Democratic lawmakers and the White House negotiated over the weekend on the Senate COVID-19 relief package. While both sides indicated that some progress was being made, it looked increasingly unlikely on Tuesday that a deal would be reached by the end of the week and that senators would return home for August without a full COVID-19 relief package. The major sticking points revolve around the level of unemployment compensation to be extended, with Republicans objecting to a level of unemployment compensation that exceeds wages – incentivizing workers to stay home rather than return to work. NRMCA members have indicated that the high levels of unemployment are directly impacting their ability to hire or rehire workers.
NRMCA has advocated for a number of critical provisions to be included in the next COVID-19 relief bill, including liability protection for businesses, reforms to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), eligibility for non-profit 501(c)6 organizations for PPP loans and funding to replace lost revenue that would support state and local infrastructure projects.
For more information, contact Andrew Tyrrell at atyrrell@nrmca.org.
National Ready Mixed Concrete Association