W E E K L Y  U P D A T E  August 17th, 2020 In this Week's Issue: NEMWI Energy Expert Concludes Energy Policy Series with Recommendations Macroeconomic Policy Experts Agree on Need for Federal Aid to States and Localities House to Reconvene to Address Postal Delays Follow the Northeast-Midwest Institute on Facebook Quicklinks  Northeast-Midwest Institute NEMWI Energy Expert Concludes Energy Policy Series with Recommendations   NEMWI today released a Research Brief titled "Energy Policy Recommendations for the Northeast-Midwest Region," which concludes its five-part series titled "Could Renewable Energy Be a Key Driver for Economic Recovery from the COVID-19 Shutdown?" The position paper is authored by Senior Fellow for Energy Policy Richard Corrigan and Research Intern for Energy Policy Cotter McCarthy. The Research Brief recommends that the Northeast-Midwest region prioritize investment in renewable energy, housing and building energy efficiency retrofits, and policies that support environmental justice communities. To achieve these objectives, the paper suggests modifying already existing financial tools within federal and state governments. The Research Brief "Energy Policy Recommendations for the Northeast-Midwest Region" can be found here.  Macroeconomic Policy Experts Agree on Need for Federal Aid to States and Localities A panel of macroeconomic policy experts hosted by the Economic Policy Institute for a webinar last Friday underscored the extraordinary level of consensus for swift Congressional action delivering federal financial assistance to states and localities, replacing their non-recoverable tax and fee revenue losses.  EPI President Thea Lee introduced and Washington Post journalist Heather Long moderated the panel which included Glen Hubbard, Gbenga AjIlore, Josh Bivens, Jason Furman, and Mark Zandi.  The recording of the webinar is available here. Institute Senior Fellow for Public Finance Policy Tom Cochran commented, "Looking back over the 50 years I have been involved in public finance policy research, analysis, and advocacy, I can't recall ever having seen this degree of consensus across the  spectrum of leading macroeconomists on a significant fiscal policy choice of any kind facing Congress." See more of Cochran's blog commentary here and Institute Research Intern Maria  Bolaños' recently published Issue Brief on the macroeconomic case for state/local fiscal relief here. Also last week The New York Times published a good summary by Jeanna Smialek, Alan Rappeport, and Emily Cochrane covering the State and local fiscal crisis (in which every state finds itself as the Greater Recession takes hold everywhere.) It also reports the broad consensus of expert opinion on how the crisis will deepen and prolong the economic pain if federal help doesn't come quickly. Two recent Wall Street Journal pieces have also joined the growing chorus of daily press coverage of the issue: Coronavirus-Hit State Budgets Create a Drag on U.S. Recovery by Kate Davidson and David Harrison and  State-Aid Disagreement Proves Big Hurdle for Coronavirus Talks, by the same reporters. House to Reconvene to Address Postal Delays Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), announced that the House will be reconvened this week to address concerns about reforms being implemented by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy that critics have cited are delaying mail delivery and could adversely impact the November elections. The Postal Service (USPS) has said that these reforms, which include cutting overtime, are necessary as postal revenues have decreased significantly over time. The USPS has said that it might not be able to process ballots on time in November. In addition, along with potential impacts to the upcoming general election, critics have also expressed concerns with delays for mail order prescription drugs for veterans. The House will reconvene to consider legislation to ensure levels of service comparable to earlier this year. The bill, which is called the Delivering for America Act, would prohibit the USPS from implementing any changes to the operations or level of service it had in place on January 1, 2020, until the COVID-19 pandemic has ended. This week's House schedule remains extremely fluid. Additionally, the House Committee on Government Reform has scheduled a hearing for next week with the Postmaster General. The hearing is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. on Monday, August 24, 2020, in the Rayburn building and will be livestreamed on the Committee's website. Follow the Northeast-Midwest Institute on Facebook   LIKE us on Facebook! The Northeast-Midwest Institute is on Facebook with new updates and information on its regional research and policy education program and with announcements for upcoming briefings and events. NEMWI is posting our research reports on current regional issues and ongoing policy education on the page to make keeping up with our policy work easier than ever. The Institute also is updating the page with announcements of upcoming policy briefings and webinars. NEMWI is excited for the opportunity to connect with as many people as possible on our Facebook page.   Please check out our Facebook page here. And be sure to LIKE us to begin following NEMWI on Facebook! This Week in Washington There are no relevant hearings scheduled this week. NEMWI: Strengthening the Region that Sustains the Nation