WASHINGTON – This afternoon the Senate released updated text of the coronavirus stimulus package, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Paul Winfree, director of the Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies, released the following:

As currently drafted, the CARES Act will cripple the economy by pushing people away from their employers and onto unemployment insurance. This will ultimately hurt workers who will be better off remaining attached to their jobs so that when the pandemic subsides we can all get back to work as quickly as possible.

 

The primary goal of policymakers should be to keep Americans attached to their employers, not government programs. The current unemployment insurance provision in the CARES Act works directly against that goal. Heritage scholars have offered an alternative to keep workers connected to employers, provide stability for businesses caught in this uncertainty, and mitigate the overall economic effects of this crisis.

For The Heritage Foundation’s alternative, which was written in response to the initial draft of this legislation, see “Senate’s Coronavirus Bill: Bailouts, Missed Opportunities, and Positive Reforms.”