Excluded workers deserved better from Johnson County supervisors

All Johnson County residents suffered losses from the pandemic, but not all residents were helped by government stabilization or enhanced unemployment checks.

Three members of the Johnson County Board of Supervisors cemented this inequality and sidetracked the discussion about American Rescue Plan Act payments by raising irrelevant “what-about” questions and even questioning whether the county could do such a program after twice being given a path by Supervisor Jon Green. Their platitudes of “equal treatment” intentionally avoided the best question: “Who has, and, more importantly, who has not, been helped by government checks?”

When determining the fairness of a race, it is crucial to consider how contestants were placed at the starting line. When the supervisors began considering the ARPA payments, many county residents began with $3,200 and enhanced unemployment ahead of $0 for excluded workers. That is not an equal starting line, but three supervisors ignored that.

These residents — tax-paying, but temporary or undocumented or under-documented workers; those recently incarcerated; and those workers paid with cash; among others — are ineligible for the stabilization checks or enhanced unemployment. This group has received $0. Iowa’s economy, especially meatpacking, agriculture, manufacturing, construction and retail, would collapse in a few weeks without the excluded workers.

“We all do better when we all do better,” is the standard that should guide us when distributing the $3.5 million in Johnson County and Iowa City ARPA funds. It is not a matter of giving more to those who already have been helped. It is a matter of giving some to those who have received zero.

All of Johnson County does better when more of our residents have increased financial security.

Johnson County could have brought a small degree of equity and appreciative acknowledgment to the excluded workers by giving them $1,400 checks. Two supervisors, Green and Rod Sullivan, chose to include them. Three others let that opportunity to mend income inequality pass. We are all the lesser for it.

Tom Carsner lives in Iowa City.