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Representative Sharice Davids introduced legislation today to rapidly increase the supply of equipment like face masks, hospital gowns, ventilators, and testing materials needed to fight the coronavirus and keep frontline workers safe. The bill would also promote manufacturing these goods in the United States.
Representative Sharice Davids released the following statement on the distribution of coronavirus relief funds to tribal governments announced today by the U.S. Department of Treasury:
After seeing concerns reports about large companies getting relief funds at the expense of local small businesses, Representative Sharice Davids called for the release of the complete list of businesses that have received emergency small business loans through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
Representative Sharice Davids held a virtual roundtable today to discuss resources for local small businesses with representatives from the Enterprise Center in Johnson County and Kansas City Women's Business Center.
The panelists discussed a variety of small business issues, including businesses trying to switch their production to equipment needed amid the coronavirus, such as hand sanitizer and masks. They also discussed challenges with small business relief programs and the support their offices can provide businesses in navigating these programs.
Newly-released Small Business Administration (SBA) guidance will allow tribal small businesses that were previously excluded to access loans through the Paycheck Protection Program. While the CARES Act passed by Congress last month provided for tribal small businesses to access Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, the SBA had released an interim rule that excluded tribally-operated gaming businesses from accessing this critical assistance. Davids led a bipartisan, bicameral effort of 38 lawmakers urging the SBA to change their rule and today they did.
Representative Sharice Davids helped secure additional funding for small businesses, hospitals, health care workers and COVID-19 testing, voting for the "The Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act" earlier today.
Representative Sharice Davids emphasized the importance of addressing health disparities in Wyandotte County yesterday during a Facebook Live with a Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, KS Public Health Department official.
Although black residents make up around 23 percent of Wyandotte County's population, they represent more than half of the people testing positive for COVID-19, as well as two-thirds of COVID-19-related deaths. Wyandotte County currently has the most confirmed positive cases of coronavirus in the state.
Representative Sharice Davids issued the following statement on the release of sensitive tribal government data related to CARES Act funds, as well as news that these funds are not being fairly distributed to tribes as intended.
As critical small business loan programs rapidly run out of money, Representative Sharice Davids urged congressional leaders to put partisan politics aside and reach a bipartisan consensus on funding for small business relief programs.
Representative Sharice Davids issued the following statement on the shortage of medical supplies needed to fight the coronavirus and keep frontline workers and their patients safe in Kansas:
"Kansas still doesn't have the supplies we need to tackle this public health crisis. It's unacceptable that we rank 50th among other states in per capita testing. And it's unacceptable that our calls to FEMA for more supplies aren't being met.
In the News
.Missouri’s Sam Graves and Kansas’ Sharice Davids and Tracey Mann back a new law to use data to stop accidents before they happen.Getty Images
For decades, Congress has treated roadway safety the way too many drivers treat a warning light on the dashboard: Ignore it until something breaks. Federal transportation policy has largely followed suit, funding response over prevention and leaving agencies to document tragedies rather than avert them.
Representative Sharice Davids announced she secured a $2.6 million grant from the Federal Aviation Administration to support construction of a new air traffic control tower at New Century AirCenter.
U.S. Congresswoman Sharice Davids (D-KS) says the National Weather Service has failed to respond to her demands for answers about missed weather balloon launches.
She adds that seven more tornadoes touched down across the state this week, and critical atmospheric data collection disruptions continue.
Across Ottawa, Kansas, pieces of the April 13 tornado remain. Buildings like the Knights Inn on Main Street are still in shambles, and those who lived through it are still recovering.
A month later, federal officials are questioning whether there should have been more warning for the Ottawa tornado and the others that have ripped through Kansas during this storm season.
Today, Representative Sharice Davids introduced a bipartisan bill designed to help rural hospitals remain open and improve health care services. The Rural Hospital Revitalization Act would offer interest-free loans through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Community Facilities Program. Hospitals could use the loans, available for up to 10 years, to build new facilities or update older buildings.
TOPEKA — U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids expressed frustration Friday with the National Weather Service’s failure in the last month to launch three-fourths of the balloons typically sent aloft in Kansas to assess atmospheric conditions and assist with weather forecasting.
TOPEKA — A coalition of federal lawmakers from Kansas introduced in the U.S. House this week a bipartisan bill that could offer interest-free loans to rural hospitals “hanging on by a thread.”
U.S. Reps. Sharice Davids and Tracey Mann of Kansas and representatives from Alabama, Colorado, Hawaii, Michigan, Oregon and West Virginia co-sponsored the Rural Hospital Revitalization Act.
U.S. Congresswoman Sharice Davids (D-KS) joined officials to mark a $50 million aviation manufacturing expansion in Olathe.
Davids says the visit was part of her “Sharice’s Shift” series. Indra Group USA unveiled a new 118,000-square-foot facility at the Great Plains Commerce Center.
What’s Being Built - and Why It Matters
U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids of Kansas urged the public to contact lawmakers to express opposition to a federal appeals court’s order undercutting a U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulation broadening access to the abortion pill mifepristone.
U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids (D-KS), a tribal citizen of the Ho-Chunk Nation and one of the first Native women elected to Congress, is introducing new legislation titled the Truth in National Parks Act to ensure National Park Service (NPS) sites preserve historically and culturally accurate information while setting clear limits on the removal or alteration of materials that reflect that history.