HEROES Act awaits action
Congressional Dems back $3T COVID-19 relief package as Senate Republicans resist
Congressmen Sean Casten and Jesus “Chuy” Garcia both back the latest COVID-19 relief package pending in Congress, known as the HEROES Act. (One Illinois/Ted Cox)
By Ted Cox
The latest package offering relief to Americans dealing with the coronavirus pandemic has cleared the U.S. House and awaits action by the Senate.
The Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act passed the House late Friday by a vote of 208-199. At an estimated cost of $3 trillion, “It would deliver almost $1 trillion for state and local governments, another round of $1,200 direct payments to individuals and help for the unemployed, renters and homeowners, college debt holders and the struggling Postal Service,” according to The New York Times.
It passed largely along party lines. In fact, 14 Democrats voted against it and only one Republican, Peter King of New York, voted in favor. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky pronounced it a “big laundry list of pet priorities,” and President Trump threatened to veto it.
Illinois senior Sen. Dick Durbin defended it, however, on Saturday in Springfield. “I don’t believe what passed the House yesterday is likely to pass in its entirety,” Durbin said. “I never believed that. What McConnell once proposed didn’t pass in its entirety. But let’s not give up on compromising and bargaining to get the best deal we can for America.”
Democrats insist the additional aid package is necessary to get money to those overlooked in previous coronavirus relief packages, as well as those who need more than just a one-time $1,200 aid payment while corporations are being bailed out with billions of dollars. Gov. Pritzker, meanwhile, has repeatedly insisted that state and local governments across the nation face huge budget shortfalls due to the economic decline brought on by coronavirus mediation efforts, and can only look to the federal government to help fund critical services like police, firefighters, and education.
U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley of Chicago touted the bill’s “$2.1 billion for (the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) to support state, local, and tribal health departments,” adding, “We know that we will not be able to fully revitalize our economy until we have this health-care crisis under control so the HEROES Act includes $75 billion for testing, tracing, and treatment and it ensures all Americans have increased access to health insurance.”
Saying, “A single $1,200 check is not sufficient,” Quigley advocated an additional payment in that amount to U.S. citizens making under $100,000, as well as extending the $600 a week in unemployment benefits through next year “so Americans out of work have a vital safety net to fall back on.”
Calling it “the boldest relief package Congress has ever put forward,” U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos of Moline said in a statement: “Historic needs call for historic measures — we must act with the urgency this time in our history demands. More than 83 thousand American lives have been lost and more than 1.3 million have fallen ill to this merciless virus. Unemployment is soaring, livelihoods are on the line, family farmers are struggling, and our everyday lives have been changed.”
She praised provisions for family farmers in the form of $16.5 billion going to “producers to make up for lost revenue and support for renewable fuels,” as well as “$20 million for the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network program and emergency assistance to support livestock producers who are forced to euthanize market-ready livestock due to processing plant disruptions.” Also key, Bustos added, was $3.6 billion for Election Resilience Grants to ensure safe elections.
U.S. Rep. Sean Casten of Downers Grove praised the “$200 billion Heroes’ fund to ensure that essential workers across the country receive hazard pay,” as well as the way it repeals the controversial cap on federal deductions for state and local taxes, which he said “would provide significant economic relief” to residents in his suburban district “at a time when we are bearing the financial burdens imposed by this pandemic.”
“As our community continues to feel the economic burden of COVID-19, it’s imperative that Congress get help to those in need,” Casten said in a statement. “I’ve consistently advocated and fought to ensure this package included relief for our small-business community and local governments, and workplace protections for those on the front line of this pandemic. Given the crucial role that testing will play in reopening the economy, I am pleased that this bill includes important resources for COVID-19 testing and tracing efforts.”
He also cited an estimated “$36.1 billion in state funding for the people of Illinois in addition to urgently needed funding for 6th District communities.”
“The aid in the HEROES Act is badly needed in every community and sector of the economy,” said U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia of Chicago. “I voted for the HEROES Act to provide more than $3 trillion in relief, including more than $6 billion to my district, for working people, immigrants, small businesses, as well as vital resources and protections to frontline, essential workers and families struggling to stay afloat during the coronavirus pandemic. This legislation does what the CARES Act and the previous four relief bills did not: it includes immigrants and it addresses some of the key systemic disparities causing pain for working people, Latinos, and the families I represent.”
He cheered “$175 billion in rent or mortgage emergency assistance (to) help keep families in their homes,” as well as expanding $1,200 relief payments to documented workers who might not be U.S. citizens, but are paying taxes — many in the same dire straits as other idled workers.
“The Republicans continue to prioritize corporations and profit over the very lives of the people they represent,” Garcia added. “Mitch McConnell must pass the HEROES Act and provide working people the help they need and the economic support our country requires in this unprecedented crisis.”
“Unfortunately, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said that he feels ‘no urgency’ when it comes to passing our next coronavirus response bill,” Quigley said. “As health and economic conditions across the country continue to worsen, it is my hope that Senate Republicans reconsider their position and quickly take up and pass the HEROES Act. Lives quite literally depend on what the federal government does next.”