Senator Braun’s Weekly Update | Steps to Reopen the American Economy

Senator Mike Braun of Indiana, one of the GOP members on the task force, told CBS News that senators of both parties stressed the importance of ramping up the economy and continuing to increase testing capacity in their call with the president and vice president.

“Most of it was that general affirmation that we’ve got to start reopening the economy. And then there was that other side that wants to do it, but is willing to take more time and wants to see how testing would help that happen in a way that makes more sense,” Braun said in a phone interview. “Those were the two general statements throughout everything that was coming from the people that were able to speak up.”

Braun, who described the president’s tone as “diplomatic,” said lawmakers didn’t have much time to dive into the weeds on policy issues, and left more specific matters for future task force discussions.

Braun said lawmakers were adamant that funding for loans for small businesses must be increased. The Small Business Administration said the Paycheck Protection Program exhausted its initial $349 billion in funding on Thursday, and congressional leaders remain at a stalemate over authorizing additional funding.

Braun, himself a former longtime small business owner, said the next round of aid should prioritize the smallest businesses that lack the resources or sophistication to navigate the system quickly.

From his standpoint, Braun said widespread testing for the coronavirus is valuable, but the economy likely can’t wait until testing rates are ideal. He wants to see less-dense regions of the country with fewer cases have the ability to restart their economies.

“Most people think we need to do as much testing as possible. I think that’s a little bit of a straw argument in the sense that we know that. None of us disagree with that,” Braun said. “But the main point that I don’t think too many realize is if we go beyond a certain point, and this is an economics term, we get true supply and demand destruction. And if you want to phrase it the old-fashioned way on the street, that means you’re going out of business. Because we are not taking the point of view that each county, each state is different.”

As most of America remains in lockdown, small businesses are taking the biggest hit. Sen. Mike Braun, R-IN., said “small businesses aren’t generally going to be equipped with lines of credit.”

Most small businesses rely on liquid currency to function, and with the country’s economy practically shutdown, the effects can create irreversible damage.

“Many small business owners live out of their business, [and] maintain cash balances that are more hand-to-mouth,” Braun told Fox News. “And it’s impacted the restaurants and bars, in hair salons, the service economy disproportionately hard.”

Senator Mike Braun took time Wednesday to speak one on one with Dan Katz.

He discussed the response so far to the coronavirus crisis, eventually reopening businesses, and Jasper businesses.

“Many of the larger small businesses, due to the fact that they had the ability to hire people to file the applications and are more sophisticated, left a lot of Main Street entrepreneurs, you know, just waiting and never getting through,” Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., said in an interview.