Transcripts For CSPAN3 Senate Democrats On Coronavirus Paid Sick Leave 20240713

With this crisis and get the support they need to weather the Public Health crisis. So Senate Democrats today are introducing a series of measures congress can take up to provide immediate relief and Economic Relief Economic Relief to working americans during the coronavirus outbreak. We are just appalled that the administration has had no plan. Here we are. Its close to two months since we first knew about coronavirus. They have all kinds of problems, obviously, with testing, but they also have not come up with a plan to help people who need help. We believe the help should be aimed at people, not at corporations. We believe the help should be targeted at the people who have suffered from this coronavirus problem directly or indirectly. We dont think they should just throw money out of an airplane and hope some of it lands on the people who are affected. We have targeted our relief. We make it its aimed at people, not at big corporations, not at some kind of general longterm economic plan that the president might want for other purposes. It seems the president the president seems to be more worried about the health of the big banks than the health of americans. It seems that the president is more eager to help the Oil Companies than help the person who lost his job because of corona. We dont believe that works. And so the administration is proposing tax cuts and bailouts for the airline industry, the oil and gas industry. Thats just out of touch. The bottom line, we need to put people first. And so what we are proposing today is in two parts. One goes to the immediate needs of people who are suffering from this illness directly or indirectly. The second goes to the kind of Economic Relief, which could be dealt with a little further down the road, that can help get our economy going but it is targeted. And targeted at the people who are hurt and the places and people that need help. Thats our message to the administration. Focus. Focus on the problem and then focus on the people who need help. Not on your big cronies and political friends and other kinds of things that you want to try to do. So on the first part of it, the immediate help, paid sick leave, we think theres a growing consensus that there should be paid sick leave. Unemployment insurance, if youve lost your job, it should be easier and quicker to get Unemployment Insurance. How are you going to feed your family . Increase s. N. A. P. Benefits. What about families who need to eat . And school meals, many of the kids whose parents will who will have to stay home, their best meals are the breakfast and lunches they get in the schools. And so those are immediate relief to the people who need help. So that they can either take care of their families or and make sure that they get the help they need. Another part of that, of course, which relates directly to the health needs, we think all the testing should be made free of charge. Nobody wonders around spreading the illness because they cant afford it. But then there are other kinds of longer term Economic Relief that is far better than a payroll tax cut or relief to Big Industries that we are focused on. And they would be improving Community Development block grant Disaster Relief, federal Administration Support for transportation agencies. Emergency mortgage relief which might include some forbearance and rental assistance, emergency grant aid to help schools and childcare facilities stay clean and safe. Were telling President Trump and were saying to the country the best way to deal with the economic problems is focus on the people who have suffered from this virus. Not some scatter shot approach that the ideologues in the white house may want. And i do believe that the house will pass some of these more media provisions that nancy and i talked about on sunday. But many of these other things on the economic side we will try to figure out the best way to get the economy moving again. Those needs and important. Each of my colleagues will talk about parts of their proposals and their views and were going to hear from senators murray, brown, durbin, warrener, cardin. Senator murray. Thank you, senator schumer. Families in my home state of washington are scared, theyre frustrated and they are angry and so am i. New reporting now makes clear that even after researchers in seattle raised serious concerns about the possibility of Community Spread in Washington State and tried to work with federal agencies to conduct testing, the administration did not work with them to let the public know how serious this was. You can be sure that im going to get to the bottom of this and make sure it never happens again. I am furious that instead of acting with urgency, they did nothing. Instead of acting with transparency, they kept quiet. Instead of working to keep families safe, they wasted valuable time. And now, over 24 people in my home state have died. Over 1,000 across the country are now confirmed to be infected and experts are telling us that many more will likely become ill. Im hearing from people in Washington State who are worried about their older relatives who are now dying alone. Theyre worried about having to miss work. Theyre worried about being unable to pay rent. Theyre worried about how to keep their children safe at school and how to care for them and make sure they get