As Congress considers the next coronavirus aid package, the following resources from the American Action Forum assess the impact of past policies and propose a new policy to aid the recovery.

• Parsing the Reasons for Layoffs in State and Local Governments: AAF’s Labor Market Policy Data Analyst Isabel Soto writes that work incentives created by the federal unemployment supplement are likely contributing to states and local governments laying off workers.
• Unemployment Benefits and Returning to Work: Soto finds that the maximum unemployment benefit is now greater than the median wage in the majority of states.
• State Unemployment Benefits and Returning to Work: Soto finds that 63 percent of all workers make more on maximum unemployment benefits than when working, and reducing the federal supplement to $100 still leaves 25 percent of workers making more on maximum unemployment.
• The AAF Exchange — Labor Market Intervention & Unemployment Insurance: On AAF’s podcast, Soto discusses federal and state labor market interventions in response to COVID-19, including the unemployment insurance supplement in the CARES Act and its implications for the economic recovery.

• Safely Opening the Economy: AAF President Douglas Holtz-Eakin sketches a tax-credit proposal that would encourage businesses to take the steps necessary to open safely, allowing them to operate in the presence of the virus.
• Targeted Pro-Growth, Public-Health Tax Policy: To support both economic growth and the public health fight against COVID-19, Congress could improve the incentives for innovative infectious disease drug development, Holtz-Eakin argues.