Dec 18, 2020 2 min read

It’s time to help our businesses and workers

For the last nine months, a pandemic has been raging across our country and the world. Over the past few weeks, things have only gotten worse, with more infections, more hospitalizations, more deaths, more politicization, and now additional restrictions imposed by the state.

I completely agree that we need to mitigate this virus in order to keep as many people safe and healthy as possible, especially our most vulnerable citizens. We also must keep our hospitals and their staffs from reaching a breaking point. However, this most recent shutdown, while necessary, has not been executed properly.

Local governments, nurses, doctors, first responders, grocery and retail workers, and so many others are on the front lines trying to keep everyone safe, and keep things moving forward. The problem is, while this current shutdown may help slow the spread of the virus, it is delivering a devastating blow to small businesses. In many of our communities, our business districts have taken hit after hit over the decades. In many cases, they are shells of their former selves. This shutdown is dealing death blows to already struggling businesses, while larger retail and restaurant chains are raking in increased profits.

I am in full support of getting this virus under control; however, I am also in support of getting aid to businesses, frontline workers, and the unemployed, because, they need it the most. If these businesses and workers are to survive these shutdown and mitigation measures, we need our Legislature and the Congress to strike bipartisan deals. Struggling Americans need the help right now.

It’s not a handout. It’s a preventive measure to stop our economy from free-falling, to stop our health crisis from getting even worse, and to stop causing avoidable deaths and sickness.

The health of our communities, the health of our economy, the health of our region, the health of our commonwealth, and the health of this nation are at stake.

Matt Shorraw

Monessen

Shorraw is the mayor of Monessen.