By Chris Linski
BOSTON (SHNS) – Low-income families that were already vulnerable before the pandemic face heightened risks and increased strain now that swaths of public life are shut down and resources are thinner, lawmakers and advocates said Monday as they pushed for additional state financial help for those most in need.
Legislation filed by Rep. Marjorie Decker and Sen. Sal DiDomenico would direct one month’s worth of extra cash benefits to tens of thousands of families who are enrolled in either the Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC) program or the Emergency Aid to the Elderly, Disabled and Children (EAEDC) program.
Several Massachusetts residents coping with new pressures during the crisis urged lawmakers to support the bill (H 4622), describing the several hundred additional dollars they would receive as a vital stopgap to help keep them and their families safe.
“As low-income people in this state, we were asked to prepare for this pandemic with little to no resources,” Diane Sullivan, who applied for TAFDC aid to help her and her two teenage sons, told the Joint Committee on Children, Families, and Persons with Disabilities during a virtual hearing. “Passing this bill would help extremely low income Massachusetts residents stay afloat during these unprecedented times. These funds would help us put food on the table as we struggle to keep up with rent, utilities and other bills.”
The 127-member Lift Our Kids Coalition estimated the bill, which has 79 sponsors, will cost $23 million.
Decker and DiDomenico stressed that their bill as written would not amend eligibility requirements for either program or launch any new programs. It would instead direct one extra month of benefits at the maximum possible amount to recipients, aiming to help vulnerable residents through a precarious time.
“What we do already, the way we structure our world, doesn’t work for so many people in our society. We don’t allow people to get paid enough, to have enough opportunities to be able to ensure safe housing and clean air and safe water,” Decker said at the hearing. “The people who were hurting before COVID are hurting and suffering in a disproportionate way now.”
The coronavirus pandemic, which as of Monday has infected 26,867 people in Massachusetts and killed 844, has had a particularly pronounced effect on the elderly – many of whom are on fixed incomes – and has emerged in higher rates among several nonwhite-majority areas.
DiDomenico said the per-capita infection rate in Chelsea, which is about two-thirds Hispanic or Latino, is only surpassed by two boroughs in New York City.
Applicants for the two safety net programs and for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program food aid have surged in recent weeks to between three and four times the usual weekly volume.
About 30,000 families with children receive TAFDC support, which maxes out around $593 for a family of three, according to the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute. The EAEDC program helps about 19,000 senior citizens and persons with disabilities, offering $303 per month for an individual.
Several speakers argued Monday that while the aid can help, it is often too small to cover essential needs – a concern that has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 outbreak.
Many low-wage workers have been laid off or furloughed, a trend apparent in the record surge of unemployment applications, and must now make ends meet under even more strained circumstances.
With schools closed until at least May 4, many families are using more food, toilet paper and other household resources than they normally would. Some have been unable to access free meals at school buildings.
Even if they can get to stores with enough cash to stock up, they sometimes struggle to find what they need.
“People with money buy things in bulk and leave nothing for people like me,” said Sarah Jennison, who receives TAFDC for her family of three. “I haven’t been able to find Lysol or hand sanitizer.”
The Decker and DiDomenico bill was the only proposal on the committee’s agenda for a virtual hearing Monday, which organizers said was the first of its kind. Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, the panel’s Senate chair, thanked attendees for “being a part of history with us” as she kicked off the Zoom discussion.
Chang-Diaz’s fellow co-chair, Rep. Kay Khan, voiced support for the proposal during the hearing, describing it as “such an important piece of legislation.
“(The safety net) was important before we got into the COVID-19 situation, but even more important now, because whatever we can do to help those folks who are extremely low-income and trying so hard to keep afloat – it really helps all of us,” she said.