Press Releases

“Americans are suffering. They are suffering in the face of an unseen enemy—a natural disaster—that we can only defeat together.

I’ve spent hours on the phone with Ohioans, national leaders, doctors, researchers, elected officials, businesses and community leaders, listening to what they are doing to help us through this crisis and asking what they need.

This bill is not perfect. But it does provide emergency relief legislation that helps our healthcare workers, our hospitals, our businesses with liquidity, and helps our workers to keep them on the payrolls as well as helping Americans most in need.

We see businesses retooling their industry. We see groups donating supplies and others seeking cures. We’re learning many lessons and finding many flaws that we must fix so we have the opportunity to come back even stronger and more responsible than ever.

We need to pass this bill. This time is very unprecedented. Let’s get it done.”

You can view his remarks here.

The CARES Act contains:

·       Financial support for American families in the form of one-time tax rebate checks. Individuals will receive $1,200 and couples will receive $2,400 with an addition $500 per eligible child. Checks will be reduced for high earners starting at $75,000 for individuals, $112,500 for head of household, and $150,000 for married couples. Checks will phase out completely for individuals earning $99,000 and married couples earning $198,000.

·       A new Small Business Administration-backed loan program. Small businesses who take on loans to keep their employees on payroll may have loans forgiven. Further, the federal government will forgive eight weeks of loans for cash flow, rent and utilities at up to two and a half times the average monthly payroll.

·       Assistance to job creators in distress in the form of $529 billion in loans, loan guarantees, and investment authority.

·       Increased access to care. It increases the Medicare reimbursement rate to help cover costs for caring for our most vulnerable citizens. It also allows the FDA to quickly approve the use of new medication and treatments.

·       Direct funding to further combat the pandemic. It provides $340 billion in supplemental appropriations for: states, cities, and localities; support for healthcare workers and hospitals; additional personal protective equipment (PPE); local first responders; research of new treatments and vaccines; small businesses; colleges and universities; veteran healthcare, and Department of Defense COVID-19 response.

You can find more detailed analyses of the CARES Act:

·       Tax provisions

·       Health provisions

·       Unemployment provisions

·       Small business provisions

·       Section-by-section summary

·       Full bill text