Dear West Virginian,

This week, Senate Republicans introduced the Health, Economic Assistance, Liability, and Schools (HEALS) Act, the next COVID-19 relief package.

The bill will:

Provide additional resources to fight the coronavirus and mitigate its impacts on American families, schools, and businesses’ including more funding for testing and to develop vaccines and treatments.
Extend federal assistance to workers, families businesses, health care providers, and local governments.
Provide funding for schools and colleges to help them safely reopen.
Add critical liability protections for health care workers, small businesses, and schools acting in good faith.
Revise and extend the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to help small businesses and underserved communities while giving struggling restaurants a boost.
Help restore manufacturing of personal protective equipment to America.
Present paths to repair COVID’s damage to critical trust funds.

The American people need targeted and tailored assistance to specifically address the needs. The HEALS Act does this by combining various components that address kids, jobs, and health care. I spoke to Hoppy Kercheval about the bill on Thursday:

Time is ticking, and Americans still need help. The Democrat’s bill, Nancy Pelosi’s HEROES Act (which costs more than $3 trillion), has no chance of becoming law. We need to get to a solution—NOW.

I’ll keep you updated as we continue working.

Checking In on Clarksburg VAMC Investigation

This morning, I had a phone call with Michael Missal, the Inspector General of the Department of Veterans Affairs. I appreciate Inspector General Missal for taking the time to answer some of my questions today following Reta Mays’ guilty plea earlier this month. First and foremost, the families of these victims deserve answers. While we are making progress, there are still many questions out there that need to be addressed, and I’m committed to making sure that happens. I understand Inspector General Missal and his team are in the process of completing a report that will provide more information, which I look forward to reviewing. In the meantime, it is important that we make sure our veterans receive the best care possible, feel safe while receiving care at our West Virginia VA medical facilities, and tragedies like this never, ever happen again.

Since the news first broke, I have consistently remained in close contact with those involved in this investigation, such as VA Secretary Wilkie, U.S. Attorney Bill Powell, Clarksburg VA Director Glenn Snider, and VA Inspector General Michael Missal, as well as checking in with staff on the progress of the investigation.

Keeping Up the Fight Against Opioids

While most of the country’s attention is primarily focused on coronavirus—and rightfully so—sadly, overdose rates have sharply risen across the nation. We must continue to keep our eye on the ball. It’s important for us to remember that while we are dealing with coronavirus, this is not the only health crisis we are battling. In West Virginia—and many communities across this nation—we continue to face the drug crisis on top of the additional challenges associated with the coronavirus pandemic.

I spoke about rising substance abuse during the COVID-19 pandemic on the Senate floor on Tuesday. Click here or on the image below to watch.

Last Friday, I met with Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) Director Jim Carroll in Huntington to discuss the impact of the pandemic on the drug epidemic.

RESTART Act

This week, I joined a bipartisan group of colleagues to introduce the Reviving the Economy Sustainably Towards a Recovery in Twenty-twenty (RESTART) Act. The legislation aims to provide a lifeline for the hardest-hit small and mid-sized businesses.

The RESTART Act includes a new loan program to provide funding to cover six months of payroll, benefits, and fixed operating expenses for businesses that have taken a substantial revenue hit during the COVID-19 pandemic. A share of the loan will be forgiven based on the revenue losses suffered by the business in 2020 with the remainder to be repaid over 7 years.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was recently asked about the RESTART Act being included in the next phase of coronavirus relief and agreed that parts of the legislation should be incorporated.

Get more details here. I’ll keep you updated as this moves through the legislative process.

Be Vigilant for Scammers!

Unfortunately, there are bad actors that are using this health crisis to take advantage of unsuspecting residents, especially our senior citizens. Please note the IRS WILL NOT call you and ask for your bank account information to deposit your individual relief check.

Check out my coronavirus webpage for more information about scams and what I’m doing to try and mitigate them.

Additional COVID-19 Resources

I created a page on my website with information and resources to keep you up-to-date on the coronavirus situation as it continues to evolve. Check out that page here, and please share with friends so they can keep up with the latest.

In addition to my webpage, I also want to make sure you know where to get the latest updates from the medical experts at CDC.gov and West Virginia DHHR.

I will continue doing my best to keep you up to speed on what we are doing here at the federal level to help and other resources that can be useful back at home. I will be posting regular updates on my Facebook and Twitter accounts, so be sure to follow me there.

Important Information If You’re Visiting DC

Because of coronavirus concerns, all Capitol and White House tours have been suspended indefinitely. Please contact our Washington office to reschedule. Additionally, requests for flags flown over the Capitol may be delayed, and access to the Capitol and House and Senate office buildings is being restricted. Feel free to contact our office at (202) 224-6472 with any questions. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Counting on West Virginia

Have you taken your 2020 census yet? PLEASE DO!

Taking the census takes 10 minutes and could mean thousands of more federal dollars for West Virginia!

Do you part and take it here: https://my2020census.gov/

Over the past couple of months, I’ve been discussing the importance of taking the census, and I encourage you to do the same so you can spread the word to fellow West Virginians. Click here to read a column I wrote about this.

How Can We Help?

Whether you need help with a casework issue or have a question about scheduling a meeting at one of my offices, my staff and I are ready to assist you. Learn more about the services we offer at www.capito.senate.gov.

You can also submit your feedback and share your stories with me by visiting my “Share Your Stories” webpage here: www.capito.senate.gov/ShareYourStories.

Social Media Recap

Join me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for regular updates and photos.

Sincerely,

Shelley Moore Capito

United States Senator