Friend,

Last week the Democrats finally came back to the table and agreed to fund another round of the Paycheck Protection Program, which is designed to help protect employees of small businesses during this unprecedented crisis. So far, over 35,000 small businesses in Oklahoma have received over $4.6 billion in assistance from this program, supporting more than 63% of employees eligible for coverage. This is the direct result of Sen. Inhofe's support for the Comprehensive Coronavirus Response bill known as the CARES Act.

The Senate will be returning to Washington on Monday. Our docket is full, but Speaker Pelosi’s House – for whatever reason – canceled their plans to get back to work.

As the economy starts to creep back open, we’ll be discussing behind the scenes what kind of additional assistance may be necessary to ensure a speedy economic recovery. Sen. McConnell has floated the idea of providing liability protection for business owners from frivolous lawsuits pursued by the trial lawyers. Can you imagine having to defend yourself against an ambitious lawyer suing to blame you for someone else getting the virus, simply because that person CHOSE to visit your restaurant before they got sick? Seems impossible to prove where someone got the virus, but the Democrats are beholden to the trial lawyers. So I imagine they'll fight this idea until the very end.

On the good news front, just today there was a promising announcement that Gilead’s antiviral medicine, Remdesivir, is showing positive results in its early stage critical trial. In addition to testing and hospital capacity improvements, a treatment to the coronavirus is something we need to get things back to normal. It’s no surprise private sector ingenuity is driving real solutions to this crisis.

I appreciated your input into how to get the economy back up and running. Is there anything else you think we should include in further coronavirus related legislation?

Eager to hear from you,

Luke Holland

Chief of Staff

@InhofeforSenate