Fellow Conservative,

This holiday weekend will look different than any other in our recent past, with forgone traditions and canceled vacations. In these times, faith and family are sources of comfort, support, and hope. We wish all those who are celebrating Easter and Passover a meaningful and fulfilling observance.

Democrats Block $250 Billion for Workers

On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader McConnell asked the Senate to approve President Trump’s request for an additional $250 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), and we were supportive of this request.

The PPP is good policy because it is temporary, targeted, and has an immediate impact; it helps small businesses to continue paying employees, even if business has slowed due to a government-ordered shutdown. It prevents lay-offs, eases economic hardship for employees, and will allow for more of America’s workforce to immediately return to full employment as soon as stay-at-home orders are lifted or eased.

Senate Democrats threatened to object to further support of the bipartisan PPP unless their liberal policy wishlist was also included. They wanted:

• $100 billion for hospitals and health care centers
• $150 billion to bail out state and local governments
• Increased funding for food stamps

Making good on their threats, Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) blocked the Senate’s $250 billion increase to the Paycheck Protection Program—money that would have kept American workers employed.

Once again, the Left doesn’t care about working Americans…unless they can be used as bargaining chips to push their liberal agenda.

Resources for Small Business Owners

The Paycheck Protection Program is designed to keep American small businesses open through forgivable loans provided by the Small Business Administration. The SBA will forgive loans if all employees are kept on the payroll for eight weeks and the money is used for payroll, rent, mortgage interest, or utilities.

Need help navigating the PPP? No problem! On Monday of this past week, Heritage Action hosted a special call to discuss resources for small business owners created by the CARES Act. You can listen in here:

P.S. We’ve compiled a state-by-state list of small business resources to combat COVID-19. See the list here.

Heritage Action At Work

• Pennsylvania takes note of Heritage Action activists—PoliticsPA covered the great work our activists are doing to educate voters in 2020. During this time of social-distancing, they have been making thousands of calls to voters, engaging them in issue-based conversations, and recruiting them to become grassroots activists themselves. We tip our hats to the grassroots!

• Increasing trade with democratic Taiwan—The Chinese government has again shown it's totalitarian nature during the COVID-19 pandemic. In these times, it's important for America to recognize who it's true friends are. Executive Director Jessica Anderson signed onto a letter this week calling for America to strengthen its trading relationship with Taiwan, a faithful ally with a democratically elected government.

• Calling all Governors: “Fix the CARES Act”—Heritage Action led a coalition of organizations who sent a letter on Monday to urge America’s governors to fix an unemployment insurance provision included in the CARES Act that will pay people more money to stay unemployed than to return to the workforce. Conservatives are not opposed to assistance for employees laid off, but we should not incentivize workers to avoid returning to their jobs as soon as they are able.

We are inspired every day by the stories we hear of neighbors helping neighbors. The grassroots isn’t just about political activism—it’s about community building and service. We’ve collected in one place the many ideas for service that you have shared with us. See it here.

Please keep sharing your good news stories; the Trump administration is rallying the nation on social media by using the #AmericaWorksTogether hashtag and we encourage you to use it too!

Stay safe, be healthy, and do something kind.

- Jessica and the Heritage Action team