Warner Weekly Wrap-up: Hunkering Down

This week, the Senate passed a second bipartisan coronavirus relief package, focused on helping people feeling the economic consequences of the outbreak. Negotiations on a third, larger economic relief bill are currently ongoing.

Here’s your Warner Weekly Wrap-up:

“PHASE II”

That’s what they’re calling the initial bipartisan coronavirus economic relief package Congress passed on Wednesday. Among other provisions, this legislation:

• Guarantees testing for coronavirus will be free
• Expands unemployment insurance and reduces barriers for workers applying for UI
• Extends paid sick leave to some workers if they seek treatment for coronavirus, quarantine, or care for a family member with the virus
• Provides payroll tax credits to companies offering paid sick leave to their employees for coronavirus treatment
• Expands nutrition assistance for low-income families
• Provides additional funding for state Medicaid programs dealing with the coronavirus

Sens. Warner and Kaine, who both voted in favor of the legislation, issued a joint statement following the vote, saying:

“This legislation is a critical step forward to support workers and families impacted by the coronavirus. We’re pleased the bill includes our priorities to guarantee free coronavirus testing and establish paid sick leave for some American workers. This is one of many steps we must take to confront this pandemic. We will keep fighting for the resources Virginia needs to defend against this virus and help our economy recover from its consequences.”

“PHASE III”

The next step for Congress is what’s being called Phase III of the coronavirus response. Negotiations for this even larger economic stimulus and public health legislation are ongoing, and Sen. Warner is working around the clock to ensure that it contains provisions that will help Virginians who are struggling due to the coronavirus outbreak. Sen. Warner outlined two of his top priorities explicitly this week:

First, he is especially focused on disaster unemployment insurance for workers who have fallen through the cracks of our social safety net. As he stated in a video update to his constituents today, his priority is to expand unemployment insurance to cover furloughed workers, hourly workers, gig workers, and others who are missing paychecks but have not formally been laid off.

Click to listen to update.

Second, Sen. Warner is working to ensure small and mid-sized businesses have sufficient cash flow to stay open during the coronavirus outbreak. In a statement this week, he proposed an emergency lending facility to provide credit to small and mid-sized businesses. His statement reads, in part:

“…We have to get cash flow back to our small and mid-sized businesses so that they can remain open, retain their employees, and survive through this public health emergency. Nearly 18 million people are employed in industries whose revenues are severely curtailed and are vulnerable to layoffs. Many businesses, particularly small and mid-sized firms, are running down their cash and credit lines. As we see more areas enforce tighter social distancing restrictions, this problem is only set to get worse.

“I am proposing that we immediately set up a small and mid-sized business liquidity facility, jointly run by the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve, to provide companies affected by the virus with federally-guaranteed loans at low rates throughout the crisis. The loans would be delivered through local financial institutions and backed by up to $1T in federal financing. A few important elements of this proposal include:

– Simple terms and underwriting requirements in order to quickly deliver cash flow to these businesses;
– Protections to ensure that any company taking a loan is required to retain a large portion of its workforce; and
– Some specific mechanisms to avoid any moral hazard and hold financial institutions accountable.

“If we do not take action immediately, thousands of American businesses and millions of their employees are at enormous risk. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the coming days to provide them the assistance they need to weather the current crisis.”

As Yahoo Finance noted this week, Sen. Warner’s proposal, “…would include some protection that would require a borrower to commit to keeping their employees on the payroll. Warner said he is also considering additional measures that may restrict executive compensation.”

Sen. Warner, a notorious worker of the phones since his days as Governor, has been actively engaging with colleagues on both sides of the aisle, working to ensure Virginia’s priorities are represented in the next phase of coronavirus legislation. Stay tuned.

HELP FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

While Sen. Warner continues to push for this larger emergency liquidity facility, some emergency capital just became available to Virginia small businesses. On Thursday, the Small Business Administration (SBA) issued a statewide economic injury disaster loan declaration.

This declaration unlocks emergency long-term, low-interest loans for small businesses for up to $2 million to help cover operating costs during the coronavirus outbreak.

Sen. Warner applauded the announcement and quickly began spreading the word for eligible businesses.

Small business owners in need of assistance should first read this SBA fact sheet, then apply online using the SBA website.

