Republican Sen. Cory Gardner is joining Sen. Josh Hawley’s effort to federally subsidize business’s payrolls during the coronavirus pandemic, the latest sign that some Senate Republicans are eager to present a competing vision to House Democrats.
Hawley (R-Mo.) has been selling his proposal to Senate Republicans for weeks, and Gardner’s support is significant. The Colorado Republican has the toughest path to reelection of any GOP senator, and his work with Hawley on his “Rehire America” plan shows that not everyone in the Republican conference is content pressing pause on the next bill.
Their plan would offer businesses financial support to both rehire workers that have been laid off as well as keep workers still on payrolls. With unemployment at nearly 15 percent, they say their party should be focused singularly on stemming more layoffs.
They also see an opportunity to get the upper hand on jobs and the economy after the Democratic House proposal omitted a plan from progressive Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) that would guarantee workers’ salaries for three months.
“We should put forward a proposal that is focused on jobs in contrast to what House Democrats are doing. They could have done something like this. They had an opportunity to put forward a jobs proposal and they didn’t,” Hawley said of Democrats’ bill, which will receive a vote on Friday. “It is unbelievable that you would propose $3 trillion in federal spending and you wouldn’t have a focus on workers.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and other senior Republicans have suggested they are content to see how the nearly $3 trillion they have pumped into the economy so far works out before moving onto a fifth relief bill. But Gardner says “without additional support, it’s possible that many jobs will never come back and many businesses will never reopen.”
“More must be done, and we must think big as we continue to search for solutions to help the American people through this pandemic,” said Gardner, who will likely face former Democratic Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper in a difficult Senate race this fall.
Though Gardner’s support is notable, they will need more backing to persuade McConnell or President Donald Trump to help guide the party toward an alternative to Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s bill, which would provide nearly $1 trillion to states and cities and also deliver another round of payments to Americans. Hawley said other Republicans may be “getting sick of me” because he’s lobbying them so hard.
The two Republican senators’ proposal would provide payroll assistance at up to 120 percent of a rehired worker’s pay, with a $50,000 cap. The bonus pay is aimed at providing incentives for companies to bring back workers and make up for some of the employees’ pay losses while they are unemployed. It would also apply to new hires for businesses staffing up for post-lockdown commerce.
Similarly, the legislation would pay up to 80 percent of workers’ wages for employees that businesses have kept on their payrolls. The benefits for companies to both rehire workers and keep existing idled workers on their payroll would last through the end of the year.
It would also provide financial incentives for businesses to make new investments in their companies. Companies would be eligible for those grants if their revenues have decreased by at least 20 percent during the pandemic. Companies that have already received money from the Paycheck Protection Program would be eligible once those benefits were exhausted.