THE CEO of Starbucks has joined Walmart and McDonald's in asking Congress members to "take action" on a second Covid stimulus bill.
"We need Congress to take action," said Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson at the company's investor day on Wednesday.
Johnson released an open letter to Congress, encouraging lawmakers to pass a second relief bill to save small businesses.
"Starbucks urges Congress to take immediate bipartisan action to pass new COVID relief legislation to address the urgent needs to our communities.
"Especially for the millions of Americans out of work, small businesses facing economic uncertainty and the public health needs of state and local governments on the front lines of the pandemic," Johnson wrote.
In the letter, the CEO also highlighted Starbucks' plan to pay all of their employees at least $15-an-hour within the next two to three years.
The coffee giant boss joins the chief executives of McDonald's and Walmart in their efforts to push Congress members to pass another relief bill.
"I think it's important that we all understand in some ways we are having a shared experience because we are in a pandemic together," Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said at the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit in October.
"But we are having a very different experience. If you have been let go and don't have income, you really need help.
"The voice we have at Walmart is to say to Congress and the administration we need you to help those people who need help," McMillon added.
In November, McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinsk told CNBC that it was "very clear" that America needs another stimulus package.
"We need a stimulus measure, I think that is very clear," Kempczinsk said, as he called on President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris to address the economic crisis.
"This was a historic election. And I was … really excited to see the turnout we had in this country," he said.
This week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Congress "can't leave" for Christmas break without a coronavirus bill as he asks both sides to drop the two most controversial stimulus demands
"What I recommend is we set aside liability and set aside state and local and pass those things that we can agree on, knowing full well we'll be back at this after the first of the year," McConnell told reporters this week.
"We can't leave without doing a Covid bill – the country needs it."
Republicans have repeatedly rejected Democrats' demands for $150billion in funding for state and local governments.
Democrats on the other hand have equally been opposing to Republicans request for a sweeping liability ban.
In response to McConnell's remarks, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the state and local funding provisions "have broad bipartisan support," as opposed to the liability proposal.
“The state and local funding provided by the state and local funding provisions have broad bipartisan support. Unlike the extreme corporate liability proposal," Schumer said.
Lawmakers have been in a stalemate for months over the appropriate size for any follow-up to the $2.2trillion Cares Act passed in March.
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump's administration offered a $916billion stimulus package that would send eligible Americans a $600 stimulus check, but would eliminate the $300-a-week unemployment benefits.
However, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi quickly blasted the proposal, calling it "unacceptable."
"While it is progress that Leader [Mitch] McConnell has signed off on a $916 billion offer based on the bipartisan framework, the President' proposal, which cuts unemployment insurance by $140 billion compared to the framework, is unacceptable," she tweeted.
"The President’s proposal must not be allowed to obstruct the bipartisan Congressional talks that are underway. The bipartisan talks are the best hope for a bipartisan solution."
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