Maritza Perez, JD, is the director of the Office of National Affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance in Washington, DC, where she leads the organization’s federal legislative agenda and strategy. She was previously a senior policy analyst at the Center for American Progress, where her portfolio included marijuana policy, policing and prison and sentencing reform. She was formerly a legislative staff attorney at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
In May, the US House of Representatives passed CARES 2—the HEROES Act—another legislative package responding to COVID-19. The measure contained…