About 50 Louisiana small business owners, alumni of Goldman Sach’s 10,000 Small Business Voices, pitched lawmakers via Zoom Wednesday on how best to proceed with small business COVID relief.
Owner of Lafayette-based IT company Techneaux, Ben Johnson, says members talked to Congressional staff about the need for a liability shield against COVID-infection related lawsuits.
“As a business owner you want to get your people back in there and you want them to be safe so you are doing everything that you can, but you also want to try to mitigate some of the liability around that,” said Johnson.
Staff for all of Louisiana’s Congressional delegation was on hand for the series of Zoom calls.
97 percent of the program’s 10,000 members wanted to let Congress know the rising cost of healthcare coverage for their employees is being felt especially during the pandemic.
“Just understanding if there is anything the government can do to subsidize some of these things or just giving us some different avenues to make sure that our people are healthy and safe.
The incoming Biden Administration has previewed its 1.9 trillion dollar COVID relief plan that does not include a liability shield or healthcare-related subsidies. The Biden plan includes funding for 1,400 dollar stimulus checks, 400 dollar a week federally boosted unemployment assistance, increased child tax credits and earned income tax credits, and a call for a 15 dollar minimum wage among other items.
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