I'm voting yes on the HEROES Act today because it will help our state and local governments survive, keep our cops, firefighters and teachers on the job, and fund the testing and contact tracing we desperately need to go back to work and school safely.
We are losing too many lives and jobs to wait and see what happens. What we do now will decide whether we endure a painful but brief crisis or a long economic depression. washingtonpost.com/business/2020/…
I'm happy our bill takes a stand for tax fairness for middle class families in states like New Jersey by restoring the SALT deduction . I promised my constituents that the House would fight for them, and we will keep at it till the job is done.
The bill also includes bipartisan legislation I wrote to ensure that our national stockpile of medical and protective equipment is fully funded and maintained so that we are better prepared for the next crisis. couriernewsroom.com/2020/05/07/rep…
I don't like everything in this bill or the process that produced it. As I've said before, we should not be passing massive bills with no regular order or time for all members to fully consider their consequences.
The biggest flaw in my view: It would be better to preserve jobs with payments direct from the IRS to employers than extend $600 a week in unemployment. If we're spending this much money, I'd rather pay people to be employed than to stay unemployed. washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/…
I don't expect @senatemajldr McConnell to agree with the entire House bill. But he should say what he wants to change and start negotiating so we can find common ground, as we did when the Senate passed its own partisan bill 3 weeks ago. I'm voting yes to start that process.
Finally: Let's remember we wouldn't have to keep rescuing our economy if our government had used the time Congress bought with the last relief package to mobilize the national public health response needed to open the economy safely.
We are spending trillions not because of the coronavirus, but because of our failure to prepare when we knew that it was coming, and to test when we saw that it was spreading. We must spend what it takes to save lives and jobs now. But the price was avoidable.
