McConnell vows next coronavirus aid bill 'won't pass the Senate' without business liability protection

close

Video

McConnell says US needs to provide protection for businesses and employees

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell responds to Sen. Schumer's warning of layoffs without state aid.

Get all the latest news on coronavirus and more delivered daily to your inbox. Sign up here.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told Fox News Tuesday he will not consider any additional coronavirus aid legislation unless it includes liability or litigation protections for businesses and employees seeking to come back to work.

"We can't pass another bill unless we have liability protections. That's the only way we're going to ultimately begin to get past this," McConnell told "Your World with Neil Cavuto". "We have to have businesses brave enough to open up again and employees brave enough to go back to work. And I'm glad to see that some of the states are beginning to move in the direction of reopening."

"We are in a place that we have never been before and we are all hoping for a rapid recovery," McConnell added. "I think that we get a more rapid recovery if we have liability reform [and] if we have testing that reassures people, because the economy will not truly be open unless everybody's willing to participate in the economy again."

The majority leader emphasized that that liability reform is a "red line" in any negotiations over coronavirus aid to small business, health care organizations or local governments.

"That is an integral part of our economy getting back to normal," McConnell said. "So we are going back to work. The Senate is coming back Monday. We are perfectly willing to discuss the way forward."

"We have a red line on liability," McConnell added. "It won't pass the Senate without it."

CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE

McConnell also told host Neil Cavuto that he was "certainly open to considering additional assistance to state and local governments" after he suggested last week that states with massive gaps in their budget as a result of the coronavirus pandemic should be allowed to declare bankruptcy.

"It is important, however, to understand that many states have systemic long-standing challenges: In many of them, their pension fund, in many of them from overspending," McConnell said. "What we're saying here is, we are not interested in rescuing badly run states from the mistakes they've made [that are] completely unrelated to the coronavirus. So let me make it perfectly clear. We are open to considering another bill."