Joe Biden: Make coronavirus relief work for families and small businesses. Help them now.

In the last two weeks, almost 10 million Americans have filed new unemployment claims. Ten million Americans who, through no fault of their own, are now out of work. That’s catastrophic. It’s the herald of a severe economic crisis that could dwarf the Great Recession. The only way we will avert that outcome is through decisive action that gets relief directly to American workers and families, as quickly as possible.

That’s what the $2 trillion CARES Act was designed to do. It passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, because Congress understands that families and small businesses are already feeling the economic impact of this crisis. Now, it’s up to President Donald Trump and his administration to get that help in the hands of the people who need it. Earlier this week, I spoke with President Trump and shared my recommendations for what he should do now to address this crisis. It’s going to require a lot of hard, painstaking work.

Unfortunately, there are already signs the CARES Act is not being implemented quickly enough — reports that the Treasury may need five months to send out support checks; banks that didn’t receive guidance until the last minute on how to get the small business lending program up and running; laid-off workers who can’t even log on to apply for their unemployment checks. All the money in the world won’t matter if Americans can’t access it.





https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/04/08/biden-get-coronavirus-relief-to-families-small-business-column/2963385001/