Congressman Fred Upton says the Senate is close to a deal on a COVID relief package, although it’s scaled down from previous proposals. He tells WSJM News a vote could hopefully come this week as time runs out for Congress to do its job.
“It’ll not only provide money for our healthcare workers and providers, but our educators, hopefully state and local funds directly tied to COVID issues,” Upton said. “So, loss of revenue because of sales tax or gas tax, and liability relief for small businesses on some lawsuits for a certain period of time for gross negligence.”
Upton says there is bipartisan support for the plan with many members saying they can’t leave for Christmas until a package is passed.
“We’ve had 110,000 restaurants permanently close across the country, and we’ve got another 20,000 to 30,000 that will close in the next couple weeks if there’s no sign of another small business relief package.”
As for aid to states and municipal governments, Upton says it will be unfortunate if that is removed from the deal. He says that aid should be included in the package with requirements the federal dollars be spent on COVID-related things and not to cover other priorities. The package being worked on comes in at $908 billion.
