In Final 2020 Stretch, Rep. Herrera Beutler Talks COVID Relief, Compromise, and 2021 Priorities

Posted

As Democrats and Republicans finally reach an agreement on a second major COVID-19 relief package before year’s end, Southwest Washington Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler largely credits successful negotiations to the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus she is a part of. But in a Thursday interview, she also said there’s “no excuse” for how long it’s taken Congress to pass another relief package. 

“I didn’t think D.C. could make it an uglier process, to tell you the truth,” she said. “Thank God there’s the natural deadline before the end of the year.”

Herrera Beutler, who again beat out her Democratic challenger this year and maintained her position as the last Pacific Coast Republican in the house, said last week she was “cautiously optimistic” that Congress would pass something meaningful. But as someone with experience negotiating compromises, she added that “nobody loves everything that’s in there.”

The final deal was negotiated without two major pieces — liability protections, pushed by Republicans, and aid to state and local governments, pushed by Democrats. Although the exclusion represents a major blow to both parties, Herrera Beutler said sequestering the two issues into a separate bill “greased the wheels to continue the conversations.”

Liability protections are one of several things the Battle Ground Republican wishes could’ve made it into the final agreement. The provision would protect some businesses from lawsuits alleging they contributed to the spread of COVID-19. Although a supporter of the protections, Herrera Beutler noted that it’s definitely a “sticky wicket”

“Look, nobody’s going to provide a gross negligence protection. That’s ridiculous,” she said. However, if an individual has little proof that they were infected at a business following health guidelines, “we don’t want to penalize someone who, in good faith, tried to protect their employees and members of the public.”

The sixth-term representative said that small businesses, clinics, and schools in Southwest Washington have all called her with concerns about bad actors filing “junk lawsuits.”

Herrera Beutler also expressed disappointment that the final package didn’t include her measure to ensure eligible constituents don’t have to return unemployment benefits erroneously paid out by state governments. But she believes her bill, the Relief for Working Families Act, will pass with bipartisan support, considering she introduced it in partnership with a Democrat. 



The representative expects to continue pushing for different pandemic relief measures in 2021. In the new year, she said one big priority will be ensuring hospitals have adequate ICU capacity, PPE, and other resources to weather the pandemic in 2021. 

“I never thought I’d be checking in with hospital CEOs just to say ‘hey, how many gowns do you have?’ and that’s where I’ve been this year,” she said, noting a major concern that shutdowns overseas could lead to more shortages in supplies and prescriptions. 

“We’re not in the same crisis stage as we were in April. However, I’m cognizant that that could change. Supply chains could cut off again. That’s why I think getting this package done, and this money out, is so critical.”

While she would “love to have a Republican administration,” Herrera Beutler also said she doesn’t expect her work to change once Joe Biden takes office, citing her reputation for working across the aisle. What she is wary of is any top-down pandemic restrictions that a Biden administration may pursue, saying those decisions need to be made at as local a level as possible. 

“I really have a high skepticism for having some kind of federal, top-down control system where we dictate to the states what to do,” she said. “I’ve had my own misgivings of how it’s happened along the West Coast, but I do not support that power being centralized. I don’t support it under Trump, I wouldn’t support it under Biden.”

Restrictions, she argued, should be made within the context of each county and city, unlike the state-wide approach Washington state has taken. 

“We’re treating a lot of people like they’re not adults, and can’t make those best decisions for themselves and their families,” Herrera Beutler said. “Sports teams are still able to operate, the NFL is still able to operate. I see Hollywood still doing entertainment shows. Why are they so much better than our friends and families on Main Street? They’re not.”