[cid:[email protected]]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 21, 2020

Contact: Brooke Lillard, 202-225-2965



Blue Dog Leadership Statement on House Passage of Fifth Bipartisan COVID-19 Relief Package



WASHINGTON-Today, Rep. Lou Correa (CA-46), Co-Chair for Communications of the Blue Dog Coalition, issued the following statement on House passage of the fifth bipartisan COVID-19 relief package, which includes a number of the Blue Dog Coalition's priorities:



"It took too long for this deal to come to fruition and it is far from perfect, but it will send immediate, necessary relief to struggling families and businesses. It achieves a significant victory for American workers and businesses by securing an expansion of the Employee Retention Tax Credit, a job-saving measure our coalition endorsed to help keep businesses open and workers tethered to their jobs and their benefits. Leadership of both parties must continue to talk to one another in the months ahead to ensure the American people never see another lapse in emergency relief for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic. We must continue these talks to find common ground on additional measures that are commensurate to the scale of the ongoing health and economic crisis."



ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND:



The Blue Dog Coalition was the first House Democratic caucus to call on House and Senate leadership to restart bipartisan negotiations on a fifth COVID-19 relief package in an August 21 letter<[link removed]>. The bipartisan legislation passed by the House includes a number of priorities the Blue Dogs called for in the August 21 letter, including the following: 1) an extension of unemployment insurance benefits; 2) measures to keep workers tethered to their jobs, including the extension and expansion of the Blue Dog-endorsed Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC); 3) a second round of economic impact payments, and 4) additional education funding.



Following the August 21 letter, the Blue Dogs endorsed the Problem Solvers Caucus' "March to Common Ground" framework<[link removed]> and $908 billion COVID-19 relief framework<[link removed]>, which included several bipartisan priorities backed by the Blue Dogs and served as a roadmap for leadership of both parties to reach a bipartisan, bicameral deal on a fifth COVID-19 relief package.



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The Blue Dog Coalition is an official caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives comprised of fiscally-responsible Democrats, who are leading the way to find commonsense solutions. They are pragmatic Democrats, appealing to the mainstream values of the American public. The Blue Dogs are dedicated to pursuing fiscally-responsible policies, ensuring a strong national defense for our country, and transcending party lines to get things done for the American people. Visit our website<[link removed]> to learn more, and get the latest news updates by following us on Twitter<[link removed]> or liking us on Facebook<[link removed]>.