Loeffler Delivers Critical COVID Relief for Georgia Workers, Families, Farmers, Veterans and Small Businesses

Continues Extensive Work to Help Georgians Impacted by Coronavirus

ATLANTA – U.S. Senator Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) today outlined her extensive work to help Georgians address the coronavirus pandemic, including helping to deliver more than $39 billion in relief funding to Georgia. Loeffler continues to work to swiftly provide relief for employers, workers, families, health care providers, farmers, veterans and all Georgians.
 
“The coronavirus pandemic has impacted every aspect of our lives, and the federal response has been in full force to help provide relief,” said Senator Loeffler. “From day one, I have worked around the clock to ensure Georgia families, businesses, hospitals and farmers have the resources they need. As we continue to prioritize the health and safety of our communities, I will keep working to deliver relief and results that create more opportunities for Georgia families to recover and succeed following this pandemic.”
 
Loeffler’s office has helped more than 4,040 individual Georgians and 410 Georgia businesses receive coronavirus relief by cutting through federal red tape.
 
For Georgia Families:

  • $8 billion in Economic Impact Payments to 4.7 million Georgians 
  • Urged the U.S. Department of Treasury and Internal Revenue Service to process backlog of Economic Impact Payments to eligible Georgians
  • Urged the Trump administration to expand telehealth services for veterans

 
Actions taken by Senator Loeffler regarding COVID-19:

  • Traveled with President Trump to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to hear directly from doctors working on the front line to combat the coronavirus;
  • Voted for the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and the Coronavirus Aid, Recovery and Economic Stability (CARES) Act; 
  • Drafted and introduced the USA Restoring & Igniting the Strength of our Economy (USA RISE) Plan to reinvest in America, grow jobs, help families through the COVID-19 pandemic and trigger an economic recovery;
  • Voted for the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act to expand flexibility for PPP loans; 
  • Served on President Trump’s Congressional Task Force to Reopen America;
  • Worked with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to improve conditions for quarantined cruise ship passengers at Dobbins Air Force Base;
  • Hosted a telephone town hall with U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.), also a physician, to discuss the federal response to coronavirus with Georgians; 
  • Held dozens of conference calls with hundreds of elected officials, county leaders, hospitals, first responders, food banks, small business owners, farmers, producers, educators, community banks, large employers, nonprofits and chambers of commerce across Georgia to provide updates on coronavirus efforts;
  • Participated in six U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearings on the coronavirus and the federal government’s response; 
  • Worked with the U.S. State Department to help bring home Georgians stranded in more than 20 countries due to travel bans;
  • Advocated for solutions to reopen and restart the economy with President Trump and the leaders of the U.S. Department of Treasury, Federal Reserve and Small Business Administration; 
  • Hosted a conference call with Georgia farmers and the United States Department of Agriculture Undersecretary to discuss how to help the agriculture industry; and 
  • Hosted a telephone town hall with the U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and thousands of Georgians to discuss reopening schools and school choice.

 
Legislation introduced by Senator Loeffler in response to coronavirus:

 
For the State of Georgia and local governments:

 
For Georgia Schools and Education:

 
For Georgia Employers and Workers:

 
For Georgia Hospitals and Health Care providers:

  • $2.66 billion for Georgia’s health care system
  • $46 million in reimbursement for testing and treating uninsured patients
  • $828,000 to expand telehealth, as part of a provision Loeffler sponsored in the CARES Act
  • Urged the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide funding for children’s hospitals impacted by COVID-19
  • Asked HHS and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to examine how several states that rejected federal guidance contributed to the spread of the coronavirus in nursing homes during the pandemic
  • Urged HHS and CMS to prioritize CARES funding for safety net and rural hospitals

 
For Georgia Farmers:

  • $128.5 million in direct payments from the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP)
  • Secured access to Economic Injury Disaster Loans for farmers
  • Helped secure additional flexibility for the CFAP to better serve Georgia’s expansive and diverse agriculture industry 
  • Urged the Small Business Administration (SBA) to help rural small businesses access PPP loans
  • Successfully urged the Chief Agricultural Negotiator Gregg Doud to reschedule a United States Trade Representative (USTR) field hearing, that was delayed due to COVID-19, to focus on how foreign trade policy, especially the dumping of imported produce into the U.S. market, threatens domestic farmers’ livelihoods

 
For Georgia Veterans:

  • Urged the Trump administration to expand telemental services for veterans
  • Cosponsored the Homeless Veterans Coronavirus Response Act of 2020 to improve the ability of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide critical services to homeless veterans during the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Cosponsored a bill to amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to provide additional legal protections for service members and their families who are affected by stop movement orders during the pandemic.
  • Cosponsored two bills to ensure that GI beneficiaries are not adversely affected by the pandemic, language from both of which were signed into law

 

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