It was horrible legislation for any number of reasons, but now all of the people still lucky enough to be able to have a job working remotely will not be able to offset their wages with the actual costs they incur for the rents, mortgages, utility costs, equipment (personal home laptops, personal phones), supplies (files folders, paper, pens), and so on that are real costs of them being able to continue to work.
Home office costs should not have to be itemized to be deducted. They should directly offset W-2 wages and be deducted “above the line”— which is to say they should be subtracted *before* the Adjusted Gross Income number (why is this important? Well, a lot of other numbers — like ACA tax credits for example — use AGI as the base number to calculate what other deductions are allowed, and how much those deductions are).
Write your representative. The first bailout allowed folks to deduct a maximum $300 charitable contribution above the line. People who are being compelled to work from home should be able to deduct their expenses from their wages.