In Wake of Stalled Stimulus Negotiations and Potentially Unconstitutional Executive Order, Business Leaders and GOP Donors Mike Fernandez and Bob Dickinson Join U.S. Citizens to Call on Republican Senators to Reject the CARES Act Marriage Penalty and Ensure All Americans Have Access Critical COVID Relief
Floridian Voters and Taxpayers Urge Sen. Rick Scott to Support the American Citizen Coronavirus Relief Act Sponsored by Senator Marco Rubio in the Next Stimulus Package
With the negotiations on the next federal stimulus package still in jeopardy and as President Trump attempts to bypass Congress’ control of federal spending via a (likely unconstitutional) Executive Order issued this past weekend, U.S. citizens and voters who continue to be left out of stimulus checks due to the immigration status of their spouse join local business owners and prominent Florida GOP donors in a virtual press conference hosted by IMPAC Fund today, Monday, August 10th at 12:00 pm ET to make an urgent appeal to Republican Senator Rick Scott to cosponsor the American Citizen Coronavirus Relief Act introduced by Senator Marco Rubio, which aims to eliminate the GOP marriage penalty and provide stimulus checks to all U.S. citizens.
Under the CARES Act, an estimated 81,000 Florida taxpayers and voters and 147,000 U.S. citizen children in mixed-status families were denied federal stimulus payments, translating to a combined loss of $341.4 million to the local economy as COVID-19 cases rise to record-highs and the state likely faces another round of closures.
In a Zoom call with IMPAC and local business owners last month, Senator Rubio called the marriage penalty “unconstitutional”, stating: “If we passed a law that said that if you’re married to someone that is not a U.S. citizen and hasn’t yet been regularized through the immigration process that you couldn’t vote, that would be illegal. If you said that U.S. citizens who are married to someone who is not a U.S. citizen don’t have to go to selective service and register for the draft, that would be illegal. So I suppose if you can vote and you can fight for your country, then that should also entitle you to the same rights and obligations that citizens at large have.”
With new polling finding that 84% of Republican voters and 91% of all voters support stimulus payments for U.S. citizens in mixed-status families, the GOP marriage penalty is not only morally wrong and economically harmful, but also politically foolish. Sen. Scott’s silence on the issue risks alienating the 81,000 Florida voters being excluded from relief, as well as many Latino voters, such as Dr. Kim Liu, a naturalized U.S. citizen, voter and business owner who did not receive a $1,200 stimulus check due to delays in her Venezuelan wife’s employment authorization and social security number; and Clara Discua, a U.S.-born citizen battling cancer and mother to disabled U.S. Veteran who served in Afghanistan, who was not eligible for a stimulus payment because her husband uses his ITIN when filing taxes jointly.
Discua and Dr. Liu will join Cuban-American businessman and Republican donor Mike Fernandez and Former Carnival Cruise Lines CEO Bob Dickinson, along with local small business owners next Monday to share their personal stories and call on Sen. Scott to join his fellow Senator from Florida, Marco Rubio, and act in the interest of his constituents and the Florida economy by supporting the inclusion of all U.S. citizens in critical coronavirus relief.
Press will be able to ask questions live in both English and Spanish after the speakers program.
WHO: Hosted by IMPAC Fund, the Florida chapter of the American Business Immigration Coalition (ABIC). Featuring remarks from Mike Fernandez, MBF Healthcare Partners Chairman and IMPAC/ABIC Co-Chair; Bob Dickinson, Carnival Cruise Lines Former CEO and IMPAC/ABIC Board Member; Dr. Kim Liu, U.S. Citizen and Acupuncturist; Clara Discua, U.S. Citizen and Mother of a U.S. Veteran; Pilar Guzman, Half Moon Empanadas CEO and IMPAC Board Member; and Kathy Bird Carvajal, IMPAC Fund Executive Director.
WHAT: A virtual press conference with U.S. citizens in mixed-status families, local entrepreneurs, and Republican donors urging U.S. Republican Sen. Rick Scott to support Sen. Marco Rubio’s proposal to end the GOP marriage penalty in the next federal COVID relief package and ensure all Americans are able to get stimulus checks regardless of who they married. Press will be able to ask questions live in both English and Spanish after the speakers program.
WHEN: Monday, August 10th at 12:00 pm ET
WHERE: Register here: https://bit.ly/NoGOPMarriagePenalty
As a member of the American Business Immigration Coalition, the Immigration Partnership and Coalition (IMPAC) Fund works to change public policy around immigration through building a coalition of reasonable, rational moderates to facilitate bipartisan action that is economically necessary, politically smart, and morally correct. Learn more at https://impacfund.org.