ADDITIONAL CORONAVIRUS ACTIONS

Here is a list of additional steps Sen. Warner has taken this week to assist Virginians impacted by the Coronavirus outbreak:

• TELEHEALTH: Sen. Warner applauded the announcement that Medicare would begin paying clinicians across the country for telehealth services to Medicare beneficiaries during the coronavirus outbreak. This decision was enabled by passage earlier this month of provisions from Sen. Warner’s bipartisan CONNECT for Health Act of 2019, as part of the initial $8.3 billion coronavirus response package.

• VIRGINIA VETERANS: In letters sent today, Sens. Warner and Kaine urged four Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers to expend every effort to ensure that veterans and the health providers who care for them are safe amid the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. In letters to the Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center, the Salem VA Medical Center, the Hampton VA Medical Center, and the Washington DC VA Medical Center, the Senators asked for more information on each facility’s efforts to address the spread of COVID-19 while ensuring the health of VA employees.

• NO CAPS: Sen. Warner applauded announcements by several major internet service providers that they would adopt practices to better accommodate the use of remote technologies that students, workers, and public health officials will rely upon during the coronavirus outbreak.

• DAYCARE: Sens. Warner and Kaine sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar, urging the agency to issue clear guidance for child care providers to determine whether these centers should remain open amid the nationwide COVID-19 outbreak.

• AMERICANS ABROAD: Sen. Warner urged Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to provide State Department guidance and assistance to Americans stuck abroad after heightened travel restrictions, lockdowns, and border closures across the globe to curb the spread of coronavirus have left U.S. citizens stranded in foreign countries indefinitely.

• POWER BILLS: This week, Sens. Warner and Kaine urged the body that regulates public utilities including electricity, natural gas, and water in Virginia to promptly issue an order suspending the charging of late fees through the duration of Virginia’s state of emergency due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

• FEDERAL WORKERS: Sen. Warner led seven of his Senate colleagues in a letter calling on the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to post department and agency contingency plans amid the COVID-19 outbreak so that Americans know what services to expect as more federal agencies begin to ramp up teleworking capabilities to mitigate the spread of the virus.

• DoD GUIDANCE: On Friday, Sen. Warner pushed the Department of Defense (DoD) to issue guidance for uniformed, civilian, and contractor personnel to help them better understand their options for paid leave and telework amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

• UNEMPLOYMENT: Following the passage of the bipartisan coronavirus economic relief package that day, Sen. Warner led a letter urging state governors and workforce administrators to implement its provisions easing restrictions on emergency unemployment benefits.

• NURSING HOMES & DISABILITIES: Sens. Warner and Kaine joined more than 30 of their Democratic colleagues to press the Coronavirus Task Force on their preparedness and response plans for seniors and individuals with disabilities.

• AD SCAMS: Sens. Warner and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission, expressing deep concern that Google – despite claiming to ban ads that capitalize on novel coronavirus fears – continues to run ads for products such as face masks and hand sanitizer.

• HOSPITALITY & TOURISM: The Virginia and Maryland Senators sent a letter to the financial regulators asking them to take action to mitigate the adverse impacts of the coronavirus on workers in the hospitality and tourism industry.

• RURAL RESPONSE: In light of the unique challenges facing rural communities, Sen. Warner sent a letter to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to coordinate with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) to enable thousands of federal civil servants, who have experience with rapid emergency response, to assist rural communities that are increasingly overwhelmed by the challenge of responding to the COVID-19 outbreak.

• TELEWORK FOR FEDS: Following a mixed message from the administration to federal workers and contractors, Sen. Warner joined 24 of his colleagues in urging the President to immediately issue an executive order directing agencies to maximize the use of telework.

(NON-CORONAVIRUS) GRAB BAG

• EASTERN DISTRICT: Sens. Warner and Kaine sent a letter to the White House recommending U.S. Magistrate Judge Roderick C. Young and U.S. Magistrate Judge Douglas E. Miller for the vacancy in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Norfolk Division.

• DREAMERS: Sen. Warner joined a group of 36 Senators and 87 Representatives in pressing the Trump Administration on reports that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is preparing mass deportations of Dreamers, young immigrants who grew up in the United States and know no other home.

• GW PARKWAY: Last Friday, Sen. Warner led a bicameral letter to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao in support of the National Park Service’s grant application for $102 million in federal funds to reconstruct nearly eight miles of the northern section of the George Washington Memorial Parkway.

WEEK AHEAD

Social distancing. The Senate is expected to vote on a third coronavirus relief package in the coming days.