Friend,
There’s no question our country is facing unprecedented times right now. As your representative, my focus has been on providing relief and stability to Kansas farmers, workers, small businesses, hospitals and communities.
COVID-19 has changed the way we work and communicate. Unfortunately, the stay-at-home orders and social distancing have impacted the pocketbooks of hard-working Kansans.
Congress’ bipartisan CARES Act that passed just three weeks ago was designed to assist Kansans during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it sets us up to return to a roaring economy when this is over. That’s why the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) within the legislation is so important – it provides a forgivable loan to small businesses so they can keep employees on their payroll. However, this popular program ran out of money after just two weeks of being implemented. That's why it's critical that congressional Democrats stop blocking additional funding for small businesses and their workers.
Additionally – in typical D.C. style – partisan politics tried to play a role in the crafting of the legislation. While most of the unnecessary, partisan pork was removed before the final bill passed, some items remained. One that was especially egregious was money allocated for the Kennedy Center – not because the arts shouldn’t be supported, but because the Kennedy Center turned around and furloughed 60% of their full-time administrative staff. And that was after they suspended pay for more than 700 part-time employees and musicians.
The CARES Act is supposed to help workers and families throughout the country. The $25 million for the Kennedy Center doesn’t seem to be helping anyone. My commitment is to Kansas families and businesses.
I hope you and your family are doing well even in these challenging times, and I’ll continue working to ease the burden on Kansans through timely, targeted and temporary legislation in Congress.
Sincerely,
Rep. Ron Estes
SURVEY QUESTION:
Should Congress rescind the $25 million appropriated to the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.?
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