Rep. Gabbard Votes for Urgently Needed Aid to Individuals, Small Businesses and Local Governments
Rep.
"So many of our states, counties, small businesses, and individuals are in dire straits and need help. In spite of serious concerns with some sections of the bill, I voted for the HEROES Act today because we must urgently get resources to those who are bearing the brunt of the impact of this pandemic. Smaller local governments, like
Background: In early March, Rep.
Notable components of H.R.6800, the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act:
* It creates new State and Local Coronavirus Relief Funds through the
* Hawai'i State gets
* Hawai'i County gets
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* It makes COVID-19-related treatment free for those with Medicare Parts A and B and Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, private insurance, as well as FEHBP and our military programs.
* It provides
* It provides funding for personal protective equipment for frontline workers, veterans, and prisons, and prohibits employers from retaliating against workers for reporting or publicizing health and safety hazards, or for using their own more protective personal protective equipment if not provided by the employer.
* It establishes a
* It includes a second round of direct payments to individuals of
* It extends Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits (PUA) provided to workers who do not qualify for regular unemployment compensation through
* It extends the
* It extends the Pandemic Extended Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), which provides 13 additional weeks of unemployment benefits to individuals who have exhausted other benefits, through
* It establishes an additional set aside of existing funds of the lesser of 25% or
* It creates carve outs for SBA Paycheck Protection Program funds to focus on small businesses with 10 or fewer employees as well as non-profit organizations, especially those with 500 or fewer employees.
* It provides
* It provides
* It includes Native Hawaiians in funding provisions for education, employment as contact tracers, mortgage payment assistance, and housing block grants.
* It closes loopholes and clarifies discrepancies in previous emergency funding bills.
Securing Emergency Funding
To date, the
* H.R.6074, the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020 (on
* H.R.6201, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (on
* H.R.748, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (on
* H.R.266, the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act (on
The Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act provided urgently needed, immediate funds to help with the initial impact of the virus on America.
Next, she voted to pass the Families First Coronavirus Response Act to provide free testing for COVID-19, two weeks of paid sick leave, up to three months paid family and medical leave, unemployment insurance for furloughed workers, food security for those who rely on food stamps, student meals, senior nutrition plans, and food banks, and increase federal Medicaid funds for local, state, tribal and territorial governments and health systems.
The CARES Act included direct cash payments to Americans, assistance for those who are out of work due to the outbreak, funding for small businesses, hospitals, and health care workers, and state and local governments. The bill's funding for state and local governments included at least
In late April,
In the weeks following the passage of the CARES Act, Hawai'i received over
Also, Hawai'i received over
By mid-April, the CARES Act continued to yield funds for Hawai'i, including an estimated
Protecting and Providing for Americans During the Crisis
Rep.
In March, working with Hawai'i's Congressional Delegation, Rep.
In April, she introduced H.R.6609 with Rep.
In May, she introduced H.R.6809, the Nurse Workforce Protection Act, with Rep.
She also urged House Leaders to support essential workers and to adopt labor rules that would ensure they receive full pay as they work to serve others during the pandemic. She also called for first responders and emergency service workers to receive hazard pay as well as additional resources for supplies -- especially PPE -- so they can keep safe while protecting Americans during this crisis.
In March and early April, she cosponsored
Following up for Hawai'i's farmers, in April, she helped lead a Hawai'i delegation letter to USDA Secretary
In April,
Calls for Preventative Measures
In early April, Rep.
On
As the virus was first spreading in different parts of the world,
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About Rep.
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