Station: KOA, 850 am

Show:     Colorado’s Morning News Show

Guests:  Gardner, Cory

Link:       https://omny.fm/shows/steffan-tubbs-show/the-steffan-tubbs-show-march-18-2020-hr-2

Date:      April 30, 2020     

Topics:    Test Kits, South Korea, Funding for Rural Hospitals, Payroll Protection Program, Elective Surgeries, Whining, Back to Work, Colorado Congressional Delegation

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HOST MARTY LENZ [00:00:03] As the pandemic continues, lawmakers in Washington [are] trying to find the best ways to help their states recover. Colorado GOP Senator Cory Gardner helped Governor Polis make a deal for test kits from South Korea and helped a bipartisan group of our state’s congressional delegation push for financial relief for rural hospitals.

HOST APRIL ZESBAUGH [00:00:19] Let’s get into all those moves and what’s next with Senator Cory Gardner on our live line. Good morning, Senator.

U.S. SENATOR FROM COLORADO, CORY GARDNER [00:00:24] Good morning.

ZESBAUGH [00:00:25] First off, are you headed back to D.C. for next week’s work on the next economic stimulus package?

GARDNER [00:00:31] Yes, I will be. We’ve got a lot of work to do, and it’s important that we get this done for the people of this country as they get back to work.

LENZ [00:00:37] [We’re] Curious about you procuring — I guess — equipment or deals with tests from South Korea. How did you go about that?

GARDNER [00:00:43] You know, over the last six years, I’ve chaired the Asia Subcommittee on Foreign Relations Committee. I’ve built a very strong relationship with the government in South Korea, the ambassador to the United States. And we were able to work with them, identify businesses that had available capacity, and then connect the state of Colorado to them. We kept pushing and the ambassador kept getting involved. Now, [there are] over 100,000 test kits in Colorado for COVID-19 from South Korea. [We are] very grateful to the people of South Korea for this. And also, I think it led to some swab kits that we needed, as well, [from] South Korea.

ZESBAUGH [00:01:15] When you talk to your colleagues around the country, are they getting as much done, do you feel, as we’re getting done in Colorado: getting the PPE, getting the test kits that they need?

GARDNER [00:01:25] Well, I certainly hope so. I know everybody is working hard and they need to be. We’re all hands on deck on this. And, you know, I think that’s the important approach that the Colorado congressional delegation has taken as well.

LENZ [00:01:35] We — before we got into you, we — in our Headline News, there — we were talking about how Colorado’s rural hospitals may lose 3.8 — what is it? — million or billion dollars because they can’t do these elective surgeries. I know you were efforting to get them the resources — I guess  they need, the money — they can to survive. Does that show a bigger gap or problem that we have with some of our health care facilities in the more rural areas?

GARDNER [00:01:58] Well, you know, I live in rural Colorado and I depend — and my family depends — on our little rural critical access hospital here in Yuma. Yet, a few days ago, I visited a hospital in Wray, Colorado. They’re down 75%. They’ve not had a single COVID-19 hospitalization. And so they were very worried about what would happen to them. They were able to get into the Paycheck Protection Program. I think they received a very significant loan, thanks to the work that I was able to secure by getting them into the loan. And it’s very important that we continue to support these rural hospitals. You know, they don’t have months of operating capital like some of the bigger systems do. They have days. And we have to be very cognizant, when you affect their elective procedures like we did, that they went through that very quickly.

ZESBAUGH [00:02:38] What are you hearing about Yuma and some of those other small towns? You know, they’re not Denver. They’re not Boulder. They’re not Colorado Springs that are starting to reopen. Are they having success with that?

GARDNER [00:02:49] It was interesting. One of the physicians at the hospital that I visited made the point that if we allow these places that don’t have the cases, don’t have the caseload, have done a good job of social distancing and follow the guidances to open, then it takes the pressure off of people who have to travel somewhere else to get goods that they can’t get in that small town. The stores are open. They can get them there. And so it lessens the interaction. It lessens the need to travel and possibly going to an area with a higher infection rate, and [then] coming back and bringing it home. And so I thought that was an interesting point that the physician had brought up to that. So, you know, I think they’re working very hard to comply. Obviously, I worry a lot about rural Colorado because, you know, they have great health systems in place and we’re fighting for them, tooth and nail. But with 15 beds, it could be pretty quickly overwhelmed if there were to be a very significant surge.

LENZ [00:03:37] I’m going to circle back to the stimulus, Senator. Is this something that you think maybe needs to go into — I’ll say — perpetuity, until the economy gets back to — whether it’s full steam or at least half steam for some people that really are literally paycheck to paycheck — could you see them getting $1,200 a month or whatever it is, you know, for the next couple of months?

GARDNER [00:03:56] You know, the people of Colorado have sacrificed so much. They’ve given up their jobs, they’ve closed their businesses. They’ve stayed home for, you know, over a month now. And they have sacrificed to unending degrees. And we need to be there to support them. Congress must be there to support them. I know that is a conversation that is happening again. We’ve continued to put more money into the Paycheck Protection Program that has already kept 30 million people in their jobs. By the time we get through with this next tranche of funding, it’ll probably be 60 million people who kept their jobs, thanks to the Paycheck Protection Program. Individual assistance has to be a part of that continued discussion. There are so many people who are worried about how they’re going to put food on the table, where their rent is going to come from. They’re ready to get back to work. And we have to get back to work to help provide the kind of answers, solutions, and leadership that is needed.

ZESBAUGH [00:04:43] Let’s end the way we started. You said you’re heading back to D.C. They’re going to do some work starting on Monday. I heard some House members were concerned about going back amid the pandemic and the capital physician recommended they not go back. Can you folks get the work done effectively from home or how’s it been for you?

GARDNER [00:04:59] You know, I’ve not heard one cashier at a grocery store whine about having to go to work. I’m tired of Congress whining about having to go to work. Yes, we can do work at home and we have been doing work at home. And it’s been — a lot of great things have been able to be done by the Colorado congressional delegation, for example. But we need to focus on what has to be done to address the health emergency, to help individuals with assistance, and to get this economy moving again. Those three things are what Congress has to focus on.

LENZ [00:05:27] Senator Gardner, thank you for your time.

GARDNER [00:05:29] Thanks.