WASHINGTON -  Youngstown Mayor Tito Brown is scheduled on Thursday to tell lawmakers in Washington what his city needs in terms of relief from the pandemic.

The office of Senator Sherrod Brown, Chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, will hold a hearing on COVID-19 recovery efforts.

Mayor Brown and other witnesses will discuss their need for what the Senator calls immediate, equitable relief.

Last month,  Mayor Brown joined  Senator Brown Wednesday as he introduced legislation that would create a fund to provide direct assistance to Ohio cities, towns, villages, and counties struggling financially due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Direct Support for Communities Act would create a fund that would provide direct federal assistance that provides necessary relief on lost revenues and increased costs from the COVID-19 emergency.

The fund would be split 50/50. Half would be committed to cities, towns, and villages. The other half would be committed to counties.

The portion of emergency financial assistance for counties would largely be allocated across all counties based on population.

Mayor Brown said his city is at 12.5 percent unemployment, which he said has increased almost two-fold since the start of the pandemic.  The mayor added that Mahoning County is about the fifth-worst in the state when it comes to unemployment.

Also scheduled to testify at the 11 a.m. hearing is Jyoshu Tsushima from the Legal Aid Society of Columbus, John A. Costa, International President, Amalgamated Transit Union, AFL-CIO/CLC, Dr. Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Ph.D., President, American Action Forum, and John Cracchiolo, Manager, Sal & Jerry's Bakery, West Babylon, New York.

The hearing will be live-streamed on www.banking.senate.gov.