WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, U.S. Congresswoman Debbie Lesko (AZ-08) offered amendments to H.R. 6800, the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act during a meeting of the House Committee on Rules.

“I’ve taken the last few days to review Speaker Pelosi’s massive wish list legislation and I introduced amendments to address some of my key concerns,” said Congresswoman Lesko following the introduction of the amendments. “This bill is filled with flaws and provisions that are extremely alarming and after speaking with constituents and many Arizona stakeholders, I decided to introduce amendments to address some of these concerns head on.”

The first of the amendments removes the provisions in the bill that would reinstate the State and Local Tax Deduction (SALT). This deduction was capped in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Acts through 2025. The HEROES Act seeks to remove the cap, a change that only benefits high-income individuals in high-tax blue states.

“The SALT deduction benefits the rich in high-tax states and requires taxpayers in low-tax states, like Arizona, to subsidize the rich,” said Lesko. “We should be focusing on provisions that will help average Americans who are suffering, not the richest among us.”

The second amendment prohibits illegal immigrants from receiving economic impact payments. As written, the HEROES Act does not require social security verification for future economic impact payments given directly to Americans. Lesko’s amendment would require social security number verification for all disbursements from the bill.

“There is no scenario in which taxpayer dollars should end up in the pockets of illegal immigrants,” said Lesko. “There are Americans suffering as a result of this virus and relief should be reserved for our citizens.”

The final amendment addresses limitations on funds being used for abortion services. Currently, the HEROES Act includes no Hyde Amendment protections from taxpayer funds being used for abortions. As a result, taxpayer funds appropriated through the HEROES Act could be used to directly fund abortion. Lesko’s amendment would prohibit taxpayer funds from the bill from being used for abortions.

“At a time when our health care heroes are fighting day and night to protect lives across America, we cannot also be supporting the brutal ending of life through abortion,” said Lesko. “For decades the Hyde Amendment has protected federal funds from being used for abortion and this bill should be no exception.”

All of Lesko’s amendments failed on a straight party line vote.

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