McConnell: New virus relief bill will now be top priority
We may have a new stimulus bill before the end of the year.
Americans could have another $1200 stimulus check on the way.
According to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the Senate will focus on a new stimulus bill as soon as they return to work on Monday. On Wednesday, he also announced the plan could include local aid, per The Washington Post.
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“It’s a possibility we will do more for state and local governments,” said McConnell. “We need another rescue package. The Senate goes back into session next Monday. Hopefully, the partisan passions that prevented us from doing another rescue package will subside with the election. And I think we need to do it and I think we need to do it before the end of the year.”
The idea of a new relief bill has been on the table for a while now. But McConnell and Senate Republicans have complained about the $2 trillion proposed package, calling it too costly. McConnell did try to push through a smaller bill that was rejected by Democrats because it did not include local and state aid or another stimulus check.
“We need to sit down and talk to each other like we did back in March and April and address the problem, and I’m confident we will no matter who ends up running the government, no matter who’s in the White House, no matter who’s — I think we know the Democrats are going to run the House — no matter who runs the Senate, it’s time to overcome all that and get results,” said McConnell.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have been the main drivers of a new package, spending hours trying to come up with one that both parties could agree on. But according to McConnell, there is another important issue on the agenda in regards to COVID-19.
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“Until we kill it, so that’s job one. We’ve already allocated an enormous amount of money toward testing, treatment and vaccines. We may need to do more in the next rescue package, because ultimately you got to kill the [virus] before we get back to normal because there’s no other way to get back to normal.”
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