Pelosi’s Liberal Laundry List Goes to a Vote on Friday

On Friday, the House of Representatives will vote on what would be the most expensive bill to ever pass the House, H.R. 6800.  Speaker Pelosi’s “Heroes Act” is marketed as a necessary response to COVID-19,  but conservatives – who refer to the bill as “Pelosi’s Social Wish List Act” – insist it has nothing to do with responsibly responding to the Coronavirus, but instead, propping up her liberal base.  With a price tag of $3 trillion, there are line items for hundreds of causes and special interests, but a couple got our attention in particular.

First, the bill excludes Hyde Amendment protections for furloughed employees’ COBRA insurance premiums.  That means there are no protections to ensure federal funds are not used to subsidize abortions.

Second, the “Heroes Act” provides federal banking privileges to marijuana businesses.  The bill would grant “safe harbor” to Big Marijuana for banking and investments despite the fact that it’s an illegal drug in America.

The bill includes several other non-germane, controversial items, including a mandate to collect “hate crimes” data, a “blanket release” for certain federal prisoners, an expansion of Obamacare through a “special enrollment period,” and several provisions to federalize elections.

Fiscal conservatives have a long list of concerns with the bill, chief among them the continuation of $600 unemployment insurance supplements through Jan. 31, 2021 at the earliest.  The bill would also make illegal immigrants eligible for direct stimulus payments and permanently disallow SNAP rulemaking pertaining to work requirements and eligibility.

It is not an overstatement to say the bill contains a laundry list of liberal policies.  Unfortunately, even in a time of national crisis, liberal forces are still very much at work to erode our freedoms and compromise our values. 

The “Heroes Act” highlights the importance of legislative leadership.  While the House, led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), is poised to pass the bill on Friday, it is thankfully not expected to receive a vote in the Senate, led by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).  However, concern exists that the bill will be used as a bargaining chip to get the Senate to vote on and pass something similar in the future.  For that reason and the poor merits of the bill, it is important that we let our voices be heard in Congress today! 

Please send a message to your Member of Congress and ask that he or she vote NO on H.R. 6800.

Thanks for making your voice heard!

Autumn Leva
Vice President for Strategy

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