TAKE ACTION: Tell your Representative to support vital provisions that support survivors in the HEROES Act!

On May 12, 2020, the House introduced its latest COVID-19 aid package: the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act, or the HEROES Act, H.R. 6800 (see the full text, one-pager overview, or detailed title-by-title summary).

The HEROES Act includes a number of provisions that increase support for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault and bolster the programs that serve them, and importantly includes critical provisions to help immigrants who were left out of earlier-enacted relief packages. The bill also provides essential protections to address housing and food insecurity that will help all those who are struggling, including survivors. The House is expected to vote on the HEROES Act this Friday.

TAKE ACTION: Contact your Representative (find contact information here) TODAY and urge them to support the important provisions in the HEROES Act that help all survivors, and to stand firm in preserving those provisions, especially provisions vital to immigrant survivors, as the HEROES Act moves forward in negotiations with the Senate.

Suggested Call/Email Script: "Hello. My name is [your name], and I am a constituent calling from [your location and, if applicable, your program]. COVID-19 disproportionately impacts victims and survivors of domestic and sexual violence, and immigrant survivors are particularly vulnerable. I’m calling today to ask you to support the vital provisions in the HEROES Act that provide crucial aid to survivors when the House votes on the bill this Friday. Please support the provisions that [insert any of the provisions in the HEROES Act listed below]. Please protect the health, safety, and economic security of all survivors of domestic and sexual violence by supporting these important provisions and ensuring that they are included in the next COVID-19 aid package."

The HEROES Act includes the following provisions that will provide support and assistance to survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, advocates, and local programs:

  • increases funding for Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA - $50 million) and Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) programs ($100 million - see details on the break-down for different programs here on page two), and waives matching fund requirements that could otherwise prove impossible for resource-strapped programs to meet at this time;

  • provides additional stimulus payments to help sustain hard-hit families, and this time, ensures that the payments go to all taxpayers, including immigrant victims who file and pay taxes using an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN);

  • ensures that uninsured individuals, including immigrant victims, in states that opt to cover them through Medicaid have access to free COVID-19 testing, treatment, and care;

  • automatically extends, for a temporary period, immigration status or work authorization, including that of immigrant victims, that has expired or is set to expire during the emergency;

As the House will be voting on the HEROES Act this Friday, May 15, please make sure to contact your Representative today. While the timing and content for Senate action is uncertain, the more support we can build for these provisions now in the House, and the more bipartisan support we secure, the better the chance for these critical provisions to survive into law where they can actually reach and benefit survivors. Thank you for your advocacy!