WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) wrote to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin today about pressing concerns with the application and evaluation processes for accessing the aviation industry workforce stabilization funds included in the CARES Act. To prevent massive layoffs and furloughs, the CARES Act authorized the U.S. Department of Treasury to provide payments to air carrier industry workers. However, Treasury’s preliminary guidance did not provide applicants with clear direction on a number of critical items, including application procedures for employers that operate a parent company with subsidiaries. Duckworth and Durbin are calling on the Treasury to ensure the highest levels of transparency and accountability when allocating these funds and to make sure the confusing application process doesn’t hamper the ability of applicants to receive the funds intended for them.
In part, the Senators wrote: “The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly reduced demand for domestic and international air travel and has dealt the entire aviation industry and its workforce a severe financial blow. In recognizing the need to stabilize the severely distressed aviation workforce, Congress allocated $32 billion in dedicated financial assistance for continued direct payroll funding to preserve industry jobs and to provide benefits for workers.”
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They continued to say, “We also call on the Treasury Department to ensure the highest levels of transparency and public accountability for this critical workforce stabilization effort. A critical measure of success will be taxpayers’ confidence that these critical funds reach workers and their families as intended.”
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