Congressman
Cook Supports
Coronavirus
Stimulus Package
CARES Act Delivers RELIEF
March
27, 2020, Washington D.C. ___
The House of
Representatives passed Bill #748, The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic
Security (CARES) Act. The Bill which passed the
Senate late, Wednesday March 27, passed the House with overwhelming bipartisan
support. It now heads to President Donald Trump where he is expected to sign
the Bill into law.
This Bill is the third and largest piece of legislation designed to
combat the Coronavirus pandemic and protect the American economy
from the associated fallout.
Key provisions of the legislation include the
following:
Cash assistance in the form of a check for lower and middle-income
U.S. residents of up to $1,200 for individuals, $2,400 for married couples, and
an additional $500 for each child. The payments will be available for those
with incomes up to $75,000 for individuals and $150,000 for married couples.
A tax credit for small businesses to cover a portion of wages paid
to their employees during the pandemic.
Expanded unemployment insurance to cover gig workers, self-employed,
and non-profit employees.
- Eight weeks of assistance to small businesses in
the form of loans to employers who maintain their payroll during this emergency.
- A six-month pause on federal student loan
payments with no interest accrual.
- Increased Medicare payments for hospitals that
treat vulnerable coronavirus patients.
- Additional funding for Community Health Care
Centers and Personal Protective Equipment.
- Expanded access to Coronavirus testing and
encouraging the use of new telemedicine technologies to protect and
contain the further spread of Coronavirus.
- Allows the Food and Drug Administration to
quickly approve new treatments and advance vaccine research.
- A significant temporary expansion of Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance, which provides a monthly supplement for purchasing
food, to ensure that low-income Americans have access to the food they
need to feed their families.
- Loans, loan guarantees, and other investments for
large corporations, overseen by a Treasury Department inspector general.
These loans will not exceed five years and must be paid back to the
government.
- Representative Paul Cook
said, “This is a time of true crisis. COVID-19 is a pandemic unlike anything
we’ve seen in our lifetimes. While the CARES Act is not perfect, it is
absolutely necessary. We must contain both the outbreak itself and the economic
carnage this disease is causing.
“Most importantly,
the CARES Act delivers relief directly to private citizens, in the form of
individual payments, expanded unemployment, food aid, and other forms of
assistance. While I would have preferred stricter provisions attached to aid
for airlines and a complete removal of all extraneous add-ins, the bill meets
the crisis head-on, and I consider it my duty to help those families and
individuals in need. Moreover, it lays necessary groundwork for a sustained
economic recovery. To these ends, I support the CARES Act and call for its
immediate implementation.”
BANNER