Both houses of Congress are working furiously on bills to stimulate the economy following the COVID-19 slowdown. Which is a good thing. But, politicians are politicians and they can’t seem to “waste a good crisis” (as the saying goes).

From the Washington Post: The GOP just smuggled another awful provision into the stimulus

According to Language in the bill forwarded to me by a senior Senate Democratic aide, this provision excludes “nonprofits receiving Medicaid expenditures,” which would not be eligible for those loans.

This language has been interpreted in some quarters as an effort to deny funding to Planned Parenthood, a longtime GOP target. But Democratic Aides think the language means a lot more than this.

Specifically, Democratic aides believe this language would exclude from eligibility for this financial assistance a big range of other nonprofits that get Medicaid funding, such as home and community-based disability providers; community-based nursing homes, mental health providers and health centers; group homes for the disabled; and even rape crisis centers.

Great. Nonprofits serving people with disabilities would be excluded from this part of the stimulus. Why? Why Republicans, why?

—
By Matt Carey