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Dear John,
I am checking in to give you all an update on what I’ve been working on with my congressional team for the past two weeks.
On Thursday, I was back on Capitol Hill, where I testified before the House Committee on Small Business about the challenges facing Central Virginia’s small businesses and their employees. I spoke about how vital the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) has been to businesses in our district and why it urgently needed additional funding.
Later in the day, I voted to pass the Paycheck Protection Program and Healthcare Enhancement Act, which will provide essential funding to the PPP, which, despite its challenges, has been a lifeline to so many of the small business owners I serve. This bipartisan package, which passed 388-5, also includes billions of dollars in lifesaving funding for hospitals, healthcare workers, nursing homes, and expands COVID-19 testing in Virginia and across the country.
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In my conversations with small business owners across our district, they have praised PPP, but shared their concerns about the restrictions the Small Business Administration (SBA) put on the loans. In response, I led a bipartisan effort to improve flexibility and cut red tape for our small businesses that are seeking assistance through the PPP.
The majority of Virginians who have died from COVID-19 have been residents in nursing homes or long-term care facilities. In our district, the heartbreak and tragedy is immense as our nursing homes and long-term care facilities have faced the greatest loss of life in the state. That’s why I’ve made protecting these vulnerable residents a priority.
I led a bipartisan effort calling on the Department of Health and Human Services to allocate at least $25 billion of the $100 billion we appropriated for assistance to medical facilities in the CARES Act to nursing homes and long-term care facilities. I encouraged Governor Northam to create a task force to fight the virus in Virginia’s nursing homes and long-term care facilities, and I am fighting to get personal protective equipment (PPE) for our nursing home staff, first responders, and all healthcare professionals so that they can protect themselves and the communities they serve.
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Hope you and your family are staying safe and healthy, Abigail |
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