Friends,
At 10:35 this morning Senator Schumer strongly stated on the Senate floor that he will bring the The Senator Cardin Restaurant Replenishment Fund (RRF) Bill, S.4008 to the Senate floor for a vote tomorrow (Thursday). A variation of The MUSIC Act is tucked into this bill. Normally no Senator will make a statement like this unless they indeed will follow through. This bill has already passed the House.
If it passes the Senate, it goes to the President for signature to become law. There are two trains of thought as to whether this will pass today, this week, or ever. It is a $48 billion dollar bill that is not paid for totally and it requires “new money” , or additional debt to be incurred. The MUSIC Act portion is indeed funded by the $2.2 billion remaining in the now closed SVOG fund.
I have spent a large amount of time the last 8 weeks working on this and have spoken to numbers of legislators and staff. We have learned in the last two years that legislators often say one thing publicly and do another when they vote. This means I have information that leads me to believe S.4008 will pass but I also have information that leads me to believe S.4008 will not pass.
The good news is the fact that the bill is on the calendar for a vote.
Please see the cover and two relevant pages from today’s Senate calendar. Whatever the outcome I will keep you posted.
We are still working on passing The MUSIC Act by unanimous consent.
Thank you for all that you do and do not give up.
Onward and Upward.
Michael T. Strickland