A lone Republican, Senator Lamar Alexander, put the brakes on an effort by Senate Democrats to ram a paid sick leave bill through the Senate. Alexander objected to Senator Patty Murray’s unanimous consent request to pass the bill, forcing Democrats to take it to committee.

No one knows how much a paid sick leave bill would cost employers and taxpayers. No one knows how it would work. No one knows who it would cover. These things are important, even in a crisis. And passing such a huge bill while blindfolded is not Alexander’s idea of good governance.

The Hill:

“The idea of paid sick leave is a good idea. But if Washington, D.C., thinks it’s a good idea, Washington, D.C., should pay for it,” Alexander, the chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, said from the Senate floor.

“It’s not a cure for the coronavirus to put a big new expensive federal mandate on employers who are struggling in the middle of this matter,” Alexander said.