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

• State Unemployment Benefits and Returning to Work: AAF’s Labor Market Policy Data Analyst Isabel 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.
• 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.
• Parsing the Reasons for Layoffs in State and Local Governments: Soto writes that work incentives created by the federal unemployment supplement are likely contributing to states and local governments laying off workers.

• 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.
• The FDA and COVID Testing Priorities: Holtz-Eakin explains the advantages of less-accurate but significantly faster coronavirus testing — testing that current regulations do not allow.