H.R.6800 – The HEROES Act

The House passed (208-199) H.R.6800, a $3 trillion-plus coronavirus aid bill, combining aid to state and local governments with direct cash payments, expanded unemployment insurance, nationwide testing and contact tracing systems, and health insurance subsidies. The bill comes after Congress has already spent $3 trillion in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Key components of the bill include:

• Food assistance. About $10 billion would be used to cover increased participation in the food stamps program and to expand benefit levels by 15 percent.
• Housing. The bill proposes $75 billion to help homeowners unable to make mortgage payments or pay property taxes and utilities. And it would provide $100 billion in rental assistance for low-income tenants.
• Public health fund. $100 billion for hospitals and other health care providers for pandemic-related costs, and $75 billion for virus testing.
• Unemployment insurance. An expanded benefit of $600 per week, set to expire in August, would be extended through Jan. 31, 2021.
• Hazard pay. A $200 billion "Heroes Fund" would give grants to employers to provide premium pay for "essential" workers.
• Rebate checks. Taxpayers would receive another round of direct payments of up to $1,200 per adult and $1,200 per dependent for up to three dependents. The credit begins phasing out after $75,000 of adjusted gross income, as in the previous payment round.
• Illegal Immigration. Incentivizes illegal immigration by providing stimulus checks to illegal aliens and preventing the deportation of illegal immigrants.
• Student Loans. Forgives student loans
• Reduced jail time. Releases criminals out of prison and onto the streets, and
• Unrelated Spending. Spends tens of millions of taxpayer dollars on organizations wholly unrelated to the COVID-19 crisis, like
  • $10 million to the National Endowment of the Arts,
  • $10 million to the National Endowment of the Humanities, and
  • $50 million to the EPA for ‘environmental justice’ grants. 
  • billions to administer the new federal election mandates imposed on states
  • billions to bailout the Postal Service and millions for the Postal Service Inspector General to oversee that bailout
  • billions for the federal government to pay student loans through September 2021.
• Election. Funds voting by mail
• Government bailouts. More than $1 trillion in cash for state and local governments, mostly in the form of unrestricted aid that doesn’t need.
• Marijuana. Legalizes Marijuana companies' access to the banking system
• Abortion. Uses tax dollars to fund abortions.

For

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD): “Madam Speaker, to date, more than 85,000 Americans have died from COVID-19, and that number continues to grow. More than 36 million Americans have applied for unemployment insurance over the past eight weeks, which is more than one in every five American workers. Madam Speaker, this is the legislation the American people expect from their representatives during this crisis. It is a bold response to an unprecedented challenge.

“So far, we have demonstrated unity in the face of this pandemic when it comes to enacting necessary legislation, and I hope Republicans will join us to display such unity again today. In the Heroes Act, we can say in one voice to the American people: ‘we’re in this together.’

Against:

Congressman Tom Rice (R-SC): "I voted “no” to the HEROES Act. You see, as is often the case in Washington, the title “Heroes Act” is but a euphemism to distract you from the substance of the 1,800 page liberal grab bag. This bill is a cynical attempt to use this crisis to advance the liberal agenda on the backs of suffering Americans to the tune of over $3,000,000,000,000!!!"

It is my hope that in the coming days we can have a bipartisan focus on what will actually serve the American people. Instead of focusing on policies that are not related to a pandemic, we should be focused on policy that stimulates the economy, provides a payroll tax holiday, and an infrastructure plan. I’m hopeful that Democrats will set aside the extreme political interests and work across the aisle with Republicans to provide the support American families and workers actually need.”

Should the Senate pass the H.R.6800, “HEROES Act” a more than $3 trillion coronavirus aid package?