Senate GOP Copied and Pasted Andrew Cuomo’s COVID-19 Corporate Immunity Law

While raking in cash from health care industry donors, Beltway Republicans copied language from an Andrew Cuomo law meant to shield negligent nursing home execs into their new COVID-19 relief package, word for word.

Senate Lawmakers Address The Media After Their Weekly Policy Luncheons

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) address reporters on September 25, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer / Getty Images)


Senate Republicans copied key parts of New York governor Andrew Cuomo’s controversial corporate immunity law and pasted it word for word into their new coronavirus relief proposal released on Monday. The provision could shield health care industry CEOs, executives, and corporate board members from COVID-19–related lawsuits in the event that their business decisions end up injuring or killing health care workers and patients.

Among all federal lawmakers running for reelection in 2020, Republican Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell is the top recipient of campaign cash from the hospital and nursing home industries. One of Texas senator John Cornyn’s biggest career donors is a private equity firm that owns one of the nation’s largest hospital staffing companies. Additionally, a super PAC defending Senate Republican incumbents also just received $10 million from a private equity billionaire whose firm owns another major medical staffing conglomerate.

Executives from those industries stand to benefit from the corporate immunity provision that Senate Republicans spliced into their legislation.

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