Fellow Conservative,

Good Saturday morning!

The CARES Act, a two trillion dollar stimulus bill, was passed in the Senate on Wednesday, the House on Friday, and was signed into law by the President Friday afternoon.

Senator Rick Scott (R-Fla.) joined us for a special teletownhall on Thursday to discuss what’s in the bill—listen to the call here <[link removed]>. Thank you, Senator Scott, for your keen insights!
Unfortunately, the CARES Act missed the mark <[link removed]> and included policy provisions unrelated to the epidemic. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) used the suffering of Americans as a bargaining chip in order to push for these liberal policies:



- $25 million for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
- $75 million for the Corporation For Public Broadcasting (NPR & PBS)
- $75 million for the National Endowment for the Arts
- $75 million for the National Endowment for the Humanities


Schumer also negotiated for an expansion to unemployment insurance (UI) that is harmful to the recovery of our economy—he referred to it as “unemployment insurance on steroids.”

Schumer’s UI expansion will pay many workers significantly more money to be unemployed than they would receive if they were working. This encourages people to become separated from their employers and discourages them from returning to work. This is not going to help the economy recover!

We should be doing everything possible to help people stay employed. If people stay employed, they will keep their health insurance at this critical time and they will be able to quickly return to work after the crisis has subdued.

It is also important to help American workers at this critical time—that’s why Heritage Action and grassroots activists fought for provisions <[link removed]> to help businesses to keep paying their employees.

Throughout this process, conservative activists have advocated for
improvements to the bill to better align with free-market values. And we were happy to join with Senators Ben Sasse (Neb.), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Tim Scott (S.C.), Ted Cruz (Texas), and Rick Scott (Fla.) in calling for an amendment <[link removed]> to
the CARES act to fix Schumer’s unemployment provision. Unfortunately, liberals in the Senate defeated the amendment, and the provision remains in the final bill.
The CARES Act is far from perfect. It includes fiscally irresponsible bailouts for major industries, divorces the employer from the employee, and encourages more Americans to rely on the government for their general welfare.

However, there is positive news. Conservatives fought for relief for small businesses who have been shut down or experienced other hardships due to government mandates, and robust aid to small businesses and their employees were included in the bill. And there are tens of thousands of Americans who will continue to be paid by their employers because of an employer tax credit, similar to the “epidemic tax credit” proposed by The Heritage Foundation <[link removed]>. In addition, Conservatives were also able to ensure Planned Parenthood wouldn't receive relief funds and many Governors have already closed the abortion giant’s offices.

For additional information about the Coronavirus and policy response, check out our Coronavirus FAQ <[link removed]> (and use it as a resource to answer the questions of your friends and family members). It contains a helpful timeline of events as well as answers to the most frequently asked questions.

Thank you for your support and activism during this critical week!

Your Heritage Action Team

P.S. - In case you missed it: Vice President Jessica Anderson has been named as the new Executive Director of Heritage Action for America <[link removed]>.

We wish Tim Chapman all the best as he transitions to lead former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley’s organization, Stand for America <[link removed]>, and are excited Jessica will be at the helm of Heritage Action.

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