As Congress moves into negotiations for a new stimulus bill, millions of Americans are still facing financial and health hardships due to the pandemic. Worse yet, COVID-19 cases are spiking again across the country, and expanded unemployment insurance granted by the CARES Act is set to expire on July 31. While the House passed the HEROES Act in May to address some of these problems, the Senate has yet to act. The ongoing struggles faced by American households, particularly by low- and moderate-income households and households of color, demand that Congress take more extensive action now.

Congress should include the following provisions in the next stimulus bill to support working families. While these provisions are not exhaustive, they are critical to helping families through the pandemic and into recovery.

Implement an earned income look-back to ensure that working families can maintain their eligibility for tax credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC).

The challenges of the pandemic not only hurt families now, but, for some, the financial effects will be felt for years to come. With less earned income from 2020, families could lose their eligibility for important tax credits like the EITC and CTC.

In the next stimulus bill, Congress must pass an earned income look-back, like that in the COVID-19 Earned Income Act. A look-back would allow taxpayers to use earned income from 2019 to maintain their eligibility for tax credits in their 2020 tax returns. Families need to be able to access federal tax benefits to help them through difficult economic times.

Act now by requesting that your Senators support the COVID-19 Earned Income Act here.

Expand the EITC and the CTC to support more low-income workers and their families.

Every year, low- and moderate-income families depend on tax credits like the EITC and CTC to boost their incomes. In this next year, the EITC and CTC will be even more important to families’ financial stability.

Congress should strengthen and expand the EITC and CTC. These expansions, like those laid out in the Working Families Tax Relief Act, would ensure that the EITC can lift more low-income workers out of poverty and that the CTC can more effectively reach children in the poorest households.

Act now by requesting that your legislators support expanded tax credits for working families here.

Provide the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program with $12 million in emergency funding this year.

Many VITA sites are using alternate means, including virtual and drop-off services, to serve low- and moderate-income households across the country for free. While the 2020 filing deadline of July 15 has passed, VITA volunteers are still working hard to help taxpayers file taxes and access their refunds. VITA is also helping non-filers submit information to receive Economic Impact Payments. As it stands, there are still 12 million people who need to submit information to the IRS by October 15 to receive their payments.

While first drafts of the House budget for fiscal year 2021 give VITA $28 million in funding, both the CARES Act and the HEROES Act did not allocate emergency funding to VITA. In the next stimulus bill, Congress should fund VITA to its full annual authorization of $30 million by allocating $12 million in emergency funding for VITA sites immediately. Congress should also waive the matching requirement for VITA sites for any of these additional grant funds.

Act now by requesting that your legislators sponsor emergency funding for VITA here.

Prevent private debt collectors from garnishing households’ Economic Impact Payments.

Congress created Economic Impact Payments to help families, not debt collectors, through the pandemic. While the CARES Act prohibited federal or state governments from reducing payments for past tax debts or other debts, it did not protect payments from being garnished by private debt collectors.

To make sure that families can use their stimulus payments, Congress should pass a bill to protect recovery payments from garnishment by private debt collectors. Legislation to do this has been introduced by Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Tim Scott (R-SC). This legislation would make sure that stimulus payments go to households in need, not debt collectors.

Act now by requesting that your legislators support a bill to protect stimulus payments from garnishment here.

Launch emergency rental assistance to help families remain stably housed.

Amid overwhelming financial uncertainty, many households are struggling to pay their rent and stay in their homes during the pandemic. Before the pandemic, about 11 million renters—a quarter of all renters—spent more than half of their incomes on housing. The shocks of the pandemic have only heightened the instability of renters, especially as they are more likely to work in sectors hardest-hit by COVID-19.

Congress should authorize $100 billion for an emergency rental assistance program to help renters stay housed during and after the pandemic by passing the Emergency Rental Assistance and Rental Market Stabilization Act of 2020, introduced by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA-43) and Rep. Denny Heck (D-WA-10). This bill would provide the funding necessary to help families and individuals pay their rent and utility bills through the pandemic, prioritizing the lowest income households. It should be supplemented with assistance for low-income homeowners, like the Emergency Housing Protections and Relief Act of 2020, also introduced by Rep. Waters.

Act now to urge your legislators to sponsor the Emergency Rental Assistance and Rental Market Stabilization Act of 2020 here.

Provide supplemental and targeted assistance to underserved businesses hit hardest by COVID-19.

While some businesses received Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans in April and May, the length of the pandemic has presented unique challenges for many small businesses, leading them to need a second round of assistance to survive. Small businesses often have limited savings reserves and access to credit, leaving them especially vulnerable to the continued economic fallout of the pandemic.

In order to provide supplemental PPP assistance to the hardest hit businesses in underserved communities, Congress should pass the Prioritized Paycheck Protection Program (P4) Act, introduced by Sens. Ben Cardin (D-MD), Chris Coons (D-DE), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH). The bill also includes provisions to ensure that businesses can receive relief quickly and that PPP lenders are protected. By authorizing another targeted round of PPP loans, the P4 Act would keep millions of underserved small businesses afloat and protect American workers.

Act now by requesting that your legislators sponsor the P4 Act here.

Increase direct funding to states and localities.

The pandemic has created massive revenue losses for states, localities, territories and tribal governments. State and local funding in the CARES Act was not nearly enough to account for the continued losses faced by governments. These governments are already starting to cut important public programs in attempts to balance their budgets.

In the next stimulus bill, Congress should provide governments with funding that will enable them to keep social programs and resources essential to households in need.

 Act now to urge your legislators to provide federal funding for states and localities here.

Millions of Americans continue to face the economic consequences of COVID-19. Congress must pass stimulus legislation that helps working families through this pandemic and into recovery.

To stay updated on the latest impacts of the pandemic and learn more about what Prosperity Now is doing to respond, check out Prosperity Now’s COVID-19 Resources.