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Brady: “Phase Three” COVID-19 Package ”Big, Targeted, and Will Make a Difference”

March 25, 2020

 

Ways and Means Republican Leader Kevin Brady (R-TX) joined Kevin Cirilli on Bloomberg TV to break down the phase three package.

When will the House vote?  

“Speaker Pelosi will have to schedule that for Thursday or Friday. I suspect Members will want time to review this bill but still act very quickly. I’m hopeful sooner rather than later.”

“This package is big, targeted, and will make a difference. … I suspect very strong support in the House and in the Senate.”

Despite the forced 3 day delay Democrats imposed on the process, we’ve reached an agreement. It’s important to get this to the President’s desk.”

What does the package do for workers?

“It helps keep workers on the job. It helps those who aren’t and to make sure there are jobs for them to come back to.”

How do small– and medium-sized businesses get this support?

“Go to your banker. Almost every business has a lender they work with – go to them. While the SBA is the point person on much of this small business lending, in truth this is designed to work through your local lenders so it can go faster, more streamlined, and can get help to that business sooner.”

“We’ve also added a worker retention tax credit for those businesses who don’t want to borrow, even if it’s forgiven, but they need help keeping their workers on the payroll. A new credit that can pay half of the workers’ wages – for the average worker in the U.S., almost two months of their salary.”

How soon will distressed industries get support?  

“Secretary Mnuchin, Senator Grassley and others have focused on getting this lending out the door quickly. I think in combination with what the Fed is doing, all in on the liquidity side of this, I think we’ve got a double whammy here in a good way for businesses who need that liquidity.”

“Bailouts infer someone did something wrong. In these cases, businesses did nothing wrong. In some cases, government shut them down. I think we have a responsibility to provide the liquidity to ride it out and then rebound strongly.”

When will Americans get their $1,200 checks?  

“It looks like it will be the first week of April. I know the Treasury and the IRS is already focused on how we get those checks out the door. I wouldn’t be surprised since most people already use direct deposit with their tax returns, that may be a very easy and quick vehicle to get that to them. We’ll also of course be giving direct rebates to those on Social Security, we have a mechanism for that as well. The bottom line is: it looks like it will come quickly.”

CLICK HERE to watch the full interview.