GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – An agreement has been reached on Capitol Hill between leaders of both major parties, resulting in an unprecedented $2 trillion emergency bill to provide aid to businesses, workers and a health care system slammed by the coronavirus pandemic.
“The degree of success can be measured by – if six months from now, or a year from now – are things back to normal.”
Loans and checks will be available soon for people and businesses struggling to stay afloat. Representative Glenn Grothman isn’t a fan of everything in the bill – but says it’ll have to do.
“I wish we would’ve negotiated something a little bit less robust,” Grothman tells the WTAQ Morning News with Matt and Earl, “If I’m doing the arithmetic right, we’re looking at about $6,000 per person. That’s the size of the package.”
The economic package sends money directly to most Americans, expands unemployment benefits, and provides a $367 billion program for small businesses in order for them to cover payroll while workers are forced to stay home.
“Provided you’re a single person making under $75,000 or a married couple under $150,000 – checks of $1,200 per person,” Grothman says.
The 6th District congressman argues that the payments could have been broken up over time, rather than lumped into one massive bill – but says it’s more important to get the bill passed efficiently than to have everything he specifically would like in it.
“If it’s still as bad as this two months from now, we could’ve passed a separate bill. But they’re putting everything in immediately here,” Grothman says, “The most important thing, however, is to get this behind us. We will have to be monitoring the number of people having to be hospitalized and the number of deaths that are out there – and have a plan for when we’re going to wrap this thing up.”
The congressman reports he has been in contact with hospitals around his district to check in with their numbers and preparation for handling COVID-19, especially with higher numbers in areas like Fond du Lac County and the potential for community spread.
“Right now they’re bracing for the worst. We’re going to see what happens in the next couple weeks, but right now there is a surprisingly small number of people who are hospitalized,” Grothman says, “Having the public gain confidence that hospitals have enough equipment on hand so they can handle it. That will result in so much more money to help people even more than this stimulus package.”
Small businesses will be able to find loans from the federal government soon, and Grothman hopes the funding will help keep everyone afloat during such uncertain times.
“There not only are going to be loans there, but they’re loans that can be forgiven if people don’t lay people off, which is very important for small business. It appears people are immediately going to be getting checks, which will help,” Grothman says, “Not just restaurants but manufacturing firms who are going through a tough time. There are a lot of people in a scary position, and you’ve got to remember, most businesses have debt. And if you have debt, the bank is expecting you to keep making payments even if there are no sales.”
He adds that the Trump administration has already approved loans involving liquidity – so if a business is struggling with liquidity problems, there will be options available in the near future.
And while he’s cautiously optimistic about the move on Capitol Hill, he is also questioning financial moves made by some of his colleagues.
“I will point out by the way that I’m very disappointed in some congressmen who were caught selling stocks after private briefings,” Grothman says, “I do hope that congressmen like that are appropriately disciplined – and if they have any shame, they should really even resign.”
A handful of lawmakers, including people on both sides of the aisle, reportedly sold off large quantities of stocks ahead of the market crash due to COVID-19. It’s currently unclear which, if any, of them made moves after attending briefings discussing the potential impact of the virus.
