Sen. Mike Braun: ‘If we go beyond two weeks to a month you're going to have supply-and-demand destruction’

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Exclusive: Sen. Mike Braun on small businesses and the effort to recover

Fox News spoke with Senator Mike Braun, R-IN., about small businesses and whether they can recover from the economic shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

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EXCLUSIVE -- As most of America remains in lockdown, small businesses are taking the biggest hit. Sen. Mike Braun, R-IN., said “small businesses aren't generally going to be equipped with lines of credit.”

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Most small businesses rely on liquid currency to function, and with the country’s economy practically shutdown, the effects can create irreversible damage.

“Many small business owners live out of their business, [and] maintain cash balances that are more hand-to-mouth,” Braun told Fox News. “And it's impacted the restaurants and bars, in hair salons, the service economy disproportionately hard.”

With the current stimulus bill being carried out and Americans receiving their checks this week, the question on many people’s minds is: Does this bill offer adequate support to small businesses? Braun said what has been done so far is just a temporary measure and that the U.S. government “shouldn’t be expected to replace the dollar” in a real economy.

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“Everything that small businesses are enduring is a result of the government trying to tamp down the disease. And we know that needs to be done until that's accomplished. There's going to be great national anxiety out there and it's going to impact all businesses,” Braun explained.

President Trump said he hopes to get the economy up and running by May 1, but that may not align with the advice of some health experts. When it comes to reopening the economy, the Indiana senator said it won’t be as quick in some places.

“I think that you're not going to be able to open it that quickly in places that have been devastated by the first foray, that initial impact, the six or seven states in the Northeast. Ironically, you've seen a place like Washington that was an early hotspot that seems [to have] found a way to navigate through it and mitigate exploding like it did in the Northeast,” Braun said.

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As for advice for small businesses, Braun, an entrepreneur and member of the Senate Budget Committee, said small businesses have to be innovative during these tough times and find ways to reopen while still maintaining social distancing policies.

“Now, you do need to be entrepreneurial and innovative to do anything you can. Exercising your own wits and talents and hopefully you had some reserve going into it. And if not, that is why we put together a three-prong plan through the federal government that makes sure your employees get on the enhanced unemployment insurance,” said Braun.