Grassley Anticipates Another COVID-19 Aid Package

Senator Chuck Grassley expects another coronavirus aid package, despite a surprisingly good jobs report last week and recoveries in a variety of ag sectors. The Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee said the price of corn is still way down, which could be offset some by renewed economic activity.

“As people start driving and we get the ethanol plants up and running, I think it’s going to help the price of corn. But, we’re also faced with what looks like a fairly good crop year, with a large acreage in. So, that’s going to be a depressant, that’s got nothing to do with the pandemic.”

The Iowa Republican added more likely to shape the next aid package will be the extent of the economic turnaround by next month.

“The greater [the] turnaround, the less impact there is for a CARES Act. But I do think that there’s an assumption, even on the part of Republican leadership in the Senate, that there’s going to be a CARES Act. It’s more a question of two-things—how big it’s going to be. And there isn’t going to be one unless there’s liability reform, tort reform, in it, for the pandemic.”

So, he noted people don’t have to needlessly defend themselves against virus liability lawsuits. But, with an American Farm Bureau estimate of pandemic Ag damage greater than $60 billion, Grassley argues even some recovery in the biofuel and meat and livestock sectors is not enough to make up for weeks and weeks of devastating losses.

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