economic downturns 
or recessions.
Waiving work requirements 
during the Great Recession
made thousands of people in
need eligible 
for the program who
otherwise would not have been.
Between December 2007 
and December 2009 
the number of SNAP
participants rose by 45%.
The program helped keep 
an estimated
3.8 million families out 
of poverty in 2009.
That may not be an option 
this time around 
as SNAP has come under attack 
from the Trump administration
that's trying to enact a 
draconian rule change 
that would kick an estimated
700,000 of our most 
vulnerable citizens 
off the program. 
Luckily, a judge blocked the rule
from going into effect,
but the administration is
still fighting to enforce it,
even in the middle 
of a global pandemic.
We need to make sure SNAP's 
flexibility and ability
to respond to economic
downturns is protected before
the next recession hits.
Stronger safety nets are 
not only good
for individuals and 
families in need,
they will also prevent the 
looming recession 
from becoming an even deeper 
and longer economic crisis.
