Democrats exploited the pandemic to pass “the most progressive legislation in our lifetime,” in their own words–and ultimately will harm our economic recovery, argues Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-IN), Republican Leader on the Subcommittee for Worker and Family Support in an oped for the South Bend Tribune.

Key Takeaways: 

• After rejecting hundreds of Republican amendments aimed at improving the bill, Democrats ultimately passed one of the most expensive bills in American history without a single Republican vote.
• The new funding can hardly be called emergency relief: The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates more than a third of it won’t be spent until fiscal year 2022 or later. In fact, while the bill includes $130 billion for K-12 public schools, only 5 percent of it will actually go to schools this fiscal year.
• Right now, Congress should be focused on making vaccines available as quickly as possible to every American who wants one. We should be removing any barriers small businesses face in hiring the workers they need. We should be reconnecting unemployed Americans with good-paying jobs. We should be making sure working families have access to quality child care, and more flexibility to save and pay for it.

To read the whole op-ed, click here.