His. Bill Cassidy
Bill Cassidy Sunday shows preview: new variants of COVID-19 released in the US; Redditors shake Wall Street with Gamestop shares OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Biden signs a series of orders to address climate change | Republicans pressure Granholm on fossil fuels during confirmation hearing Republicans pressure Granholm on fossil fuels during confirmation hearing MORE (R-La.) He said Sunday that the framework for a COVID-19 economic relief package presented by 10 Republican senators would cost $ 600 billion, less than half the price of the $ 1.9 trillion proposal. Biden administration.
Cassidy told Fox News Sunday that the GOP’s reduced proposal filed earlier Sunday includes direct payments of $ 1,000 to individuals that would be targeted at certain income levels. He did not specify whether the Republican Party threshold would be the one that earned less than $ 75,000 in fiscal year 2019. President Biden’s proposal includes a third round of direct payments of $ 1,400.
Funding for schools is also reduced to the GOP package, which Cassidy said offers $ 20 billion instead of Biden’s $ 170 billion. Cassidy noted previous COVID-19 aid proposals that funded schools and the notion that helping public schools would help teachers ’unions who are skeptical about whether return to face-to-face teaching is safe.
Cassidy said one of the areas of agreement is vaccination, and the 10 Republican Party senators agreed to match the $ 160 billion White House figure to distribute and administer shots.
Biden said Friday that he supports approving a COVID-19 relief package with Republican votes “if we can get it, but COVID relief has to happen. There is no yes, no butt.”
Last week, Biden administration officials convened 16 senators, eight lawmakers from each party, on the White House COVID-19 relief package. The call was characterized as a “productive” conversation, but several Republicans have considered Biden’s plan too expensive.
The $ 1.9 trillion White House plan also includes an extension of emergency unemployment benefits past mid-March. A proposal by the Biden administration to raise the federal minimum wage to $ 15 per hour was received by Republicans who argue it would cost jobs in the United States.