Economic Development and Workforce

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. The PRO Act is the most comprehensive workers' rights legislation since the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).

WASHINGTON, D.C.—On Saturday, over 100 Democratic lawmakers sent a letter led by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to express their commitment to including a pathway to citizenship for essential workers, TPS holders, and Dreamers in the COVID-19 budget reconciliation package.

WASHINGTON — Today, President-Elect Joe Biden nominated Isabel Guzman as Small Business Administrator. Guzman currently serves as Director of California's Office of the Small Business Advocate. She was appointed to the position by Gov. Gavin Newsom. She is also the co-founder of a small business called GovContractPros. The company helps small business owners navigate federal government resources. Following the nomination, Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) Chairman Raul Ruiz, M.D. (CA-36) released the following statement:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairman Joaquin Castro (TX-20) issued the following statement on the passage of the Heroes Act:

"The Heroes Act is the federal response we need to overcome the gravest national crisis in a century. The coronavirus pandemic and the Trump administration's failures have resulted in nearly 1.5 million people infected, over 87,000 American deaths, and more than 36 million unemployed workers. Latinos have been hit especially hard in this crisis — one in five are out of work, we are the highest uninsured rate of any group, and also make up millions of essential workers as part of our nation's ‘critical infrastructure.' This bill sends a strong message that we will get through this crisis together as one American family.

SAN ANTONIO — The Congressional Hispanic Caucus is proud to endorse the Paycheck Guarantee Act introduced by Congressional Progressive Caucus Co-Chair Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), which would help end mass layoffs, keep workers in their jobs and connected to their health care and other benefits, prevent employers of all sizes from being forced to close permanently, and ensure that the economy is ready to restart when the COVID-19 pandemic ends. A white paper on the bill is available here, and a one-page summary is available here.

WASHINGTON — Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and Rep. Darren Soto sent a letter to Secretary Mnuchin of the Department of the Treasury and Administrator Carranza of the Small Business Administration urging that affiliation rules not be changed to allow large private equity firms to gain access to CARES Act funding intended for small businesses. This action is in response to possible attempts by large private equity firms to find and exploit loopholes in the CARES Act and subsequent legislation.

WASHINGTON—Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairman Joaquin Castro and 18 members sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Perdue, Health and Human Services Secretary Azar, and Department of Labor Secretary Scalia calling for an investigation of working conditions in meatpacking facilities during the COVID-19 crisis and emergency standards to protect meatpacking workers.

WASHINGTON— Today, the Chairs of the Congressional Tri-Caucus – which is composed of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, the Congressional Black Caucus, and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus – issued the following joint statement in response to recent reports that large corporations, rather than small businesses, received millions and even billions of dollars in loans from major banks participating in the Small Business Administration (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

The Tri-Caucus Chairs include Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Congressional Black Caucus Chair Karen Bass (CA-37), and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus Chair Judy Chu (CA-27):