As the coronavirus spiraled into a public health crisis this spring, the nation’s largest business lobby identified a critical goal: making sure businesses don’t face legal penalties when new flare-ups in offices, storefronts and factory floors put people in danger, the Washington Post reported. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Legal Reform wrote draft legislation designed to shield companies from liability related to the pandemic and distributed it to state and federal lawmakers, according to a top executive. It found a welcome audience on Capitol Hill. Senate Republicans have since proposed and ardently defended liability provisions that appeared in the Chamber’s draft legislation, although the final proposed version, called the Safe to Work Act, contained numerous provisions the organization hadn’t flagged. The Chamber says that it is trying to preempt what it thinks will be a coming wave of coronavirus-related lawsuits. The issue has become a sticking point in stalled negotiations over a new federal relief package. Senate Republicans have said they will refuse to negotiate over coronavirus liability protections, and will not agree to any deal that doesn’t include them.