a meal if their school is canceled. Im hearing from Small Business owners. Theyre worried no one is coming through their door and theyre unsure how to support their workers going forward. Im hearing from communities who are worried about how they protect people who are experiencing homelessness. I have seen a lot in my years as a u. S. Senator, but im not exaggerating when i say that this is one of the most trying times ive seen my state experience. So im absolutely going to be holding this Administration Accountable for missing so many opportunities to get ahead of this but im also going to be doing everything in my power to make sure we do not miss significant opportunities we still have to slow this down and manage it as best as we can. And that means doing everything we can to focus on the workers and families on the front lines of this crisis and how to slow the spread of this virus in areas where there are already outbreaks so we can buy time needed to prepare areas where this situation isnt so dire. Right now experts are telling people stay home if youre sick. But for too many people, staying home for work means losing a paycheck or losing their job and that has to change and it has to change fast. Thats why ive introduced legislation that would require employees employers to provide employees 14 days of paid sick leave available immediately in the event of a Public Health emergency like this outbreak. Im disappointed that republicans just blocked this legislation on the floor but im not going to stop pushing to them to join us to get this to the president s desk. Were also working with them on other steps. To start, we have to make sure that everyone can get quality, Affordable Health care so that cost is not a barrier to anyone seeking medical advice or for any Health Care Professional who needs to seek treatment or testing. We need to make sure our schools have plans for everyone that will be impacted by the difficult decisions they may have to make and many are now making in my state. And we have to make sure that those plans address Food Insecurity and make sure students who rely on their school for their only nutritious meal are not overlooked. We have to make sure were supporting communities in addressing the needs of people experiencing homelessness. And we have to reckon with the Economic Impact this crisis will have in our communities which is why democrats are putting forward this economic package to start addressing this crisis that focusing on Small Businesses and workers and we need to make sure that no one losing a paycheck as a result of this crisis, that no one struggles to make rent or keep the heat on or afford groceries and we need to make sure that none of our children miss out on a n a meal and no community struggles to care for the homeless. This is a frightening time. There are a lot of unknowns. But we know the steps we are outlining would help to save lives, slow the spread of this virus and reduce its impact on our communities. So we as democrats are going to keep pushing for action now to support our families and our communities and slow the spread of this virus. And we will continue working to address new challenges in the months ahead. And we will not forget to look back and find out why this crisis was not addressed thoughtfully, smartfully and with plans when it began. Senator brown . Thank you. The president had chance after chance to get ahead of this and he failed. Im angry on behalf of millions of americans who are scared right now. One of the most important things we can do is to stop the spread is pass paid sick leave today. We need to get help to the people who need it now. Parents whose kids schools who closed, people who arent getting paid have trouble making rent, paying their mortgage payment. No one should be evicted or foreclosed upon during this crisis. Paid sick days are one of the most important ways we can do that. Think about the restaurant workers, the people who prepare our food, think about what you do if your Childs School closes down for a week. Taking a sick day means going without pay and in some cases losing your job. It hurts everyone, even if youre lucky enough to have had paid time off. Everybody is at risk when more people are out and about when sick. Our offices are the offices of all of all. Weve received calls of people saying what do i do . What if i have to choose between my 12 an hour job, going to work sick, how am i going to pay my 700 rent . Its unacceptable that millions of people are faced with those impossible choices. Promises arent enough. We need to pass this paid sick leave legislation sick days legislation now. People need to be able to stay in their homes during this crisis. Our plan gets help directly to people struggling to pay rent, mortgages so theyre not foreclosed on in these difficult awful times. Its a dignity of work issue. Its a Public Safety issue. Thank you, senator brown. Senators durbin and stabenow were part of this but couldnt be here because of other obligations. Now we have senator leahy. Thank you, mr. Leader. We have a serious crisis and im afraid that the white house believes in using rhetoric and not facing a reality. What were doing is trying to substitute reality for their rhetoric. The American People are looking for leadership. I believe its up to us to provide that leadership. What were doing is looking at people. Those are the ones, not the