Washington—Heritage Action for America today released a statement from Jessica Anderson, Executive Director of Heritage Action for America, in response to a proposed $3 trillion coronavirus relief bill:
Speaker Pelosi showed her partisan hand yet again today by introducing a bill to advance long-standing left-wing interests instead of addressing the needs of the pandemic.The bill would spend billions on bailouts of state pension plans, student loan forgiveness, “environmental justice,” and a laundry list of “progressive” causes unrelated to the coronavirus pandemic.
The biggest items in the bill would give nearly $900 billion in unrestricted funds to states and cities. Americans across the country have rejected this idea — they know it would reward irresponsible states with mismanaged finances. That’s the last thing America needs.
Worse, the bill fails to make important changes to the CARES Act. The CARES Act included an unemployment insurance expansion that allows many workers to actually make more in unemployment than they did working. Now businesses across the country can’t hire employees back because the government is paying twice as much and they are not protected from frivolous lawsuits when they reopen.
There’s a deeper issue at stake than just overreaching liberal policies: the left is stoking a nationwide panic to drive support for their agenda. Most of the nation is not experiencing the same crisis as places like New York. Just 1% of the nation’s counties are responsible for half of the country’s COVID-19 cases. Americans are increasingly following the science and understanding many parts of the country are not in crisis.
Americans don’t want a bailout — they want to get back to work. Instead of spending $3 trillion on issues unrelated to the coronavirus, Congress should fix the problems keeping the nation from recovery.