COVID Relief Should Stick to Relief

Press Releases · Feb 4, 2021

Washington, DC—In response to a budget resolution being pushed by the Senate, Heritage Action for America issued the following statement from Executive Director Jessica Anderson

Under the guise of COVID relief, Congressional negotiators are beginning the budget reconciliation process, which they will use to push through a massive spending and bailout package. Any COVID relief bill that bails out state and local governments, appropriates billions to school systems with no guarantee of their reopening, and raises the minimum wage to $15 should be a non-starter.

State and local governments have actually seen their revenue rise by $20 billion during the pandemic, in addition to the hundreds of billions already received from previous COVID packages. And raising the minimum wage could put as many as four million Americans out of work — a sucker punch for Americans struggling to recover from misguided lockdowns. As Heritage Action has said for nearly a year, COVID relief should be targeted and temporary, without bailing out wasteful governments.

In addition, the Senate should not follow Sen. Bernie Sanders and abuse the budget reconciliation process. If eliminating the legislative filibuster is the “nuclear option,” changing or ignoring reconciliation rules would be a dirty bomb. Americans deserve a Senate that abides by its own rules and governs responsibly.