Congressman Joe Neguse Statement on Interim Emergency Package

Statement

Congressman Joe Neguse issued this statement after voting to pass the interim emergency relief package before the U.S. House today:

"As we continue to weather the unprecedented public health emergency before us, the stress on our hospitals, small businesses, workers and families has only grown. Each day our Main Street small businesses in Colorado are struggling to survive and to pay their workers. This legislation will strengthen the Paycheck Protection Program, adding additional funds for small businesses and expand small business support beyond PPP by increasing funding for emergency disaster loans and grants. It will also provide an additional $100 billion for hospitals, providers and testing to help address the health needs of the people of our state. To be clear, this interim package does not go nearly far enough in my view, and Congress must do more -- now. As we continue negotiations on doing precisely that, this interim package will ensure our small businesses can continue to access emergency grants and loans and that our hospitals can continue to care for individuals with COVID-19."

"We know, however, that our local communities, first responders and frontline health care workers need much more in direct emergency relief. The next bill, CARES 2, must be transformative, far-reaching and recognize that the key to getting Americans back to work and ensuring economic security is by putting the health and safety of the American people first. Congress must provide robust funding for local communities with populations under 500,000, funding for states, hazard pay for all front line workers and prolonged direct relief for American families and workers. I implore my colleagues in the Senate to approach the negotiating table in good faith, putting the needs of workers and the public health first. We must meet this moment and fully provide the economic relief our country needs."

Specifically the interim package:

· strengthens the Paycheck Protection Program with $310 billion in additional funding, with $30 billion reserved for community-based lenders, small banks and credit unions and $30 billion for mid-sized banks and credit unions.

· expands small business support beyond PPP by securing $50 billion for SBA emergency disaster lending, translating into more than $350 billion in loans, and $10 billion in SBA emergency disaster grants and secures strong protections to ensure that our nation's farmers have access to this vital assistance.

· Authorizes $75 billion to provide resources to the frontlines, including Personal Protective Equipment

· And $25 billion for testing, which is the key to reopening the economy and resuming our lives. It also ensures a national strategic testing policy that will focus on increasing domestic testing capacity including testing supplies.

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