The House Must Pass the Stimulus Bill Now and Worry About Perfection Later

After much flailing about, the Senate has passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) bill. The House should act immediately and pass it.

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell has articulated what virtually every economist is thinking: the economy is probably now in recession. What that means, in practical terms, is that weakness is feeding on weakness: one layoff causes a delayed payment, which reduces income, which reduces spending, which causes another layoff — happening over and over in every sector of the economy, from coast to coast.

Meanwhile, governmental leaders have articulated what virtually every health care practitioner is experiencing: the health care system is being overloaded. What that means, in practical terms, is that the number of coronavirus cases is growing at an accelerating rate, including among health care workers — which is exhausting those workers along with our needed supplies, and degrading the ability of the system to treat the sick and end the contagion.

The CARES bill will not satisfy any individual critic, and it is not perfect (which means, in practical terms, that it does not satisfy us — you will have your own particular complaints about the bill). But there is no time to achieve inconceivable unanimity. The bill, as it stands and with all its imperfections in the eye of any one beholder, will achieve two particular benefits.

First, it provides funding to states and the healthcare system — arguably not enough, but at least a substantial first installment. If it enables multiple health care institutions to take actions on which they might otherwise hesitate because of a lack of funding, it will both save lives, and move the economy closer to stabilization and recovery.

And second, on the economy, it will forestall at least some of the layoffs that otherwise would feed the cascade of unpaid bills, unmet family needs, and therefore further layoffs. More funding may be needed later, but going back to the negotiating table now will simply delay the first curative steps.

There are complaints from both political sides. From one extreme, we hear that the bill would in some circumstances make unemployment compensation more lucrative than work. To that complaint we respond that our policymakers should trust the American people. People work for dignity. People are also rational enough to know that if they abandon a job for a few dollars today, that job may not be available to them in the quite possibly continuing hard times tomorrow.

From the other extreme, we hear that the bill would help corporations. To that complaint we respond that corporations have employees. We also remind that a large firm, once disassembled, will be very difficult to reassemble later. It is not helpful to seek somehow to punish business executives — the vast majority of whom are totally blameless for the pandemic and the resulting downturn — with millions of everyday American workers as collateral damage.

At this moment, our health care heroes are trying to stem the tide of the pandemic. That will take time. Delaying assistance to pursue one narrow objective or another — however noble in the mind of some policymaker — will both extend the pandemic and deepen and worsen the economic downturn. The two go hand in hand. The longer the number of infections increases, the later the recovery, and the greater the damage to both the health care system and the economy.

We urge the House — in the interests of both public health and the economy — to pass the CARES bill by unanimous consent immediately. The clear public interest demands it. Then every House member is free to proceed to perfect public policy to every extent he or she is able.

W. Bowman Cutter is a Senior Fellow and Director of the Next American Economy Project at the Roosevelt Institute. He was Director of the National Economic Council and Deputy Assistant to the President during the Clinton Administration. He is Co-Chair of the Committee for Economic Development of The Conference Board’s Committee on COVID-19. Joseph E. Kasputys is Chairman & CEO of Economic Ventures. He was Assistant Secretary of the US Department of Commerce under the Ford Administration. He is Co-Chair of the Committee for Economic Development of The Conference Board’s Committee on COVID-19.