Excluded workers plan to lobby for support

Eastern Iowa Group “Escucha Mi Voz” (“Hear my voice”) plans to ask local governments in Washington County to support workers excluded from unemployment insurance and stimulus payments during the pandemic.

Organizers said they planned to ask for $1,400 checks funded by American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money at the Washington City Council meeting Wednesday night.

“To give $1,400 stimulus checks to an excluded worker would cost $200,000 for 140 workers in the city of Washington or $350,000 for 250 excluded workers in the entire county,” an Escucha Mi Voz representative said in the Zoom meeting. “If the city and the county want to go ‘halfsies’ on the full $350k that is necessary to cover everyone in the county that is fine, but since there is no guarantee at this time that kind of cooperation will happen, we believe the asks should be for the full amount necessary from each government body.”

Washington Escucha Mi Voz Member Luke Hertzler said the move was essential for workers that had supported their communities without federal aid, many of them immigrants with temporary visas or no documentation at all.

“They were essential workers throughout the pandemic,” he said. “These excluded workers deserve those checks just as much as I or anybody else would.”

Advocates say the move would also help boost local economies.

“Every $1 spent on low wage workers stimulates $1.2 into the local economy plus 6.4% in new tax revenue,” an Escucha Mi Voz spokesperson said. “This isn't just the right thing to do for hard working families left behind, it is the best way to give a booster shot to the local economy.”

The group, which is affiliated with the Gamaliel National Network, plans to send members to speak at the Washington City Council’s public forum Tuesday night, as well as a county Board of Supervisors meeting at an unspecified date.

“We are just kind of going with the city council at the moment ... and then we’re planning to have another meeting to debrief how that went, and then we’ll reorganize to discuss further plans,” Hertzler said.

Their request comes on the heels of success for the group in Johnson County, which recently approved plans to establish a direct payment program in March.

“We’re recommending cities follow that same model based on the Johnson County model,” Iowa City Organizer David Goodner said. “They have some kind of agency now that does assistance programs and they could do direct assistance where they’re writing checks to people who need it.”

While Washington County’s more conservative political environment may pose challenges, Goodner said the group’s win in Iowa City was an also an uphill battle.

“Immigrant workers in Johnson County had to fight like hell to win this policy from so-called liberal Democrats,” he said. “Escucha mi Voz is an independent organization (that) holds both political parties accountable to the will of the people and the needs of the people ... they made it happen through their own grit and tenacity, not because of who the elected officials happen to be here.”

Goodner said the group had settled on the $1,400 amount as a middle ground after requests for $3,200 checks in Johnson County failed to pass.

“We’re trying to have a consistent and coordinated model from county to county,” he said. “We’re building out a support network piece by piece, we don’t want each piece to be different. So what (we’re) recommending is that counties adopt the Johnson County program which was set at $1,400.”

Escucha Mi Voz is leading simultaneous efforts in Columbus Junction and West Liberty.

“We’re not going to stop, we’re going to continue doing it,” Columbus Junction advocate Areli Espinosa said. “We don’t have [anything] to lose ... I’ve seen so many unfair things and I want to have justice for everyone. I want everyone to be treated equally. A lot of people are not born here, but they’re hard workers.”

Iowa City Immigration lawyer Jessica Malott said a direct payment program would not put immigrant workers at risk.

“[U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services] even posted a notice on its website clarifying that ‘[y]ou may seek pandemic-related benefits and services ... for which you are eligible—without fear of negative consequences to your immigration status,’” Malott said in a letter to Johnson County supervisors. “The agency does not consider public benefits specifically related to COVID because they typically fall under special-purpose cash benefits not considered under the 1999 field guidance.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com