Friends, 

This afternoon, the Senate passed legislation that will extend funding for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Additionally, this legislation provides funds for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program (EIDL) and expands eligibility for this program to include ranchers and farmers with less than 500 employees.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said early this morning that the House will vote on the Senate passed bill on Thursday April 23rd.

According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), the Paycheck Protection Program has approved loans to more than 1.6 million small businesses in only 14 days to help American workers during the COVID-19 crisis. PPP loans are helping to save jobs in our local communities by supporting 7,618 small businesses in Wyoming during the economic shutdown. 

For more information about businesses receiving assistance through the PPP, go to this page and continue to follow it for frequent updates: gop.gov/PPPworks

Wyoming small business owners, ranchers, farmers, non-profits, and religious organizations can find additional background about PPP loans here: 

Falling Oil Prices:

The world’s oil markets continued to drop this week due to historically low demand caused by the global economic shutdown. The falling price of oil puts hundreds of thousands of American energy jobs at risk. This is a serious situation and I will work with the Administration and our stakeholders in Wyoming to make sure we’re doing everything to support our energy industry.

Today, I participated on a call with Department of Energy Secretary Brouillette. We discussed a number of issues centered around the world oil market historical lows, including actions that need to be taken until the economy gets moving again and demand catches up with supply. It is critical that the Department of Energy takes steps now to ensure that energy dominance will continue after we make it through this unprecedented crisis.

Guidelines For Opening Up America Again

At a briefing of the White House Coronavirus Task Force last week, President Trump, Vice President Pence, Dr. Birx, and Dr. Fauci spoke about the release of the federal government’s guidelines to open the country. According to the White House, the three-phased approach is meant to help state and local officials reopen their economies, get people back to work, and continue to protect American lives.

As a member of President Trump’s bipartisan congressional task force to reopen the economy, I look forward to working with Senator Enzi, Senator Barrasso, and my colleagues in Congress on achieving this goal in a smart and safe way. 

There is much at stake as we work to defeat the virus and restore our economy. Expanded testing, access to personal protective equipment, and accelerated research and development of therapeutics and vaccines will be key elements in getting America working again. We have to listen to experts and hear input from a wide variety of perspectives. That’s exactly what the President is doing by creating this task force.

The full guidelines from the White House can be found here and can be downloaded at the following link: https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Guidelines-for-Opening-Up-America-Again.pdf

How To Access Economic Impact Payments:

The IRS formally launched the “Get My Payment” web portal last week with features to let taxpayers check on their Economic Impact Payment date and update direct deposit information.

The portal can be accessed here: https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/get-my-payment, and there are FAQ’s that are answered on the site as well. 

USDA Providing Aid For Ranchers And Farmers:

On Friday, President Trump and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced the creation of the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) that will provide financial support for America’s ranchers and farmers in response to the COVID-19 national emergency. 

Wyoming’s cattle ranchers and farmers are playing a vital role in feeding American families as we fight the spread of coronavirus. However, the economic volatility created by this virus has severely impacted our food producers and threatens their ability to continue putting food on our tables. 

I’m pleased to see President Trump and the USDA take swift action to secure our domestic food security by providing financial aid to stabilize our ranching and farm markets. According to USDA, CFAP will use the funding and authorities provided in the CARES Act, the Families First Act, and other USDA existing authorities to do the following:

  • Direct Support to Farmers and Ranchers: The program will provide financial support based on actual losses for agricultural producers where prices and market supply chains have been impacted and will assist producers with additional adjustment and marketing costs resulting from lost demand and short-term oversupply for the 2020 marketing year caused by COVID-19.
  • USDA Purchase and Distribution: USDA will partner with regional and local distributors, whose workforce has been significantly impacted by the closure of many restaurants, hotels, and other food service entities, to purchase fresh produce, dairy, and meat. The distributors and wholesalers will then provide a pre-approved box of fresh produce, dairy, and meat products to food banks, community and faith based organizations, and other non-profits serving Americans in need.

More information can be found here.

Medical Supplies:

As of April 19, FEMA’s Project Airbridge designed to secure key medical supplies for the United States has completed 66 flights with an additional 49 scheduled for a total of approximately 115 flights. In addition, FEMA, HHS, and the private sector combined have coordinated the delivery of over 57 million N95 respirators, nearly 78 million surgical masks, more than 6 million face shields, almost 12 million surgical gowns, 587 million gowns, nearly 11,000 ventilators, and 8,450 federal medical station beds.

Coronavirus Testing Update: 

Vice President Pence led a call with the nation’s governors yesterday to discuss testing, and said at the White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing that they are continuing to expand testing  and that the federal government will work in every way to support their efforts to do that.

President Trump said that the United States was looking to double the number of daily tests conducted if the nation’s governors, “bring their states fully online through the capability that they have.”

Therapeutics And Vaccines:

The FDA published information about the Coronavirus Treatment Acceleration Program, which moves new treatments to patients as soon as possible while also finding out whether they are helpful or harmful. So far, 72 clinical trials of potential therapies for COVID-19 are underway with FDA oversight. 

They also published a letter to health care providers on the use of serological tests, where they recommended that health care providers continue to use serological tests intended to detect antibodies to help identify people who may have been exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus or have recovered from infection.

Please follow this newsletter and the coronavirus page on my website for continued updates about COVID-19 and how government is responding to protect both the country’s health and our economic security. 

Congresswoman Liz Cheney