August 24th, 2020

John,

It has been 100 days since the House passed a comprehensive economic relief bill, and yet the Republican controlled Senate continues to take no action to protect workers, families, businesses, and local governments in need.  Additionally they are willing to turn their back on the US Postal Service, punishing seniors and veterans who depend on it for food and pharmaceuticals, in order to please a president who sees the service as a threat to his presidency.  

This inaction by the President and the Senate is inexcusable.

Please see below to read my recent op-ed about the HEROES Act in the Hartford Courant.

This November we have a chance to send a strong message to President Trump and GOP leadership, stand with me now to make it clear that this dangerous obstruction is unacceptable.

Thank you for your continued support.

It’s been 100 days since the House passed the HEROES Act. Since then the case for it has become stronger, but the Senate has done nothing.

By JOE COURTNEY

Hartford Courant

AUG 23, 2020 AT 8:00 AM

The impressive string of COVID-19 news in Connecticut for the last two months should justifiably inspire a feeling of great pride for all of us in this state. We’ve showed a lot of grit and smarts in the face of the pandemic. 

However, the news that Gov. Ned Lamont’s budget director released news recently that Connecticut — like all states — is on the verge of exploding deficits comes as a sobering reminder that the collateral economic damage of COVID-19 is now upon us.

Because of this pandemic, our state’s two-year budget deficit projection is $6 billion, a staggering hit caused by collapsing revenue and unexpected costs incurred by the state to control this public health emergency. Like all states, Connecticut was hit by an external blow to its economy that, if left to fend for itself, will result in steep taxes or horrific cuts to vital services. 

It was precisely this predictable scenario that the U.S. House of Representatives saw coming 100 days ago when it passed the HEROES Act, a fifth coronavirus relief bill. The HEROES Act would fill the entire projected deficit in Connecticut over the next several years by providing more than $7 billion in federal funding to our state, including more than $407 million that would be routed directly to towns with fewer than 50,000 people.

Among other things, the bill also includes a simple extension of unemployment benefits, a second cash payment similar to the CARES Act, funding to bolster USPS services ahead of the November elections and support for farmers and small businesses. This was not done as part of a “wish list,” as described by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, but as a clear-eyed strategy to shorten the recession and avoid huge cuts to public health, safety, and education. 

It was President Donald Trump’s own Federal Reserve Board Chairman, Jerome Powell, who warned Congress 100 days ago that the CARES Act relief bill, passed in March, was not sufficient fiscal action by Washington to rescue our economy. He saw that a vaccine was still off in the distance and that small businesses, unemployed workers, cops, teachers, health care workers — the “heroes” of the HEROES Act — needed more help.

Over the last 100 days, the case for the HEROES Act has gotten stronger and stronger. Although many businesses have shown great resilience, sectors in hospitality, restaurants, retail and travel are still under siege from this virus and continuing to lay off staff, or even worse, to close. With the expiration of CARES Act, cash assistance and its suspension of housing and student debt, an ugly day of reckoning is fast approaching. 

This is not partisan spin. First-time unemployment claims, delinquent consumer debt and evictions are relentlessly on the rise. Because of this, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has endorsed the effort to provide emergency funds to individuals and to state and local governments, as has conservative economist Mark Zandy of Moody’s Analytics. The bipartisan National Governors Association and the American Farm Bureau also support another large COVID relief bill. 

One thing is missing from this picture. Even though the House acted 100 days ago, the Senate has failed to even bring a bill to the floor, hold a debate, or, God forbid, actually vote on a fifth COVID-19 relief package. 

The Senate was called “the greatest deliberative body in the world” in 1826 — now, its leader, Mitch McConnell, is failing the test of history to act on behalf of the American people. As the fallout of infections, joblessness, food insecurity and homelessness mounts, the wisdom of the House members to listen to Chairman Powell last May, and then to act as our Constitution requires, grows more apparent with each passing day. 

It’s time to stop the clock on Senate inaction and pass a meaningful, comprehensive relief package. The House stands ready.

Democrat Joe Courtney represents Connecticut’s Second District in the U.S. House of Representatives.