Our policy choices now can and should prevent the permanent economic scarring and lifelong health consequences of unemployment, which could affect three in ten Americans over the course of this crisis. We need a clear federal response: a paycheck guarantee.

Unemployment claims in the past three weeks have totaled nearly 17 million. If businesses keep laying off workers at anywhere near this pace, we could see more than twice as many people unemployed by summer. This would be catastrophic for our communities and our economy.

 Almost 15 million Americans work in the sporting event, public performance or food service and drinking establishment industries, more than the size of our manufacturing workforce. This sort of mass shutdown is unprecedented. And, so too, our government’s response must be extraordinary. The government should pay people to stay home.

Voters in three states, Arizona, Florida and Illinois, went to the polls Tuesday to vote in primary elections. Two other states, Georgia and Louisiana, delayed their elections and Ohio’s governor barred Tuesday’s election from going forward. In the midst of a growing COVID-19 outbreak, how do we exercise our right to vote while keeping voters, poll workers, and the rest of us safe? We vote from home.

It should not take a terrifying national emergency for us to wake up to the realization that we all pay the price when we treat people like they don’t matter.