White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Wednesday the administration is looking closely at trying to safeguard businesses from liability as some states start to allow shops to reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“You got to give the businesses some confidence here that if something happens … you can’t take them out of business, you can’t throw big lawsuits at them,” Mr. Kudlow said on CNBC. “I think liability reforms and safeguards are going to be [a] very important part of this.”
He said some things could be done through regulations, while some would likely require additional legislation.
“Businesses — particularly small [businesses] who don’t have massive resources — should not be held liable, should not be held to trial lawyers putting on false lawsuits who will probably be thrown out of court,” he said.
President Trump said this week the administration would look into the legal issues on the question of whether companies would be held liable if their employees come back to work and get sick.
“We have tried to take liability away from these companies,” the president said.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday he was skeptical the Democrat-led House would go along with such an effort.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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