Aimee Berger-Girvalo Releases Comprehensive COVID Recovery Plan

Press release from Aimee Berger-Girvalo for Ridgefield:

October 8, 2020

RIDGEFIELD, C.T. — Aimee Berger-Girvalo, Democratic candidate for Connecticut House of Representatives in the 111th District, today released a comprehensive plan to address the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic recession plaguing so many families. Berger-Girvalo’s plan includes establishing a single-payer health care option, providing struggling small businesses with grants and emergency rent subsidies, increasing safety and accountability at nursing homes, and creating new jobs as the economy rebounds.

“Connecticut’s working families are struggling to pay rent and stay safe; small businesses are facing financial collapse; and our communities are doing everything they can to survive while the next wave builds. Our state legislature can and must do so much more, including providing small business relief, expanding child care access, and protecting our vulnerable frontline workers and senior population," said Berger-Girvalo. “This pandemic has laid bare the gaps in our social safety net, and we need Hartford to understand that spending smartly now will save much more down the road. I’m ready to lead that charge.”

Berger-Girvalo is calling for the following measures to address the COVID-19 pandemic:

Health care reform

• Set the standard nationwide by establishing a single-payer health care option, providing crucial financial relief for small and mid-size businesses, entrepreneurs, startups, and working families.
• Establish safe staffing ratios for all hospitals and nursing homes.
• Protect our seniors by requiring all nursing homes to have a pandemic plan in place and ensuring all facilities have a minimum two-month supply of PPE. Hold nursing homes accountable for failing to stop the spread of the virus.

Local business relief

• Halt all commercial evictions until rental subsidies can be put in place.
• Immediately provide emergency rent subsidies for small businesses that are struggling.
• Expand the Connecticut Recovery Bridge Loan Program to continue providing no-interest loans to small businesses — particularly women, veteran, and minority-owned businesses.
• Create a grant program for small businesses that can demonstrate hardship and cannot afford to take on additional debt, as is being done in Rhode Island.
• Cap delivery platform fees at 10 percent. Deferring fees, as some companies have done, is not enough to help businesses that are struggling to survive.
• Expand Sales Tax Free Week to non-chain restaurants and extend through October, November and December to encourage shopping locally.

Economic recovery

• Create and sustain green jobs in renewable energy generation, research, design and consulting services, transportation, energy efficiency and trading, green construction and more.
• Foster the creation of wind farms, which provide a domestic energy source in a cost-efficient and competitive market.
• Create a jobs portal to connect the unemployed with talent-seeking industries and short-handed businesses.

Supporting working families

• Halt all residential evictions and foreclosures for the duration of the crisis.
• Continue to provide emergency rental assistance and mortgage relief to struggling families.
• Expand access to affordable, high quality childcare.

Aimee Berger-Girvalo is an advocate and dedicated community volunteer who has lived in Ridgefield for 15 years. She has managed multi-million dollar, corporate businesses, including working as a General Manager for Gap Inc., and currently works in special education programs as an Applied Behavior Analysis Therapist. For more than a decade, she has been the director and coach of the Ridgefield Holland Soccer program, a volunteer-run program that enables children with physical and learning differences to participate in the sport. Berger-Girvalo has raised her two children in Ridgefield, both attending public schools. Berger-Girvalo is running for State Representative in Connecticut’s 111th District and has been endorsed by CSEA/SEIU Local 2001, CT Against Gun Violence, U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, Congressman Jim Himes, Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi, Planned Parenthood Votes! Connecticut, NARAL Pro-Choice Connecticut, and more.

This press release was produced by Aimee Berger-Girvalo for Ridgefield. The views expressed here are the author's own.