About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (May 13, 2020)
TODAYS TOP HEADLINES The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com Midweek Edition - May 13-14, 2020 3A $3T virus bill unveiled Pelosi warns inaction costs more; House vote expected on Friday BY USA MASCARO AND ANDREW TAYLOR Associated Press WASHINGTON - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled a more than $3 tril lion coronavirus aid pack age Tuesday, a sweeping effort with $1 trillion for states and cities, “hazard pay” for essential workers and a new round of cash pay ments to individuals. The House is expected to vote on the package as soon as Friday. But Senate Major ity Leader Mitch McCon nell has said there is no “urgency.” The Senate will wait until after Memorial Day to consider options. “We must think big, for the people, now,” Pelosi said from the speaker’s office at the Capitol. “Not acting is the most expensive course,” she said. Lines drawn, the latest pandemic response from Congress will test the House and Senate — and Presi dent Donald Trump — as Washington navigates the extraordinary crisis with the nation’s health and eco nomic security at stake. The Democrats’ Heroes Act is built around nearly $1 trillion for states, cities and tribal governments to avert layoffs, focused chiefly on $375 billion for smaller sub urban and rural municipali ties largely left out of earlier bills. The bill will offer a fresh round of $1,200 direct cash aid to individuals, increased to up to $6,000 per house hold, and launches a $175 billion housing assistance fund to help pay rents and mortgages. There is $75 bil lion more for virus testing. It would continue, through January, the $600-per-week boost to unemployment ben efits. It adds a 15% increase for food stamps, new subsi dies for laid-off workers to pay health insurance premi ums under a COBRA law and a special “Obamacare” sign up period. For businesses, it provides an employee reten tion tax credit. There’s $200 billion in “hazard pay” for essential SAUL LOEB I Associated Press House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., speaks about the so-called Heroes Act, Tuesday, May 12, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Pelosi unveiled a more than $3 trillion coronavirus aid package Tuesday, providing nearly $1 trillion for states and cities, “hazard pay” for essential workers and a new round of cash payments to individuals. workers on the front lines of the crisis. Pelosi drew on U.S. his tory — and poetry — to sug gest “no man is an island” as she called on Americans to respond to the crisis with a strategy of science, virus testing and empathy. “There are those who said, ‘Let’s just pause,”’ she said. “Hunger doesn’t take a pause. Rent doesn’t take a pause. Bills don’t take a pause.” But the 1,800-page pack age is heading straight into a Senate roadblock. Republicans are wary of another round of aid and McConnell declared the Democratic proposal a grab bag of “pet priorities.” He said Tuesday it is not something that “deals with reality.” House Republicans also took a pass. “I can’t believe that that would be real,” said Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., leader of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, said in an interview. This would be the fifth coronavirus package. It’s a starkly partisan offer ing with no real input from Republicans, who prefer to assess the impact of earlier expenditures before approv ing more. But the political peril of doing nothing during an election year could prove challenging for Congress and the White House. As states experience flareups of virus outbreaks, and more than 30 million Americans remain unemployed in the shutdown, the near-term health and economic outlook remains daunting. The Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer of New York, warned that Trump and Republicans risk the same path as Her bert Hoover, the former president roundly criticized for failing to act to stem the Great Depression. “What is it going to take for Mitch McConnell to wake up and see the American people need help, and they need it now?” Schumer said. The latest package extends some provisions from previous aid packages, and adds new ones. There is $25 billion for the U.S. Postal Service. There is help for the 2020 Cen sus, including the bureau’s request to delay deadlines for turning over apportion ment and redistricting data. For the November election, the bill provides $3.6 billion N A great rate from the Best Bank in the South. 