WASHINGTON – Today the U.S. Senate passed the Free COVID-19 Testing Act—legislation cosponsored by Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema that ensures COVID-19 testing is free for Arizonans.
“Arizona faces a public health crisis and an economic crisis; we must make COVID-19 tests free for Arizona families to stop the spread of coronavirus and help ensure the safety of all Arizonans,” said Sinema.
Today, the Senate passed the Sinema-backed Free COVID-19 Testing Act as part of the coronavirus relief package for Arizona families and small businesses. This package is focused on making testing more widely available, and it includes provisions similar to legislation Sinema introduced with Republican Senator Deb Fischer ensuring respirators used by patients and health workers have liability coverage and are available for Arizona communities.
Sinema also voted for the congressionally-approved $7.8 billion package to address the coronavirus, providing necessary funding to keep families, seniors, and other vulnerable populations safe.
Sinema wrote to Vice President Pence and the White House Task Force about the government’s need to implement a single online webform that would allow the CDC to directly collect information from travelers and provide a more complete, accurate, and timely collection of data. Sinema also wrote VA about steps it’s taking to protect the health of veterans and staff. Sinema also wrote to the Vice President to ensure tribal leaders have the resources they need through the Indian Health Service, tribal health departments, and urban Indian health programs to keep their communities safe.
Sinema has also added a resources page to her website, www.sinema.senate.gov, for Arizonans looking for the latest information on coronavirus.
