Senate leader calls for liability shield as America prepares to go back to work

US Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has called for stronger Federal measures to protect front-line health workers and business in general from what he said could become the “biggest trial lawyer bonanza in history”, as suits mount to pursue damages claims caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Senator McConnell said US businesses must be allowed to focus on the recovery effort rather than fighting off a mountain of lawsuits, during his statement ahead of the return of Senators to Washington next week. The Senator’s call for a so-called liability shield comes as a debate intensifies in the White House about proposals for such protection, which has been publicly backed by President Donald Trump and his chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow. The Washington Post reported on Friday that a senior source said White House officials are likely to seek the liability shield as part of the next stimulus package being taken up by Congress, and they are likely to issue an executive order and unilateral regulatory changes to curtail firms’ liability. Senator McConnell appeared to use his statement to throw his weight behind the concept. “The Senate must focus on concrete steps to strengthen our response to this complex crisis. We cannot get distracted by pre-existing partisan wishlists or calls to paper over decades of reckless decisions that had nothing to do with Covid-19,” he said. “Here is just one example of an urgent need. While our nation is asking everyone from front-line healthcare professionals to essential small-business owners to major employers to adapt in new ways and keep serving, a massive tangle of Federal and state laws could easily mean their heroic efforts are met with years of endless lawsuits,” continued Senator McConnell. “We cannot let that happen. Our nation is facing the worst pandemic in over a century and potentially the worst economic shock since the Great Depression. Our response must not be slowed, weakened or exploited to set up the biggest trial lawyer bonanza in history. The brave healthcare workers battling this virus and the entrepreneurs who will reopen our economy deserve strong protections from opportunistic lawsuits. Some such protections were included in the bipartisan CARES Act. We will need to expand and strengthen them,” he continued. Senator McConnell said the US needs clarity and certainty as it starts the recovery, not “tangential left-wing daydreams”. “Republicans will proudly insist on these and other strong, pro-certainty, pro-growth reforms throughout any and all future discussions. The American people do not need tangential left-wing daydreams. They need common-sense steps that move us toward the response, recovery and future readiness that Americans need and deserve. This crisis has every part of our society in dire need of stability, clarity and certainty. The Senate has already stepped up, but our work is not over. I look forward to seeing all my colleagues next Monday,” he concluded. In a subsequent interview on the Guy Benson Show, Senator McConnell said such protections against “opportunistic lawsuits” need to be in force before additional money is sent down to states and localities. “Here's something I just announced today that's going to be my redline for the next negotiation. We have brave healthcare workers battling this virus, entrepreneurs who will reopen the economy, all of whom deserve, in my view, strong protections from the opportunistic lawsuits that are being planned all over America, all over America. The lawyers – trial lawyers – are sharpening their pencils to come after healthcare providers and businesses, arguing that somehow the decision they made with regard to reopening adversely affected the health of someone else,” he said. “So, before we start sending additional money down to states and localities, I want to make sure that we protect the people we've already sent assistance to, who are going to be set up for an avalanche of lawsuits if we don't act. So, that is an example of a way that we can bring about a reform that is important to protect those that we've been providing assistance to,” added the Senator.

Senate leader calls for liability shield as America prepares to go back to work

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