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The popular Payroll Pro tection Program, which has been boosted in past bills, would see another $10 bil lion to ensure under-served businesses and nonprofit organizations have access to grants through a disaster loan program. For hospitals and other health care providers, there’s another $100 billion infusion to help cover costs and additional help for hos pitals serving low-income communities. There’s another $600 mil lion in funding to tackle the issue of rapid spread of the virus in state and federal prisons, along with $600 mil lion in help to local police departments for salaries and equipment McConnell said he is work ing with the White House on next steps. His priority is to ensure any new package includes liability protections for health care providers and businesses that are reopen ing. Trump is expected to meet Tuesday with a group of Senate Republicans. Local prosecutors under investigation in Georgia slaying BY JEFF MARTIN AND RUSS BYNUM Associated Press ATLANTA - The Geor gia prosecutors who first handled the fatal shooting of a black man, before charges were filed more than two months later, were placed under investigation Tuesday for their conduct in the case, which has fueled a national outcry and questions about whether the slaying was racially motivated. Georgia Attorney Gen eral Chris Carr announced that he asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and federal authorities to inves tigate how local prosecu tors handled the killing of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery, who was pursued by a white father and son before being shot on a residential street just outside the port city of Brunswick. Arbery’s relatives have said he was merely jogging through the subdivision at the time. Gregory and Travis McMi- chael were not charged with murder until last week, after the release of a video of the Feb. 23 shooting. Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Rupee said federal prosecutors have asked Carr to share any results. Federal offi cials are also consider ing whether hate crimes charges are warranted. Gregory McMichael told police he and his grown son armed themselves and pursued the young man because they they thought he matched the description of a burglary suspect. Brunswick Circuit Dis trict Attorney Jackie John son defended her office’s involvement, which she insisted was minimal because the elder McMi chael worked for her as an investigator before retiring a year ago. That relationship required the office to step away from the case. Johnson said Glynn County police contacted two of her assistant prosecutors on the day of the shooting, seeking legal advice. She said her assistants immediately responded that they could not get involved because of the conflict of interest. Johnson said she reached out to neighboring Waycross Circuit District Attorney George Barnhill, asking if his office could advise Glynn County police. The attorney general ended up appointing Barn hill to take over on Feb. 27, four days after the shooting. But in his letter Monday ask ing the GBI to investigate possible misconduct by the prosecutors, Carr said he was never told that Barnhill had already advised police “that he did not see grounds for the arrest of any of the individuals involved in Mr. Arbery’s death.” Weeks after Carr appointed him to the case, and just a few days before recusing himself April 7, Barnhill wrote that the McMichaels “were follow ing, in ‘hot pursuit,’ a bur glary suspect, with solid first hand probable cause, in their neighborhood, and ask ing/telling him to stop.” Johnson said she could not recall if she had told Carr’s office that she enlisted Barnhill’s help before recus ing herself. Barnhill had the case for about a month before he stepped aside under pressure because his son works for Johnson as an assistant prosecutor. Tom Durden, the district attorney in nearby Hines- ville, next took the case and had it for more than three weeks before the video became public and he called in the GBI. On Monday, Carr replaced him with Cobb County District Attorney Joyette M. Holmes, one of only seven black district attorneys in Georgia. She’s based in Atlanta, and is “a respected attorney with experience, both as a lawyer and a judge,” said Carr, a Republican. WE WILL GET THROUGH THIS TOGETHER Times are challenging for everyone right now. One thing is for certain: working together, we will emerge from this pandemic stronger than ever. As the State Senator for Senate District 49, my staff and I are working to assist constituents throughout this difficult time. If my office can be of any assistance, I encourage you to reach out. COVID-19 RESOURCES COVID-19 Hotline 844-442-2681 Georgia Department of Labor dol.georgia.gov | customerservice@gdol.ga.gov Small Business Administration sba.gov | 800-659-2955 Department of Family & Children Services dhs.georgia.gov | 844-694-2347 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration 1-800-662-4357 Statewide Domestic Violence Hotline 1-800-334-2836 Office of State Senator Butch Miller 404-656-6578 Paid for by:
