With help from Tanya Snyder and Brianna Gurciullo
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— House Democrats want to provide billions of dollars in grants, as well as loans, to the flagging airline industry — with lots of stipulations attached.
— The federal government will extend the compliance deadline for new REAL ID requirements, President Donald Trump announced.
— As stranded Americans try to get home from countries with borders shut down due to the coronavirus, some are bypassing the State Department and airlines and turning to a private security company.
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IF THEY HAD IT THEIR WAY: House Democrats on Monday came out with a counteroffer on an economic stimulus package, which takes a markedly different approach to the struggling airline industry than Senate Republicans’ bill.
The House bill includes $40 billion in grants for airlines and contractors, as well as up to $21 billion in loans for airlines, whereas the Senate’s offer is all loans. As our Brianna Gurciullo writes, the grants, meant to help pay employees who otherwise might be furloughed or laid off, would be based on the payroll costs that airlines or contractors incurred in the second and third quarters of last year.
Among the conditions: Airlines that receive assistance would be expected to cut their overall emissions by half by 2050 — the kind of condition that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has slammed. “Are you kidding me?” McConnell said on the Senate floor. “This is not a juicy political opportunity. This is a national emergency.” The House bill also includes a host of labor provisions, including requiring airlines to give unions a seat on their boards.
Republicans were quick to slam the proposal. “Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi has put forward a bill that is full of provisions that have nothing to do with responding to the COVID-19 crisis and helping the American people,” Reps. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) and Garret Graves (R-La.) said in a statement. “Instead her bill’s focus is unrelated handouts for her radical environmental allies and other special interests.”
The House bill also includes: $10 billion for airport grants, about $1 billion for Amtrak, $25 billion for transit grants and $3 million for a new “Office of Airline Industry Financial Oversight.”
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REAL ID EXTENDED: Trump announced Monday that the federal government would be extending the compliance deadline for REAL IDs, responding to concern from the travel industry as well as lawmakers, who have been increasingly worried that a rush to DMVs to meet the Oct. 1 deadline could put people at risk of the coronavirus.
Trump did not say when the new deadline will be, Pro’s Anthony Adragna reports, but House Democrats had proposed moving the deadline to October 2021 in their draft legislation.
SHADOW ON THE SUNSHINE STATE: Florida announced new restrictions on passengers from New York and New Jersey on Monday in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Those flying from the states to Florida will be subject to temperature checks and a mandatory quarantine, Gov. Ron DeSantis said. For the past several weeks, DeSantis has called on Trump to restrict domestic air travel to curb the spread of the virus. A violation of the mandatory quarantine will be a criminal offense.
AN UNUSUAL WAY TO GET HOME: On Sunday, 144 American and Canadian citizens, unable to get reliable commercial airline tickets and with no help from the State Department, were shepherded onto an MD-80 at a small airport on a Honduran island by a group of former military, law enforcement and intelligence types.
It sounds like a scene from an action movie, but it’s in fact just one example of how stranded Americans are getting creative as they try to get home, your hosts reports.
The security firm Global Guardian, whose usual clients are corporations and well-off families, has tweaked its business model amid the global chaos caused by the coronavirus. “I’ve never seen the world shut down at this scale, where airspace and borders are closed,” CEO Dale Buckner said in an interview. “This is unique, a black swan. So of course we, being in this business, are going to really ramp up.”
BOEING GOING DARK: Boeing is suspending production at its facilities around Puget Sound in Washington state for two weeks to deep clean and protect employees from the coronavirus. Production started winding down on Monday and will come to a stop on Wednesday. Employees who can’t work from home will receive paid leave for 10 days, Brianna reports.
BIG AUTOS’ ASK: The auto industry is asking for help, with sales for March expected to be down as much as 40 percent compared with 2019. As our Tanya Snyder reports, the sector wants a delay in the implementation of USMCA and loans for struggling companies. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, the National Automobile Dealers Association and the Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association sent a joint letter to congressional leaders on Monday asking for help, including loans and loan guarantees for employers of all sizes and a tax credit to offset paid leave for employees. The industry employs 176,000 people in its manufacturing facilities in the U.S. and 278,000 in North America as a whole.
UBER’S ASK: Uber’s CEO reached out to Trump and congressional leaders on Monday to warn against treating drivers as employees, POLITICO’s Jeremy White reports from California. In the letter, Jeremy writes, “Uber chief Dara Khosrowshahi laid down another marker in his company’s push to prevent drivers from being reclassified as employees rather than independent contractors.” He echoed Uber’s recent argument that more benefits means less autonomy for drivers and more “uncertainty and risk” for companies, and called for a “third way” worker classification that allows some benefits without the full set of labor protections and scheduling rigidity. Pros: Check out Jeremy’s past coverage of the legal debate over this issue in California.
CRUISE LYIN’: Florida is looking into allegations that Norwegian Cruise Lines tried to trick travelers into booking cruises, despite the coronavirus, using “potentially dangerous sales pitches.” State Attorney General Ashley Moody based her investigation on a report by the Miami New Times about the aggressive and misleading claims used by agents promising that “the only thing you need to worry about for your cruise is do you have enough sunscreen.” The entire global ocean-going cruise industry has since been suspended. POLITICO’s Matt Dixon has the story.
MOODY BLUES: Moody’s warned on Monday that local governments are at an increased risk of credit downgrades on revenue-backed infrastructure projects for airports, stadiums, convention centers, toll roads and ports due to the coronavirus pandemic. And projects financed by hotel taxes and others could be in trouble, reports Pro’s Kellie Mejdrich. But public-private partnerships have “low exposure to coronavirus,” investors say, thanks to arrangements that generate revenue “based on availability and performance with no demand risk exposure.”
‘AND THROUGH IT ALL, WE’LL CONFERENCE CALL’: You know Pat Jones as the executive director and CEO of the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association, but did you know he’s got an incredible set of pipes? He put them to good use with this coronavirus hygiene message, to the tune of “Bring Him Home” from Les Misérables. (We must object to the line advising you to “snooze the news,” but we heartily cosign the parts about staying home and washing your hands.)
— “Uber Freight is giving weekly $20 Eats credits to truck drivers on its platform because their food options are suddenly disappearing.” Business Insider.
— “Uber appoints former Mattel CEO Robert Eckert to board.” Reuters.
— “Hit by coronavirus, Amtrak banks on billion-dollar bailout to stay afloat.” Wall Street Journal.
— “Top aerospace union calls for relief in coronavirus package.” POLITICO Pro.
— ”Boris Johnson announces coronavirus lockdown in UK.” POLITICO.
DOT appropriations run out in 189 days. The FAA reauthorization expires in 1,286 days. Highway and transit policy is up for renewal in 189 days.
