Good morning! Here’s how Cascadia’s United States Representatives voted on major issues during the legislative week ending Friday, May 29th.
In the United States House of Representatives
PLUGGING HOLES IN PAYCHECK PROTECTION: Voting 417 for and one against, the House on May 28th passed a bill (H.R. 7010) that would change the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to correct deficiencies uncovered since it was enacted March 27 to help companies with fewer than five hundred employees stay in business and retain workers during the novel coronavirus pandemic. Congress has appropriated $649 billion for the PPP, but at least $100 billion of the outlay has not yet been distributed because of program flaws addressed by this bill.
In its original form, the PPP funded two-year, one percent Small Business Administration (SBA) loans, which would be converted to grants if the recipient company, in an eight-week span, used at least seventy-five percent of the sum for payroll costs and the remainder for utility and rent or mortgage payments.
This bill extends the spending window to twenty-four weeks and changes the allocation ratio from 75–25 to 60–40. In addition, the bill would:
- Allow companies to include laid-off workers who have received “good faith” rehiring offers to be included in the payroll count for satisfying loan-forgiveness requirements. One effect of this provision would be to allow those out of work to collect a full allotment of state- and federally funded unemployment checks before returning to their employer’s payroll.
- Establish a safe harbor for businesses, including restaurants, that are required to open at limited (such as 50 percent) capacity in order to comply with social-distancing rules. These companies would receive more time to achieve staffing levels necessary to have their loan converted to a grant.
- Allow companies to keep IRS payroll-tax benefits, including deductions, for the portion of a worker’s pay funded by a Paycheck Protection Program loan that is later converted to a grant.
Fred Upton, R‑Michigan, said: “As much as all of us wanted this nightmare to end by Easter, we are now past Memorial Day, and those small businesses are still not open…and they can’t possibly meet that 75 percent standard…to convert that loan to a grant. So without the changes in this bipartisan bill, [the PPP] instead will be an anchor that will take them down.”
No member spoke against the bill.
The negative vote was cast by Thomas Massie, R‑Kentucky.
A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate.
 | Voting Aye (2): Republican Representatives Mike Simpson and Russ Fulcher |
 | Voting Aye (5): Democratic Representatives Suzanne Bonamici, Earl Blumenauer, Peter DeFazio, Kurt Schrader; Republican Representative Greg Walden |
 | Voting Aye (10): Democratic Representatives Suzan DelBene, Rick Larsen, Derek Kilmer, Pramila Jayapal, Kim Schrier, Adam Smith, and Denny Heck; Republican Representatives Jaime Herrera-Beutler, Dan Newhouse, and Cathy McMorris Rodgers |
Cascadia total: 17 aye votes
REQUIRING TRANSPARENCY IN CORONAVIRUS FUNDING: Voting 269 for and 147 against, the House on May 28th failed to reach a two-thirds threshold needed to pass a bill (H.R. 6782) that would require the Small Business Administration to set up a publicly accessible database of recipients Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Assistance loans over $2 million and their number of employees.
The database also would have to enumerate companies receiving SBA coronavirus aid that are owned by women, minorities and veterans. There is presently no public resource for tracking the distribution of at least $725 billion in coronavirus loans and grants this year to companies, non-profits and the self-employed.
Nadia Velazquez, D‑New York, said the listing “is precisely the kind of data Congress needs to ensure the [money] is reaching those communities and businesses that need it most.”
Steve Chabot, R‑Ohio, said bill “attempts to name and some would say shame businesses that acted in good faith and followed the law and the guidelines. I do not believe those businesses should be put on display for potential shaming.”
A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate.
| Voting Nay (2): Republican Representatives Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson |
| Voting Aye (5): Democratic Representatives Suzanne Bonamici, Earl Blumenauer, Peter DeFazio, Kurt Schrader; Republican Representative Greg Walden |
| Voting Aye (9): Democratic Representatives Suzan DelBene, Rick Larsen, Derek Kilmer, Pramila Jayapal, Kim Schrier, Adam Smith, and Denny Heck; Republican Representatives Jaime Herrera-Beutler and Dan Newhouse Voting Nay (1): Republican Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers |
Cascadia total: 14 aye votes, 3 nay votes
EXTENDING DOMESTIC SURVEILLANCE AUTHORITY: Voting 284 for and 122 against, the House on May 28th sent a five-year extension (H.R. 6172) of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to conference with the Senate.
The House had been poised to send the bill to Donald Trump on a bipartisan vote. But Republicans abruptly withdrew support after Trump asked them to do so for reasons related to the FBI’s use of FISA warrants to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign. So House Democrats arranged this vote to send the bill to additional negotiations with the Senate.
The bill would renew FISA provisions related to domestic surveillance that require periodic congressional renewal because of their clash with civil liberties.
In part, the bill prohibits the use of FISA Section 215 to obtain GPS and cell-phone locations; requires the attorney general to approve in writing FISA warrants issued against elected officials or candidates, and expands civil liberties’ protections for domestic religious institutions, public officials, news organizations and other parties targeted or innocently swept up in FISA probes.
Jerrold Nadler, D‑New York, said: “Republicans abandoned this bipartisan [bill] for one reason and one reason only: The president tweeted, on a whim, and told them to oppose this bill. This is just one more example of how the president and his enablers in this body have stood in the way of national security, of civil liberties.I refuse to let our efforts to reform FISA die simply because Republicans are unwilling to stand up to the president’s whims.”
Louie Gohmert, R‑Texas, said: “Go reread the Fourth Amendment. We are not supposed to authorize searches and seizures against Americans without the proper due process, without a probable cause and without particularly describing the places to be searched and what to be seized. And the FISA court has violated that. A vote to go to conference is a total abdication of this body’s job to put out a good bill that does reform.”
A yes vote was to send the bill to a House-Senate conference.
| Voting Aye (1): Republican Representative Mike Simpson Voting Nay (1): Republican Representative Russ Fulcher |
| Voting Aye (3): Democratic Representatives Suzanne Bonamici, Peter DeFazio, and Kurt Schrader Voting Nay (1): Democratic Representative Earl Blumenauer Not Voting (1): Republican Representative Greg Walden |
| Voting Aye (7): Democratic Representatives Suzan DelBene, Rick Larsen, Derek Kilmer, Kim Schrier, Adam Smith, and Denny Heck; Republican Representative Dan Newhouse Voting Nay (3): Democratic Representative Pramila Jayapal; Republican Representatives Jaime Herrera-Beutler and Cathy McMorris Rodgers |
Cascadia total: 11 aye votes, 5 nay votes, 1 not voting
Key votes ahead
The Senate will vote on judicial and executive branch nominations in the week of June 1st, while the House of Representatives will be in recess.
Editor’s Note: The information in NPI’s weekly How Cascadia’s U.S. lawmakers voted feature is provided by Voterama in Congress, a service of Thomas Voting Reports. All rights are reserved. Reproduction of this post is not permitted, not even with attribution. Use the permanent link to this post to share it… thanks!
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