corporations, its the people that we respond to and hear from in our states. As has been said, paid sick days so people can stay home to protect their health and the health of others. Thats critical. Its critical they be able to stay home, but its critical that theyre not fearing that theyre going to lose their apartment or house or building or their children to go to school. Small businesses and communities, were trying to help them in vermont and i applaud our governor who is doing that. Safety net, those who cant pay the rent or afford their mortgages. But also the American People are getting more than rhetoric, theyre facing reality. It does not help at all when the president comes in wearing a campaign hat at a meeting of the cdc, says that he understands its probably better than the doctors besides he wrote a perfect letter to ukraine. Come on, that just frightens people. Thats why i talk about the rhetoric. Ill give you an example that we can do it. The white house proposed a fig leaf appropriations, a couple billion dollars, taking a lot of it out of ebola and lowincome heating. Republicans and democrats came together and we put together the 8. 3 billion supplemental. In both the house and the senate, i think there was only two or three votes against it by republicans for whatever reason. Virtually every republican and every democrat voted for it and the president said, great idea. I want to thank the republicans who sent me this. We didnt do it as a partisan thing. We worked together. Because we wanted to make sure our Health Agencies had the money to address it. I hope we can do this on the same bipartisan bicameral way we did for the emergency supplemental. I mention that because that gave an example, the white house should have applauded that, got on board and said well work with you because the virus doesnt say, are you a republican or a democrat . Are you from a red or a blue state . The virus is affecting the United States of america, is affecting all americans and we ought to be standing up. Put the rhetoric aside, face reality and stand up for america. Thank you. Thank you, senator. Senator wyden. Thank you, leader schumer. Let me talk about some of the matters were working on at the Senate Finance committee and im going to start briefly by saying what would be a huge mistake to do and then talk about what were trying to do that would actually make sense. Yesterday larry kudlow speaking for the Administration Proposed a massive reduction in Social Security payroll taxes for big corporations. It would amount to hundreds of billions of dollars in tax cuts for big corporations. So what youre talking about is in the middle of this huge health challenge, what i think Many Americans see as a pandemic. What they want to do is hit Social Security like a wrecking ball with a massive tax cut for the countrys biggest corporations and we are going to oppose this with everything we have. Ill just tell you, with respect to the Senate Finance committee and our democrats, this will not happen, period, full stop. Now, lets talk a little bit about what we want to do. Because as we have consistently said we are going into this with this kind of laserlike approach to get help quickly to folks who are hurting, folks who are walking that economic tight rope, i described, trying to balance the rent bill against the food bill and the food bill against some other critical cost like out of pocket medical. The other part that we are working on in the finance committee is trying to make sure that we improve the unemployment system so that workers who lose their paycheck because of the coronavirus can have access more quickly to Unemployment Benefits until theyre back at work. What i have been working on with my colleagues, and i have several here from the finance committee. Weve worked with the leadership. Its something along the lines of a temporary, fast track coronavirus unemployment assist program. I would note that the finance staff tried to look into the history, this would be based on everything weve picked up, the first time Unemployment Insurance has been expanded in response to a Public Health crisis. Its my view, one of the most essential things we can do to help working families. We have the unemployment numbers across the country. But, you know, weekly, families that are hurting get, you know, a few hundred dollars. We can do better by them. We would include folks who are out of work because of their own illness, quarantine or School Closure that leaves them without childcare. We would include those whose hours who have been slashed. If youre down to one shift a week from five, you can still make rent. And as senator schumer touched on, you got a choice here. Do you want to subscribe to some kind of version of trickle down . Late last night i learned that the administration wanted to include a proposal, a proposal that they have been lobbying for for the big corporations for years and at the last minute they wanted to put this into a package. Thats not what this effort is about. Its about helping people. People who are hurting and helping them quickly, not about trying to find another sort of trojan horse for tucking more goodies in for big companies. And now another talented member youre going to see the entire finance committee here showing their ideas. Senator warner. Let me join my colleagues and echo what theyve already said. Weve seen a white house is a