New Trillion-Dollar COVID Relief Bill is a Non-Starter

Press Releases · Dec 1, 2020

Washington, DC—Heritage Action for America today released a statement from Vice President of Government Relations and Communications Garrett Bess, responding to a new bipartisan COVID-19 spending proposal:

After months of delays, some Senators and Representatives have released a COVID proposal that fails to effectively target funding or get Americans back to work. This bill is a non-starter for conservatives.

First, the bill contains $160 billion in state and local bailouts. Taxpayers in well-managed states should not be forced to fund irresponsible governors and mayors who mismanaged their states’ finances. Heritage Action has said since the beginning of the pandemic that these bailouts are a red line for conservatives.

Second, the bill contains $180 billion in additional funding for the harmful $300 per week supplemental unemployment insurance through March. According to research from The Heritage Foundation, supplemental unemployment insurance will lead to millions of jobs lost and a trillion-dollar hit to our economy. Congress should focus on allowing the economy to recover and get the nation back to work, not incentivize layoffs and job losses.

Finally, the bill contains numerous irrelevant policies including funding for the postal service and other extraneous programs. These programs have little to do with the current crisis, and a real COVID relief package would focus on the pandemic and not contain pet policy priorities.

Instead of spending nearly a trillion dollars of taxpayer money on costly and ineffective measures, Congress should focus on the specific health impacts of COVID-19, small business relief, and getting the nation back to work.