FACTS
The US House of Representatives recently passed the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act, which is a second round of federal relief consisting of $3 trillion for American individuals and businesses. The legislation was introduced by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and must be approved by the Senate in order to become law.
#BREAKING: Details on the #HeroesAct, bold legislation being introduced today by @SpeakerPelosi & @HouseDemocrats.
— Nick Knudsen 🇺🇸 #DemCast (@DemWrite) May 12, 2020
✅ $1T for state & local govt
✅ $200B in hazard pay for essential workers
✅ $75B for testing & contact tracing
✅ Up to $6K per family in direct payments.
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LEFT
Democrats are largely in favor of the bill, but some call for greater measures than proposed. Many believe it provides vital aid to structures such as the US Post Office and to services like the police, teachers, and essential workers during the coronavirus pandemic. They also support the measures in place to protect undocumented workers from deportation and provide them stimulus funds, as well as increased unemployment benefits and additional cash payments to Americans. More progressive lawmakers however, including Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York (D) and Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal of Washington (D), argue that the bill does not go far enough to help Americans during this time. They call for greater provisions including paycheck guarantee measures.
RIGHT
Republicans do not support the bill. They decry, among others, its provisions that fund abortion and allow illegal immigrants to work. It is believed that the unemployment benefits which were temporarily supposed to be an incentive for people to stay home during a national health crisis would have devastating economic consequences if they continued on as the bill proposes. Those on the Right are in favor of a waiting period to assess the outcome of the first stimulus bill before rolling out another round of similar measures. Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy (R) criticized Pelosi’s bill, claiming that it would “…rewrite our immigration laws. Her bill would federalize elections. It would allow federal prisoners to go free. It mentions dope more than it talks about jobs. I think it references cannabis like 68 times. It would expand Obamacare.”
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