Lawmakers say bipartisan legislation key to economic recovery

The economy will quickly pick up once vaccinations become more widespread, Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.) said Wednesday at an event hosted by The Hill.

“The people are ready to get out, they’ve got the money to spend, the businesses just have to be open to accept their business,” he said at The Hill’s “Relief to Recovery: What’s Next for Small Business?” event.

Luetkemeyer is a member of the House Financial Service Committee and also serves as the ranking member of the consumer protection and financial institutions subcommittee.

The Missouri Republican warned, however, that President Biden — who has signed a number of sweeping executive orders in his first week in the White House — must not impose excessive regulations or tax hikes and must work with Congress.

“We showed in the first three years of the Trump administration until the pandemic hit that lower taxes, lower regulations were very helpful to get entrepreneurs engaged, for them to be willing to take the risks it takes to start a new business and continue to grow that business,” Luetkemeyer told The Hill’s Steve Clemons.

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), who also attended the Wednesday event, also said any policy change must be bipartisan and should be done legislatively, rather than executively, to ensure the policy changes have staying power.

Cardin, the top Democrat on the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, emphasized paying close attention to minority-owned small businesses and those in underserved and underbanked communities.

“The first important thing for small business owners is to get COVID-19 behind us, get the virus under control. The second thing is to get our economy back on track because if families don’t have money to spend they’re not going to patronize any business, particularly small businesses. President Biden’s plan does both of those,” Cardin said at the event sponsored by Wells Fargo.

.@SenatorCardin: “the most recent round of relief is really targeted to those small businesses that have had a dramatic reduction in their revenue…and making sure we pay attention to those underserved and underbanked communities” #TheHillSmallBiz https://t.co/MJMqx7AhBh pic.twitter.com/o0rNc2NdIG

— The Hill Events (@TheHillEvents) January 27, 2021

Both Cardin and Luetkemeyer emphasized the importance of the success of the coronavirus relief package and continued rollout of small business loans in the coming year.