Protecting Businesses from Costly New Mandates While They Battle COVID-19

Description

The Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI, ACUF Lifetime 90%) amendment (1558) to the Families First Coronavirus Response Act would provide regulatory relief to small businesses who would have been mandated to provide paid leave to their employees during the Chinese coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. The amendment would provide temporary support to state-administered unemployment insurance systems rather than the bill’s proposal to force paid leave mandates on businesses with fewer than 500 workers (reimbursed through payroll tax credits). Specifically, the amendment would waive the waiting period for unemployment benefits and allow affected workers to receive unemployment insurance benefits for up to 14 weeks at a rate of two-thirds their average weekly earnings (or up to $1,000). ACU recognizes that a payroll tax credit reimbursement system does not provide timely relief to cash-strapped businesses and may create avenues for fraud and abuse. ACU supports this measure to strengthen the integrity of taxpayer COVID-19 response funds while also protecting businesses from costly new mandates that may jeopardize their continued operation and supported this amendment. Democrats used the filibuster to defeat this amendment as the Senate failed to invoke cloture (end debate) on March 18, 2020 by a vote of 50-48. (A three-fifths majority vote, or 60 votes were required and a “yes” vote supported the ACU position.)