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The Republican Study Committee (RSC) presented House and Senate leadership with its Framework for Recovery, Accountability, and Prosperity.

The framework adapts more than a year of internal RSC policy development to provide Congress with a solutions-oriented, 37-point blueprint for leading America though the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing economic recovery. If enacted, RSC’s commonsense recommendations will help to:

• Eliminate barriers to employment and get Americans back to work
• Flatten the debt curve and protect the nation’s fiscal health
• Hold China accountable for its harmful actions related to the COVID-19 pandemic
• Strengthen the U.S. health care system and ensure health care providers have the supplies they need
• Improve efficiency and accountability in the federal government’s ongoing response to COVID-19

RSC Chairman Mike Johnson (LA-04) issued the following statement:

“Prior to the coronavirus crisis, the Republican Study Committee invested fifteen months in building a lengthy playbook of commonsense, conservative solutions to solve many of our nation’s toughest problems. While the completion of that comprehensive publication has been paused temporarily, we have adapted much of that thought and valuable work product today to address the most immediate threat to the health and prosperity of the United States in generations--the COVID-19 pandemic. Now is the time for members on both sides of the aisle to work together to implement smart, effective policy solutions to the unprecedented challenge before us. With the Conservative Framework for Recovery, Accountability, and Prosperity, RSC has delivered to Congress a blueprint to lead our nation through this pandemic, help Americans get back to work, and revive the U.S. economy. We have no time to waste." 

RSC’s Conservative Framework for Recovery, Accountability, and Prosperity is comprised of five pillars. Below is a sample of key recommendations presented in each section:

 American Worker Task Force Pillar

Objective: Advance conservative policies that support and empower American workers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Key Policy Recommendations (click here to view a detailed list of policy recommendations)

• Enact the NEW GIG Act, by Rep. Tom Rice (SC-07), to create a safe harbor for gig economy workers to qualify as independent contractors for income and employment tax purposes.
• Promote worker upskilling opportunities by allowing businesses to deduct their investments in education services for employees seeking career advancement.
• Encourage states to eliminate unnecessary employment barriers by suspending occupational licensing requirements for health care workers across state lines, and enacting the Board Immunity Act, by Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), to incentivize occupational licensing reforms.
• Enact the RAISE Act, by Rep. Dusty Johnson (SD-At Large), to allow employers to pay individual workers more than is specified in a union contract, which could provide much-needed compensation during the current crisis and eventual economic recovery.

Budget & Spending Task Force Pillar

Objective: Provide Congress with a conservative blueprint to flatten the nation’s steeply climbing debt curve while it works to provide necessary COVID-19 relief.

Key Policy Recommendations: click here to view a detailed list of policy recommendations

• Offset future COVID-19-related deficit spending.
• Implement a long-term spending control mechanism that restricts growth of both mandatory and discretionary spending, does not rely on tax increases, and stabilizes our nation’s debt.
• RSC National Security & Foreign Affairs Task Force Pillar

National Security & Foreign Affairs Task Force Pillar

Objective: Hold the Chinese government accountable for any harmful actions it may have taken related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Key Policy Recommendations: click here to view a detailed list of policy recommendations

• Authorize sanctions against any foreign official who is found to have been involved in a COVID-19 cover-up, as would be authorized by the Li Wenliang Global Public Health Accountability Act, by Rep. John Curtis (UT-03) and Sen. Tom Cotton R-Ark.
• End all visas for Chinese government officials and their immediate family members to come to the U.S. whether for education, leisure or other purposes, until China retracts its statements blaming the U.S. for the virus.
• Press the Chinese government to permit access to China for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to better respond to theCOVID-19 pandemic.
• Undertake a congressional probe of the World Health Organization (WHO), its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and its relationship with China.

RSC Health Care Task Force Pillar

Objective: Strengthen our health care system in a way that puts patients first, equips health care providers with the supplies they need, and fast-tracks the development of COVID-19 treatments.

Key Policy Recommendations: click here to view a detailed list of policy recommendations

• Suspend the requirement that HSAs be tied to a high-deductible health plan (HDHP).
• Establish a Pharmaceutical Chief Negotiator at the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to identify and address protectionist measures that could disrupt supply chains or freeload on innovative investments.
• Remove regulatory barriers to the production of drugs, pharmaceutical ingredients and medical devices in America to support the onshoring of manufacturing.
• Further expand the availability of telemedicine services and encourage licensing reciprocity to allow for telemedicine delivery across state lines.

RSC Government Efficiency, Accountability & Reform Task Force Pillar

Objective: Increase efficiency and accountability in the federal government’s ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Key Policy Recommendations: click here to view a detailed list of policy recommendations

• Streamline hiring and optimize pay for high-skilled federal employees.
• Enact the Eliminate Agency Excess Space Act, by Rep. Greg Murphy (NC-03), to ease the transfer of unused federal buildings to support health care workers serving on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis.
• Enact the Stopping Improper Payments to Deceased People Act, by Chairman Gianforte, to prevent the disbursement of COVID-19 Economic Impact Payments to deceased individuals.
• Streamline the federal permitting and regulatory process to facilitate a speedy economic recovery.