GLI OUTLINES PRIORITIES IN THE HEALS ACT

In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, GLI highlighted critical elements of the recently-announced HEALS Act. This legislation is the Senate majority’s proposal for a fourth COVID-19 relief bill. Last month, GLI President and CEO urged lawmakers to work together on a fourth relief package and underscored priorities from GLI’s 2020-2021 federal agenda in an op-ed. The HEALS Act includes several priorities that GLI has been advocating for.

Read GLI’s full letter to Leader McConnell below.

Leader McConnell, 

Thank you for your leadership in introducing the HEALS Act. As I wrote in Louisville Business First last month, it is imperative that Congress pass a fourth Coronavirus relief bill. While GLI fully acknowledges that the important work of the CARES Act is far from over and the impacts of that historic legislation will continue to be felt in the months ahead, the fragile nature of our economic recovery coupled with the resurgence of the virus demands additional action from Congress. We applaud you and your colleagues for stepping forward with another important piece of legislation. 

We are, of course, aware that legislation of this magnitude will require input from numerous stakeholders and days of negotiations before it is ready for passage. With that in mind, we wanted to highlight several sections of the bill that our members view as especially important to protecting Greater Louisville’s economic recovery. 

• Legal liability protections for businesses to prevent a wave of opportunistic and frivolous lawsuits
• Modifications to the federal pandemic unemployment benefits to help businesses bring their employees back to work as well as other key workforce initiatives such as funding for WIOA, re-employment services, and displaced workers
• Additional funding for the Paycheck Protection Program, the establishment of Second Draw Loans, and improvements to the program such as expanded forgivable expenses, simplified forgiveness application processes, and eligibility for 501(c)(6) organizations
• Expansion of the employee retention tax credit and work opportunity tax credits
• Establishment of the safe and healthy workplace tax credit
• Funding for Child Care Development Block Grants and Back to Work Child Care grants
• Substance abuse and prevention treatment block grants

There are numerous other areas of the legislation that our members also view positively, but these provisions will be key to supporting our region through the economic recovery. As you and your colleagues continue negotiating the HEALS Act, we urge you to keep in mind the importance of these provisions and to secure their passage in the final version of the bill.