We need a stimulus bill, but House churned out a mess

Mar. 6—I firmly believe there are American citizens and small businesses suffering as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.

And I think Americans deserve a shot in the arm via a stimulus check. I'm all for it.

Should we be putting money into getting more Americans vaccinated? Absolutely.

Should we be helping out small businesses that have struggled tremendously for over a year? Yes.

But the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act doesn't just bolster support to battle COVID. As a matter of fact, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell points out the majority of it has very little to do with the virus.

The bill, which passed the Democrat-controlled House 219-212 last week, includes unnecessary funding for local and state governments and an effort to create a brand-new, sprawling cash welfare program — not the one-time checks, but constant payments — that ignore the pro-work lessons of bipartisan welfare reform and which the White House has already stated they want to make permanent.

"That's how you get a 628-page bill that costs nearly two trillion dollars, but only 9% addresses the fight against the virus itself. Only 1% — one percent! — for the life-saving vaccinations that are ending this nightmare as we speak," McConnell said. "That's how you craft a bill that does nothing to immediately get kids back in classrooms; in fact, that only spends 5% of its K-12 school money this fiscal year.

"This isn't a pandemic rescue package," McConnell added. "It's a parade of left-wing pet projects that they are ramming through during a pandemic."

Worse yet, the legislation fails to include safeguards against abortion funding that were included in previous measures that addressed the pandemic.

"There are provisions to let abortion providers raid the small business rescue funds that were meant for Main Street businesses," McConnell said.

The bill does not include Hyde Amendment-type safeguards, which means an estimated $414 billion or more in federal funds could be applied to elective abortions or health insurance that covers elective abortions, according to the National Right to Life Committee. The House Rules Committee denied a vote on a Republican amendment that would have included a ban on abortion funding in the proposal.

The Hyde Amendment, which was enacted in 1976, prohibits Medicaid funding of abortion except in the cases of pregnancy by rape or incest and when the mother's life is endangered. The amendment became the general label for such bans in federal health programs. The measure has saved the lives of more than 2.4 million unborn children, according to an estimate last year by Michael New, associate scholar of the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute.

Without the safeguards, this bill could allow the following:

—Billions of dollars for community health centers without prohibiting money for abortions.

—$750 million for international health activities without protections against abortion funding.

—A $50 million increase for the Title X family planning program, which could go to abortion providers.

—A change in the rules to enable the affiliates of Planned Parenthood, the country's No. 1 abortion provider, to qualify for small business loans under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).

—Federal subsidies for coverage under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) without an accompanying ban on funding abortions. COBRA enables employees who lose health insurance coverage to continue to receive such benefits for a limited time.

These measures should be removed from the bill. It's that simple.

There is some good here — the $130 billion for elementary and secondary schools, the $75 billion for COVID testing and assistance in the vaccination effort and the $25 billion for restaurants, bars and similar businesses are all much needed.

But let's stop taking bills that are supposed to provide pandemic relief and twisting them into a partisan mess.

"This bill isn't an American rescue package; it drives up our national debt, kills over one million jobs, fails to prevent taxpayer dollars from funding abortions and pays for pet projects in largely democrat districts," said Somerset's Congressman Hal Rogers. "We still have $1 trillion of unspent stimulus funding waiting to be delivered for the American people from 2020, yet President Biden and Democrat leaders are blatantly using a national pandemic to bailout their friends in urban areas while the rest of the country suffers."

Let's hope the Senate tinkers with the bill and makes it a true bipartisan effort rather than the monstrosity the House churned out.

JEFF NEAL is the Editor of the Commonwealth Journal. Reach him at jneal@somerset-kentucky.com.