Democrats hoping to pass an emergency paid sick leave bill to deal with the fallout from the coronavirus were stymied by Senate Republicans on Wednesday.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) tried to speed the measure up for a vote on the Senate floor through a procedural maneuver, but an objection from Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) prevented the bill from bypassing the Republican-controlled health committee.

Murray noted that many people who dont have paid leave through their jobs will inevitably miss work due to being sick or quarantined in the coming weeks. She argued that guaranteed paid leave was important both for public health and the good of the broader economy.

For many of our workers restaurant workers, truck drivers, service industry workers they may not have an option to take a day off without losing their pay or losing their job, Murray said. Thats not a choice we should be asking anyone to make in the United States in the 21st century.

Alexander said that paid sick leave is a good idea. But if lawmakers want to require employers to provide it, then the federal government should have to foot the bill, he argued.

Employees are struggling, our employers are struggling, and its 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.