Four Republican senators are warning that they will oppose fast-tracking the $2 trillion coronavirus response package unless a “massive drafting error” in the legislation is fixed. They say it would create an incentive for employers to lay off employees.
“You want to destroy what’s left of the economy? Pass it the way it’s written,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in a press conference. “If you want to help people, pay them their wages, but don’t pay them more not to work.”
It doesn’t appear to be an “error” since Bernie Sanders will vote against the bill if the ‘benefit’ doesn’t remain in the bill.
Unless Republican Senators drop their objections to the coronavirus legislation, I am prepared to put a hold on this bill until stronger conditions are imposed on the $500 billion corporate welfare fund. pic.twitter.com/7X0o9C4BoO
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) March 25, 2020
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The concern from Sens. Graham, Tim Scott, R-S.C., Ben Sasse, R-Neb., and Rick Scott, R-Fla., is that the current version could pay workers more in unemployment benefits than they’re currently making. It includes a $600 per week payment on top of ordinary benefits that are calculated as a percentage of income.
This could disrupt the labor market further, the lawmakers warn.
They say it could have devastating consequences: Unless this bill is fixed, there is a strong incentive for employees to be laid off instead of going to work. This isn’t an abstract, philosophical point — it’s an immediate, real-world problem,” Tim Scott, Sasse, and Graham said in a statement.
In the press conference, Sen. Tim Scott gave the example of someone in South Carolina making $20 an hour, or $800 a week, who could get up to $326 of unemployment benefits in the state, followed by another $600 a week in the federal benefit, meaning they would be earning more than their normal salary.
“This legislation would not stop at 100 percent of your income, this legislation would allow you in unemployment to make more than you do in employment,” Scott said. “We know that that is a drafting error and we are simply providing an amendment to fix that so you do not make more in unemployment than you do when you’re working.”
It’s apparently a ‘drafting error’ Bernie Sanders likes.
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We are working at a disadvantage since the bill is not available, but we did get some information from congressmen tweeting.
The package includes $75 million for the National Endowment for the Humanities, $13 million for Howard University, $350 million for ‘Migration and Refugee Assistance,’ $25 million for the Kennedy Center, millions for NPR, prohibits the Pentagon from using funds on the border wall, and President Trump’s family businesses will be barred from any type of aid.
What does any of that have to do with Coronavirus?
There is allegedly a one-time $1200 payment to most Americans and the rumor is Pelosi was against cash payments. We can’t verify this because the bill isn’t available to read.
It’s a stimulus, and it includes $500 billion to keep corporations from laying off workers.
Watch:
The Senate has reached a deal on the $2 trillion dollar stimulus that would provide payments to most Americans. @KimStrassel joins us to discuss on #DailyBriefing. pic.twitter.com/ul15wi5Kjz
— The Daily Briefing (@dailybriefing) March 25, 2020
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