On Wednesday, your San Antonio Chamber of Commerce hosted Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28) for a discussion about the $3 trillion Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act and efforts to safely open the economy. This virtual event marked the second installment of the Chamber’s 2020 Congressional Series.

Congressman Cuellar kicked off the event by discussing his work as the only Texas Democrat on the powerful U.S. House Appropriations Committee. One of his top priorities is COVID-19 related appropriations. He mentioned that the CARES Act was great for the City of San Antonio and Bexar County, who received a combined $349 million in federal funding. He touted the city and county for being innovative with the funding and using some of it for workforce retraining efforts. Cuellar mentioned that the HEROES Act, which passed the House last week included $1.1 billion in federal funding over two years for Bexar County and the City of San Antonio. His second priority is preparing for the next appropriations bill. He anticipates the legislative process to begin in July. Cuellar also mentioned that several provisions in previous appropriations bills have been helpful to the city, county, San Antonio Water Service, CPS Energy, and the San Antonio River Authority.

Cuellar remains optimistic that Congress will pass another Coronavirus Relief/Recovery bill. The question is what provisions will be included in the bill and the final price tag. Cuellar would like to see federal aid for states, counties, and local governments in the next bill. He does not support blanket immunity but wants to take a hard look at including some immunity for businesses and institutions. Related to recovery, Cuellar talked about his role on the White House Task Force to Open the Economy. “I want to ‘balance the health of individuals and health of the economy,’” Cuellar told business and community leaders. He believes that the task force is making progress on slowly and safely opening the economy.

Cuellar concluded the conversation by taking questions from viewers about the National Defenses Authorization Act (NDAA), transportation, trade, and the digital divide. Cuellar is working with Mexico to get an “essential” designation for businesses to help facilitate trade during these unprecedented times. In addition, Cuellar supports an infrastructure bill and would like to see Congress and the White House reach an agreement on a robust infrastructure bill that will help with the economic recovery.

Check the Chamber’s Rapid Response website next week for the recording of the webinar and answers to questions the Congressman didn’t have a chance to address.

The next installment of the Chamber’s highly anticipated Congressional Series will feature Congressman Will Hurd (TX-23) and will take place Friday, June 5, 2020 at 12:00 p.m. via WebEx. For more information and registration, click here.