Following last night’s passage of the coronavirus aid package in the U.S Senate, Maine Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Marra issued the following statement:
“We are encouraged to see that the U.S. Senate has passed a relief package that includes resources for hospitals, improved unemployment benefits for workers, and accountability for funds distributed to corporations. An earlier draft of the bill that Senator Susan Collins repeatedly voted to ram through Congress lacked these vital resources for working families and our health care institutions and instead would have given corporate special interests a slush fund that lacked sufficient assurances that corporations won’t use the taxpayer funds for stock buybacks or CEO bonuses. When other members of the Senate fought to secure needed improvements for workers and hospitals to the bill, Collins took to the Senate floor to denounce their efforts.
“It was disappointing to see Senator Collins fighting against more support for our workers and hospitals. With more than 21,000 Maine people newly out of work in the last week alone and more new confirmed cases of coronavirus in Maine every day, we need our congressional delegation to remain laser focused on support for workers and health care providers in our state in the weeks and months ahead.”
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