FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
JULY 27, 2020

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 Senate Republicans Want To Take Your Paycheck

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Senate Republicans showed they weren’t just posturing – they actually want to follow through on their promise to take away the lifeline that unemployed American workers have been relying on since the onset of the pandemic. The bill released today is a corporate wish list, prioritizing giving immunity to businesses who endanger their workers and customers, and slashing unemployment benefits for the tens of millions of Americans now out of work due to no fault of their own. It is, quite simply, undeniable evidence that Senate Republicans and the Trump administration want to direct as little aid as possible to struggling families who can barely afford to put food on the table. In fact, they even named the bill — the ‘health, economic assistance, liability protection and schools’ or HEALS Act — in honor of putting corporate profit margins ahead of workers’ lives.

“For two months, Senate Republicans have stalled and stared at their feet as hundreds of thousands of Americans have died and millions, every single week, lose their jobs,” said Tax March Executive Director Maura Quint. “Now, Republicans are seriously proposing to cut millions of Americans’ income when 1.4 million filed for unemployment just last week. Working families are in a dire situation, but Republicans are dead-set on depriving them of financial relief and health care. The American people need Democrats to demand a complete overhaul of this Senate bill. To support this hateful bill is to turn your back on working- and middle-class families.”

Last week, Tax March reminded Trump, McConnell and their allies that taxpayer money must prioritize working- and middle-class people. Read our Dos and Don’ts for the fourth coronavirus relief package. 

DO… 

• Continue fully funding expanded unemployment benefits — the extra $600 per week has been a lifeline for the more than 50 million Americans who have lost their jobs and income during this pandemic. 
• Protect our frontline workers with hazard pay and protective equipment, fund state and local governments, and prioritize direct relief to people instead of corporations. 
• Include accountability measures for public funds — millions of dollars from the Paycheck Protection Program went to large corporations, Trump’s friends and lobbyists, and billionaires. 

DON’T…

• Pass blanket corporate immunity — shielding corporations from taking lifesaving precautions would expose thousands of employees to unsafe working conditions. 
• Repeal the SALT cap — the current cap on state and local taxes (SALT) is actually a tax on the rich. Overturning this provision would mean 96 percent of this tax cut goes to the highest-earning 20 percent of households, not struggling Americans.
• Slash pandemic unemployment assistance from the current $600 per week to just pennies on the dollar.