president that tried to deny they were going to be economic consequences of this illness. When they acknowledged that our economy was being hit, what do they come up with . Traditional Macro Economic tools. Lets do a Monetary Policy rate cut, lets talk about a general stimulus to all families. Lets do a payroll tax cut. These are not the tools that we need to use at this moment in this challenge. We dont know how long this economic challenge will extend. What we need to do and why im proud to support these efforts is we need targeted assistance to those workers and families who are being directly affected by the coronavirus. Thats why today im leading a letter with 33 of my democratic colleagues to the president urging him, yes, to take economic action, but to have that economic action targeted to the two universes we know are affected. No one should lose their job, their pay, or not have the freedom to take care of their children if theyre home from school if they have to selfquarantine or if they get sick. The whole universe of individuals, weve seen this particularly in Washington State, were going to see this across the country in the coming weeks, where people are going to follow the directions of the Health Care Officials and selfquarantine. They should not pay an economic price. Theres another whole set of industries from airline to hotel, restaurant, Service Industries who many times Small Businesses that arent going to have customers. We have to make sure we get economic assistance to those workers as well. What you have here is the first round of specific items from paid sick leave, direct support for Small Businesses, grants and i would echo again something senator brown and ive been working on, if were going to give the kind of relief on that mortgage or rent payment, we are going to need forbearance from the regulators for those institutions that actually provide that relief. This is a great first step. Senator cardin is going to close this out with Small Businesses. We may need to do more. Lets make sure that in this initial activity, for those workers and families who are directly affected, they get this assistance right away. Sfwliench. Thank you, senator schumer, for establishing the right priorities. When we deal with the Economic Impact of the coronavirus, let me talk a moment about Small Businesses and whats happening with Small Businesses. In my state of maryland, the announcements have been made about our colleges are going to close for a longer period of time. I look at the Small Businesses on route 1 and know many of these businesses depend upon the College Family being there in order to stay open. I look at Charles Village where Johns Hopkins is located, theyre closing their dorms in regards to the next several weeks. Thats going to affect the viability of those Small Businesses. I think about whats happening in the Tourism Industry in my state and around the nation, about conventions that are being canceled. All of that is going to affect a lot of Small Businesses that depend upon that business and cannot survive without having that type of economic activity. I was pleased to see that we were able to get into the first supplemental appropriation bill. The qualifications that Small Businesses will qualify for Disaster Relief direct loans by the Small Business administration, thats good news and we provided some resources for the sba to handle that. Heres the challenge, Small Businesses do not have the information on what qualifies for that Disaster Relief. We got to get that information out there. One of our proposals will be to provide the resources to the resource partners, Small Business Development Centers so they can get information out to how you can qualify for these Disaster Relief direct loans. We also want to help in regards to the capital that these businesses need, the cash flow that they need in order to stay in business. Were going to have to change the rules in regards to the major programs under sba on their loan program, the 504, the Community Advantage programs, make them for assessable and less costly waiving the fees so that businesses can get these loans that can qualify. And then lastly, if your bottom line has been dramatically changed, theyre not going to qualify for a loan because you dont have the resources to repay those loans. We want to have direct grants to Small Businesses and were defining these as Small Businesses. Were not talking about the big companies. Were talking about the ma and pop businesses that wont be there tomorrow, where we have innovation, job creation, job growth. We want them to qualify for direct grants so you can remain in business, continue to provide the innovation and job growth to our nation. Thats the type of programs that were going to be recommending and i look forward to working with all of my colleagues to see that we can take these issues up as quickly as possible. Thank you. Just one more point and then well take questions. Many of these ideas we consulted the state and local officials who are going through this problem and what they needed and lots of what we proposed comes exactly from them. So this is not just something weve thought up, weve thought up on our own. We talked to them and that makes a big difference. If i had to pick one word that picks what we want to do, its targeted. Targeted. Were focusing on the people who have been hurt and the people who need help. Immediate help, Health Care Help and help to the economy. Yes . Reporter the house is expected to vote on their bill tomorrow. Is the senate prepared to stay in next week to pass something before they leave town . Youll have to ask leader mcconnell. Hes in charge of that. Reporter is that something you would support, though . We might be able to pass some of their things tomorrow. Reporter talk to us a little bit about the American People. How are you going to get this passed in a reasonable time . We want to get it passed quickly. Some of the economic programs are going to take a little longer, some of the things like putting together a new Small Business program, a mortgage forbearance program, what do we do with targeting the cdbg. Some of them are needed immediately, paid lead, Unemployment Insurance, food for the kids. It will probably be divided into two parts, one immediate relief to people who are suffering and, second, economic help to people who are suffering that helps the economy in the longer run. Reporter which of these proposals are you intending to be temporary and which is permanent . Is the sick leave idea intended to be a permanent change . What do you make of the republicans talk considering a highway bill at this time . It should be targeted to the people who need help. Thats what were focused on, these types of proposals. And so reporter are they permanent or temporary . Some are permanent and some are temporary. Weve been trying to pass paid sick leave for a long time. Its a program where you earn your leave as you work. This legislation has that but we have included were calling it an emergency provision so when theres an emergency, Public Health declaration, that then qualifies you to get two weeks of paid sick leave. So for all the people in my home state and there are many who are being told to stay home because theyre sick so they will not spread it, for the people who are having to stay home because their school is closed, for the people who are having to stay home because they are in selfquarantine because theyve been exposed to it, this will mean that they will stay home and not spread it. By the way, theres a sheet weve given out that gives you details on each of the things we have mentioned. Yes . Its temporary on unemployment as well. And its targeted making sure that you have this help while were dealing with this epidemic. Reporter is anyone from the administration reached out to you about a bipartisan proposal that might actually as you know secretary mnuchin talked to Speaker Pelosi yesterday and well see where that comes. But basically the administration hasnt had much of a plan at all. So were not sure what they think on what day. Were taking the speaker, the democrats in the house, the democrats in the senate are taking the lead here because the nation demands it and theres such a vacuum from the administration. Yes . Reporter in light of senator wydens comments, would anything with the payroll tax cut you heard our comments on that. You had referenced i think you said corporate cronies in terms of assistance to corporations. Are you opposed to any type of assistance that would go toward the corporate side . Were looking we would be skeptical when the Administration Proposes it. This idea of helping shale oil which is Washington Post wrote about yesterday is absurd. We want to see, even if it goes to corporations, that it goes to workers. If an airline is hurting, we would want the help to go down to those workers. Thats our focus. It wouldnt be that we we wouldnt say the help of corporations is off the table, but its got to go down immediately and help the workers. The most important goal we should have here is to stop the spread of this virus. Anything we do in this package now, in the immediate, is to make sure that people dont spread this virus. Thats what were focused on doing. To just follow up on patty, if someone is laid off from an airline and they might have been exposed, they need some help so they dont, you know so they they can live and sustain. Some of it is economic. Again, targeted at the people, individuals, who are most hurt. Reporter how much do you expect this to cost . Were figuring out the price. Let me tell you, it will cost a lot less than the cost of doing nothing and letting the virus spread. Over half of the workers work for Small Companies and the cost of our proposals are a fraction of what the administration is recommending right now that would help Small Businesses. Reporter the payroll tax cut was a major part of the stimulus in 2009. Why is that a bad idea now . Well, let me just outline some of people who dont benefit from it. If you have lost shifts, for example, if you get tips, you dont benefit. If say you dont have much in terms of sick leave if youre off work if youre out of work. What were doing thats the whole point of the Unemployment Compensation effort that were focused on in the finance committee is getting help to people now rather than Larry Kudlows proposal that wants to cut taxes for gigantic corporations. Thank you, everybody. Follow the federal response to the coronavirus at cspan. Org coronavirus. You can find white house briefings, hearings and interviews with Public Health specialists. Review the latest events any time at cspan. Org. Coming up tonight, President Trump addresses the nation. That is supposed to get under way at 9 00 p. M. Eastern. Earlier today the