Bus and Motorcoach News
Milestone: 52 Senators back CERTS Act economic relief for motorcoach industry
By Bus & Motorcoach News
“We have passed a critical milestone in getting more than half the Senate to support the Coronavirus Relief for Transportation Services (CERTS) Act,” Larry Killingsworth, President & CEO of the United Motorcoach Association, announced today. “We are grateful for the tremendous bipartisan support by so many Senators, and in awe of the hard work of our members in getting us to this pivotal point.”
“Our members have worked tirelessly, phoning, writing to, and meeting with their Senators and Representatives for months. We’ve logged 30,000 emails to Senators asking for CERTS Act support sent by more than 12,000 individuals,” Killingsworth noted. “This has been a monumental show of unity for our 3,000 largely family-owned businesses.”
Since the pandemic began, UMA has tracked more than 85,000 contacts with federal officials by more than 20,000 industry advocates from every state. Motorcoaches are essential to the nation’s economic well-being as well as critical to emergency responses to disasters ranging from hurricanes and wildfires to train derailments. The economic shutdown has threatened the survival of virtually every company in the industry, with some businesses already having to shuttered their doors.
Background: Senators Jack Reed and Susan Collins introduced the CERTS Act in July, to provide economic relief to the nation’s struggling motorcoach companies and passenger vessel operators whose industries have ground to a halt amid the coronavirus pandemic. It would authorize $10 billion in emergency economic relief, including grants, for America’s bus, motorcoach, and passenger ferry industries impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
As recently as last week Reed and Collins, continued their campaign for action leading a group of 26 Senators calling upon Senate leadership to include the CERTS Act in any relief package that gets voted on.
The following Senators are on the record in support of the CERTS Act:
Sen. Susan Collins [R-ME]
Sen. Jack Reed [D-R.I.]
Sen. Lisa Murkowski [R-AK]
Sen. Angus King, Jr. [I-ME]
Sen. Margaret Wood Hassan [D-NH]
Sen. Jeff Merkley [D-OR]
Sen. Robert Menendez [D-NJ]
Sen. Richard Blumenthal [D-CT]
Sen. Chris Van Hollen [D-MD]
Sen. Cory Booker, [D-NJ]
Sen. Dianne Feinstein [D-CA]
Sen. Thomas Carper [D-DE]
Sen. Robert Casey, Jr. [D-PA]
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, [D-NH]
Sen. Amy Klobuchar [D-MN]
Sen. Steve Daines [R-MT]
Sen. Doug Jones [D-AL]
Sen. Tina Smith, [D-MN]
Sen. Ron Wyden [D-OR]
Sen. Dan Sullivan [R-AK]
Sen. Gary Peters [D-MI]
Sen. Elizabeth Warren [D-MA]
Sen. Richard Durbin [D-IL]
Sen. Mazie Hirono[D-HI]
Sen. Thom Tillis [R-NC]
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand [D-NY]
Sen. Kevin Cramer[R-ND]
Sen. Tim Kaine [D-VA]
Sen. Richard Burr [R-NC]
Sen. Chuck Grassley [R-IA]
Sen. Joni Ernst [R-IA]
Sen. Roy Blunt [R-MO]
Sen. Jerry Moran [R-KS]
Sen. Edward Markey [D-MA]
Sen. Tammy Baldwin [D-WI]
Sen. Debbie Stabenow [D-MI]
Sen. Bill Cassidy [R-LA]
Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith [R-MS]
Sen. Jacky Rosen [D-NV]
Sen. Pat Roberts [R-KS]
Sen. Tammy Duckworth [D-IL]
Sen. Mike Rounds [R-SD]
Sen. Lindsey Graham [R-SC]
Sen. John Boozman [R-AR]
Sen. Martha McSally [R-AZ]
Sen. Christopher Coons [D-DE]
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto [D-NV]
Sen. Jon Tester [D-MT]
Sen. John Cornyn [R-TX]
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema [D-AZ]
Sen. Christopher Murphy [D-CT]
Sen. Tom Cotton [R-AR]