A “variant” of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), according to Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH), could assist the employees and companies in East Palestine, Ohio, who were impacted by a derailed chemical train.
The newly elected Ohio Republican senator recently stated that if there is an investment in the town, the federal govt. and Norfolk Southern Railway might assist “not only tomorrow but months from now,” according to a recent Washington Post opinion piece.
Without special refinancing, “homeowners will be underwater as flight from the neighborhood pushes down home prices, completely destroying the tax base on which local schools and public agencies rely,” Vance wrote. “Farms will need immediate assistance. Underfunded schools will require assistance.”
“East Palestine will require its own Paycheck Protection Program to safeguard employees and businesses that lost their livelihoods due to other people’s decisions,” he continued. “Otherwise, a whole town of decent people will suffer greatly for no fault of their own.”
Additionally, the Buckeye State Republican pointed out that East Palestine barely has 5,000 residents in Ohio’s northeast area, in an opinion piece over the weekend. The town’s median income is $44,498 and 71 percent of its people backed Donald Trump in the 2020 election, he said.
The town, according to Vance, has already “suffered considerably from the wave of deindustrialization that saw millions of jobs depart for China, Mexico as well as other nations,” in addition to the derailed train.
As Breitbart News reported earlier this month, on February 3, hazardous chemicals were spilled after a Norfolk Southern train carrying them derailed. Five train cars were set on fire by cleanup teams in order to dispose of hazardous chemicals in a safe setting. The smoke from the fire, which resembled a mushroom cloud in the sky, was heavy and blowing.
Ohio’s lawmakers, including Vance, acted quickly after the catastrophe. Both Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and President Joe Biden, however, were not present. Buttigieg ultimately visited just one day after former President Donald Trump did.
After making remarks to the small town of East Palestine earlier this year, Trump visited the area to present truckloads of bottled water as well as food for the police and fire agencies in addition to everyone eating at an East Palestine McDonald’s.
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