U.S. Senator Mark Warner of Virginia used a town hall in Abingdon Tuesday to express disappointment that the senate had not passed more aid for small businesses before adjourning for vacation, saying CARES Act funding was not meant to last this long. “Nobody expected this to last six months,” Warner told reporters after the meeting.
“We need to come back and put additional money into small business support,” Warner said. “You know, 50 percent of our workforce works for small business. These businesses have been as stretched as they can be. We need to come back and do our job, and I’m disappointed that Leader McConnell won’t bring the senate back into the session we need to provide that additional small business support.”
Warner mentioned the divide between Main Street small businesses which operate at the mercy of the virus vs Wall Street, which has been doing very well. He said the appearance of a strong stock market is somewhat deceiving, as five big tech companies make up about 20 percent of its value.
Asked whether he believed the aid small business is calling for would be taken care of one way or the other after the November elections, Warner said, “I don’t think they can wait until after the election…whether it’s a wind-down on unemployment insurance or a with small business assistance, they can’t wait…we should be back in session now.”
