Three Republican senators said the new coronavirus relief bill could lead to employers putting many out of work.
“A massive drafting error in the current version of the coronavirus relief legislation could have devastating consequences: Unless this bill is fixed, there is a strong incentive for employees to be laid off instead of going to work,” Sens. Ben Sasse, Lindsey Graham, and Tim Scott said in a joint statement on Wednesday.
“This isn’t an abstract, philosophical point — it’s an immediate, real-world problem. If the federal government accidentally incentivizes layoffs, we risk life-threatening shortages in sectors where doctors, nurses, and pharmacists are trying to care for the sick, and where growers and grocers, truckers and cooks are trying to get food to families’ tables,” they continued.
The statement added, “This isn’t who we are as Americans; this isn’t what we do in a crisis. We must sadly oppose the fast-tracking of this bill until this text is addressed, or the Department of Labor issues regulatory guidance that no American would earn more by not working than by working.”
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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that the chamber would take up and likely pass the $2 trillion coronavirus emergency relief bill on Wednesday. The Kentucky Republican said, “Struggling Americans are going to go to their mailboxes and find four-figure checks to help them with their bills. Why? Because the Senate stepped up.”
The bill includes a provision for four months of unemployment payments to laid off and furloughed workers. Sen. Chuck Schumer promised that workers on average would receive their “full pay” during that time.
Earlier this week, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard warned that unemployment in the United States could reach as high as 30% over the coronavirus outbreak. Unemployment hit 25% during the Great Depression.
