While there are many disagreements on both sides of the political aisle, one major point of contention between the two parties appears to be liability protections for businesses from coronavirus-related lawsuits. It is unfortunate that a policy that could make such a critical difference for small businesses across the country is not unanimously supported.
It’s unquestionable that small businesses are suffering badly. CNN recently reported that 10,000 restaurants in the United States are expected to close, and 17% of the total restaurants in the country have closed already. Temporary closures are becoming permanent. Some businesses are even resorting to establishing GoFundMe pages in hopes of collecting enough donations to survive. While these statistics make clear how small businesses are struggling, it is impossible to quantify the damage done to the families who have spent generations of hard work to build a successful business. Or the entrepreneurs who took the risk to create something for themselves, only to have it all torn out from underneath them due to no fault of their own.
At this unprecedented time of upheaval, it is not enough to provide a small loan to these businesses, although that would certainly help. Businesses have been struggling for far too long, and one of the things they need right now, more than ever, is certainty.
As it stands, businesses don’t know if they will be forced to close in the coming days or weeks as coronavirus cases spike. It is impossible to predict consumer demand as more Americans are tragically losing their jobs. Businesses also don’t know what new regulations might be put in place to control the spread of the virus, which they will have to implement and pay for out of their own pockets as they did at the start of the pandemic.
At the very least, Congress could provide businesses with the assurance that they will not be forced to close their doors due to fighting costly, frivolous lawsuits. And reasonable liability protections could provide them that. These protections should be for those businesses who implemented precautions that keep their employees and customers safe and who worked hard to abide by constantly changing local, state, and federal regulations.
No one is asking for bad actors to be protected, but businesses that are working hard to protect their customers and employees while trying to stay afloat deserve the certainty of knowing that an unfounded lawsuit won’t put them out of business for good. Leaders of both parties, including Sens. Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell and Reps. Nancy Pelosi and Kevin McCarthy, need to come together and get this done.
If Congress wants to show their support for small businesses, as they often campaign on, common sense liability protections should be included in any coronavirus relief package that gets passed going forward.
Matt Mackowiak is president of Austin, Texas, and Washington, D.C.,-based Potomac Strategy Group. He’s a Republican consultant, a Bush administration and Bush-Cheney reelection campaign veteran, and former press secretary to two U.S. senators.
