NEWARK, N.J. – As the Senate prepares to consider the House-passed $3 trillion coronavirus rescue bill (Heroes Act), U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) outlined a series of proposals that would provide additional resources to support frontline health care professionals and workers, small businesses, families, and states affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Last month, Sen. Menendez unveiled the State and Municipal Assistance for Recovery and Transition (SMART) Fund, a bipartisan breakthrough to deliver critical funds to states and localities in the frontlines of the pandemic’s response. As he did during the negotiations of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the Paycheck Protection and Health Care Enhancement Act, Sen. Menendez will fight to include these priorities in the next bill to be considered by the Senate.

“After passing a bipartisan, $2 trillion package that gave New Jersey and the nation a fighting chance at defeating COVID-19, and an interim $484 billion package to support struggling small businesses, frontline hospitals and expanding testing capacity, we still have much more work to do to,” said Sen. Menendez. “As the Senate prepares to consider the House-passed relief bill, one of the biggest challenges facing our states and local governments is their ability to continue to pay first responders and teachers, fund local health departments, pick up the trash and perform other basic functions of government at a time when local tax revenues have all but dried up. First and foremost, Congress must take bolder action as soon as possible to help the states hit hardest both by this pandemic and its economic fallout.”

“Furthermore, this fourth stimulus package should focus on funding our hospitals, rebuilding a strong public health infrastructure, enhancing health access for minorities and address COVID-19 disparities, and establish a national supply chain database that can provide real-time knowledge of our manufacturing base and capabilities, among other priorities,” Sen. Menendez added. “To ensure we identify, and can more effectively prevent, and if needed mitigate, future pandemics like this one, Congress needs to create a bipartisan Commission which ultimately will help us improve our nation’s preparedness. Lastly, it is our responsibility to do this in a way we ensure everyone can access the medical and financial relief they need to recover from this devastating pandemic. We must work harder and smarter to help those who historically have been left behind and that have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19.”

Sen. Menendez’s top priorities for the next stimulus package will:

Support State and local governments

  • Municipal bond financing: strengthen the Department of the Treasury/Federal Reserve lending programs to states and local governments established by the CARES Act, with the goal of stabilizing borrowing costs for state and local governments. Sen. Menendez is the author of the Municipal Bonds Emergency Relief Act (MBERA).

Strengthen our health care response and preparedness

  • Public Health Investment: America’s public health system was ill-prepared to scale up to meet the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Investments in our public health labs and state preparedness programs has been lagging. Now is the time to make a long-term investment in the Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Hospital Preparedness Programs.
  • Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): establish a national supply chain database that can provide real-time knowledge of our manufacturing base and capabilities, and ensure the nation’s ability to minimize disruptions in the supply chain—something sorely needed. The infrastructure for the Supply Chain Database will be created through the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP).
  • COVID-19 Commission: establish a bipartisan COVID-19 Commission, modeled after the 9/11 Commission, which would focus on looking ahead and improving our nation’s preparedness for future public health emergencies. The Commission would examine, among other topics, diplomatic relations, medical intelligence, public health surveillance and testing, and the availability of medical equipment and supplies.

Support frontline essential workers

  • Supporting our first responders: Sen. Menendez’s goal is to ensure that all first responders affected by COVID-19 have the resources and benefits they deserve. Senate passage of the Safeguarding America’s First Responders Act is a good first step to achieve this goal, but more work needs to be done to protect these heroes and their families.
  • Hazard pay: ensure that essential frontline workers such as doctors and nurses, grocery store workers, transit workers, and those supporting our food supply chains, and so many others who have been key in the center of the pandemic’s response receive the compensation they deserve. Sen. Menendez supports Sen. Schumer’s proposal of establishing the “Heroes Fund” to reward, retain, and recruit essential workers.

Support Small Businesses

  • Small Businesses: continue to provide support for small businesses impacted by COVID-19 to ensure they can open their doors after the pandemic recedes and continue to employ millions, as well as generate revenue for states, cities, and towns across the country. The Paycheck Protection Program loans provide vital funding for small businesses, but businesses need additional flexibility on loan forgivability, and more small businesses should be able to access federal proceeds. The federal government should not allow small businesses to accrue debt because of this pandemic.

Expand housing assistance

  • Mortgage & Rental Assistance: provide struggling families assistance to help them stay in their homes and help property owners cover their costs, including the costs of maintenance to ensure residents’ health and safety.
  • Housing Counseling: provide additional funds to housing counseling agencies to help them meet the increase in demand for helping families navigate credit concerns, prevent foreclosure or eviction, and access relief programs.
  • 202 & 811 Funding: provide assistance to elderly residents in federally-assisted housing to help them stay in their homes, provide necessary PPE, and funds to hire additional support staff. The elderly and those with underlying health conditions are some of the most vulnerable to COVID-19, we must ensure that these residents have the resources they need to maintain healthy communities.

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