©2025 League of Conservation Voters
Issues
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) attempted a vote on a bare-bones COVID-19 relief package instead of taking up a bill that met the needs of the country. In the midst of a raging pandemic that was causing disproportionate suffering in communities of color and Trump’s appointee as Postmaster General attempting to sway the upcoming election by delaying the delivery of mail-in ballots, the proposal would provide little funding for testing or public health response and merely provide loan forgiveness for the U.S. Postal Service and only if the agency got into even more dire financial straits. Unfortunately, it also would let companies off the hook for actions that endanger their employees, customers, and broader community. Among other failings, this inadequate bill would not have provided critical relief in the form of additional funding for state and local governments, vote-by-mail and election assistance to ensure smooth operation of our democracy, or a moratorium on utility disconnects at a time when it is even more essential for homes to have clean water for hand washing and heat and cooling, since community warming or cooling centers would defeat social distancing efforts. And it would provide unrelated and unnecessary support to extractive industries and coal companies. Environmental justice requires addressing the gross inequities and disproportionate impacts of the COVID-19 crisis, and liability-erasing legislative half-measures are unacceptable. On September 10, the motion to invoke cloture was rejected by a vote of 52-47 (60 votes were needed to pass the motion; Senate roll call vote 168) and the proposal did not move forward. NO IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE.
©2025 League of Conservation Voters