U.S. Reps. Tulsi Gabbard and Rodney Davis of Illinois on Tuesday introduced legislation that would prevent a health care provider from laying off a significant portion of its nursing workforce or significantly reducing their hours during the coronavirus crisis as a condition for receiving federal emergency relief funds. Gabbard and Davis are leaders of the bipartisan Congressional Nursing Caucus, and May 6-12 is National Nurses Week.

In April, 1.4 million health care workers, including many nurses, lost their jobs. Congress has appropriated $175 billion to help health care providers respond to COVID-19 and address lost revenue because of the virus.

To be eligible for federal funding, the Nurse Workforce Protection Act requires a health care provider to retain at least 75% of its nurses and cannot reduce their pay or hours by more than 25%. Additionally, the bill prohibits providers from forcing nurses to take paid or unpaid leave.

“Nurses are our frontline heroes, putting their lives on the line during this public health crisis every single day. They deserve the support they need to do their jobs. Budgets should not be balanced on the backs of these vital workers who are saving people’s lives. This is the very reason Congress created the Provider Relief Fund in the CARES Act,” Gabbard said in a statement. “So many of our nurses are working under extreme conditions, suffering through major shortages of personal protective equipment, being separated from their families, and working sustained emergency hours and conditions. They have our backs. We must have theirs.”

“Nurses are the backbone of our health care delivery system and if a provider is receiving federal funding, they should not be furloughing nurses,” said Davis. “Congress is providing $175 billion to our health care providers and they should be using this funding, in part, to maintain staff. This bill simply asks the same of health care providers as we have of the small businesses participating in the Paycheck Protection Program: if you’re receiving taxpayer dollars that will not be paid back, you should be using it to keep people employed.”

Police union backs mayoral candidate

Mayoral candidate Rick Blangiardi scored his first major union endorsement Tuesday, receiving support from the 2,000-member State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers.

Blangiardi, the recently retired general manager for Hawaii News Now, is making his first run at elective office.

SHOPO President Malcolm Lutu said the vote of its board members was unanimous.

“Our members put themselves on the line every day, often having to make difficult decisions in the moment to protect and serve our community,” Lutu said in a release. “We believe these are qualities we need in the next mayor, especially given the unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 crisis.”

Among other mayoral candidates: former U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, businessman Keith Amemiya, Councilwoman Kym Pine, Realtor Choon James and former state Sen. John Carroll.