Golden Calls on Congressional Leaders to Take Bold, Targeted Action to Benefit Mainers in Third Coronavirus Bill

WASHINGTON — As leaders in the House and Senate continue to craft a comprehensive response to the coronavirus, Congressman Jared Golden (ME-02) advocated for specific provisions in the legislation that would help people in Maine's Second District weather and recover from the public health and economic crisis currently bearing down on the country.

Golden's letter is the product of direct input from dozens of Maine small businesses, non-profit and health care organizations, local officials, and workers.

"The policies I recommended to Congress today are the result of conversations with Mainers across the Second District who are struggling with this economic crisis right now: small business owners, town officials, farmers and fishermen, and organizations working to support our communities," said Golden. "Congress needs to take decisive, bold action to protect Americans, but this relief must be targeted directly toward the workers and small businesses who will be hardest hit by this crisis."

The recommendations included in Golden's letter include:

Immediate Relief for Workers and their Families:

• Provide every low-income and working-class American adult with immediate cash assistance to meet their basic needs, with a hold-harmless provision for people receiving means-tested benefits.
• Expand Unemployment Insurance and increase benefits by at least $50-$75 per week, with the benefit increase fully funded by the federal government;
• Work with lenders to temporarily suspend consumer debt without interest;
• Protect both low-income tenants and their landlords from hardship related to the coronavirus by renewing Housing Choice Voucher funds at the $1 billIon level.

Helping Small Businesses Weather the Crisis:

• Help businesses stay afloat and retain employees with zero-interest, zero-fee Small Business Administration (SBA) loans;
• Prevent layoffs by rewarding small businesses who keep their employees on payroll with forgiveness on their SBA loans;
• Streamline the approval process for these loans and defer repayment for a year;
• Defer payments on existing SBA and USDA loans to small businesses and nonprofits;
• Increase funding for SBA resource partners, like Small Business Development Centers.

Protecting Maine's Workers and Heritage Industries:

• Expand paid sick leave for workplaces with fewer than 50 employees and businesses with over 500 employees, with the federal government covering leave costs for businesses with fewer than 50 employees;
• Provide Maine' lobstermen and fishermen affected by the coronavirus with direct relief, as well as fishing communities, shellfish aquaculture businesses, processors or other fishery-related businesses who are being impacted by the coronavirus;
• Help fishing industry small businesses keep their with costs down by establishing an insurance relief program to help offset the costs of insurance on working waterfront infrastructure, boats, businesses, and to stabilize seafood supply chain business;
• Protect front-line workers and other at-risk workers — like firefighters, police officers, paramedics, and nurses — by establishing an infectious disease workplace safety standard;
• Increase federal funding for the Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration Dislocated Worker Grant programs;

Decisive Action on Public Health:

• Protect health care workers and limit community spread by supplying sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE) to enable COVID-19 mitigation, testing, and treatment by the full range of medical and group living facilities;
• Ensure sufficient supplies of COVID-19 test kits and testing reagents;
• Helping hospitals and other health care facilities stay afloat during the crisis with increased federal support for state Medicaid programs, a reauthorization of the Community Health Center program, and grants to backfill hospitals' lost revenues from elective procedures and non-emergency appointments.

Meeting the Needs of Maine Communities:

• Help meet urgent community needs in Maine by increasing funding for non-profit organizations and agencies that provide child care, free school lunches and other nutrition programs, and affordable housing through increased, flexible funding for the Community Services Block Grant, LIHEAP, the Child Care and Development Block Grant, and other existing programs;
• Provide support for Mainers, particularly Maine veterans, experiencing homelessness by increasing funding for the Emergency Solutions Grant and the Supportive Services for Veteran Families grant.

Read a copy of Congressman Golden's letter here.