For Immediate Release 

Ives Statement on Stymied Emergency Aid Package

“This is not leadership. This is self-serving manipulation.” 

March 23, 2020 – The Senate Democrats have blocked a $2 trillion emergency rescue package to address the coronavirus crisis for the second day in a row.

Per a report in Politico, Nancy Pelosi, Sean Casten and House Democrats have declared they will not vote on the Senate plan at all. 

According to reporting from Morning Consult, Democrat lawmakers – including IL-06 Rep. Sean Casten –  are demanding that any new funding to combat COVID-19 include subsidies to the Green Energy industry. 

“Sean Casten doesn’t let an economic crisis go to waste. In the 2008-09 economic crisis, he lobbied for special energy tax credits for his own company, when he also worked as a registered federal lobbyist, and secured millions in tax incentives from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.

“Now, he is using this crisis to ask for more tax credits for an industry that already receives preferential treatment through renewable portfolio mandates and state and federal tax incentives.

“Democrats stymied the emergency relief funding package in the Senate in order to write their own bill, which favors special interests. I have spent the past week reaching out to business owners throughout the Sixth Congressional District. They all say they need relief within 2 weeks to support payroll, and – in some cases – to keep their doors open in the long term. None of them are looking for a bailout, but rather targeted and temporary assistance. The response from Sean Casten and Democrats is not leadership. It is self-serving manipulation for the benefit of special interest groups.” 

For more information or to book Jeanne Ives, please contact Kathleen Murphy at 630-329-4680 or kathleen@jeanneforcongress.com.