Another coronavirus fiscal aid ‘incredibly important’, says Fed’s Evans

The United States government should release another coronavirus fiscal aid to support workers staying at home while the coronavirus outbreak continues to harm businesses, said Chicago Fed President Charles Evans in an interview.

Evans said that protecting small businesses and communities to ensure that they can buy food and pay rent is up to U.S. lawmakers since the virus has not yet been contained.

He added that the bleakest economic projections included not assisting state and local governments. As a consequence, these smaller governments would have to impose drastic cuts to adhere to the federal aid measures.

Evans’ comments followed the U.S. lawmakers’ failure to craft a deal on a second coronavirus fiscal package after weeks of negotiations. Currently, there are tens of millions of jobless Americans without direct support from the federal government.

On Sunday, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said they were open to restarting negotiations on a coronavirus package.

President Donald Trump attempted to take matters into his own hands by signing executive orders and memorandums directed at unemployment benefits, student loans, payroll taxes, and evictions. Some of his orders were questioned since Congress holds the constitutional powers to tax and spend.

Under Trump’s orders, unemployment aid would be partially funded by U.S. states, which are already struggling to pay benefits due to the worst widespread unemployment since the Great Depression.