But these flaws are no reason to hesitate. The bill, on balance, would do far more good than harm. And while it does not do enough, it is only the third coronavirus bailout bill. It is clear already that Congress will need to keep writing checks.

Mr. Graham, Mr. Sasse and Messrs Scott see problems in the part of the bill that expands unemployment benefits. Benefits in normal times are calculated as a percentage of lost salary, typically around 45 percent, up to a maximum amount that varies by state. The national average is $385 a week, which isn’t enough to keep a family above the poverty line.

The legislation would add a fixed sum of $600 to those weekly payments for the next four months. As a result, some low-wage workers who lose their jobs would get more than their former salaries — “more by not working than by working,” three of the senators said in a joint statement.

They argued that this would encourage companies to fire workers, or that it would encourage workers to stop working, or that it would discourage people from seeking work. Or maybe all three. The consistency in their explanations was mostly in the subtext of indignation.

The concerns don’t add up. People who quit jobs typically are ineligible for unemployment benefits. Under the legislation, workers who quit because of the coronavirus would qualify for benefits, but those are not people who are leaving because they want a little more money. They are leaving — often as a consequence of state and local decisions to shut down commerce — to limit the danger to themselves, and perhaps to others as well.

There is wide agreement among economists that unemployment benefits reduce the incentive to return to work. That’s why states replace only a portion of lost wages in normal times. But at the moment, staying home is exactly what’s needed to prevent the spread of the virus, and paying people who have lost jobs is what’s needed to limit the economic damage. And the extra benefits last four months. It’s an emergency stipend, not a retirement program.

In this hour of crisis, those at the bottom of the economic pyramid are in the greatest need of help. There is no warrant for delay, and still less for shortchanging workers of a few hundred dollars in a bill that will shovel trillions of dollars into the American economy.