Small businesses exhaust their reserves and are forced to lay off the team of workers they have assembled.

It must also act to limit the damage — to keep families in their homes, small businesses in their offices or stores, workers in their jobs.

In recent days, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has stated that he feels no “urgency” to aid states and localities, suggesting that states could go bankrupt, and that the crisis was largely one of “blue-state” mismanagement.

Some conservative Senate Republicans have joined with the most progressive House Democrats to champion a paycheck guarantee program that would support small business owners to pay their employees even when their businesses are locked down.

This is a time when leaders must emerge, move beyond their comfort zone, and offer bold responses to a stark crisis.