Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear (D) left on Wednesday in support of raising $ 2,000 in direct payments in the federal relief package COVID-19, as pressure on the Senate majority leader increases. Mitch McConnell
Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnell GOP Senator says he will block consent for $ 1,000 stimulus checks Head of DC branch of Intercept: McConnell was “doing very well” with Trump losing re-election Trump targets Congressional Republicans on several fronts (R-Ky.) To put the measure to a vote.
The Kentucky governor said during a Tuesday press conference that raising the current $ 600 in direct payments to $ 2,000 would inject $ 5 billion into the state’s economy, a stimulus he said was needed to help retailers, restaurants and small businesses.
Under the COVID-19 relief package signed by President Trump
Donald Trump Georgia’s signature audit found no fraud in the presidential election. Pompeo calls for the release of a Chinese journalist arrested because of coronavirus coverage Pence refused to sign a plan to overturn the election, lawyers say MORE on Sunday, Beshear said less than half of that amount – almost $ 2.3 billion – would be channeled to Kentucky’s economy.
“If that effort is blocked, it will deprive our Kentucky families of $ 5 billion that could help them in this pandemic and certainly help our economy, it could help all small businesses everywhere in Kentucky,” said Beshear.
“The difference between leader McConnell taking this to the vote and approving it or blocking it is that our Kentucky families receive an extra $ 5 billion,” he added.
Beshear also criticized McConnell’s move to link relief legislation to measures related to electoral investigations and liability for technology companies, saying that “uniting them at best is some strategic political movement”.
The aid package that Congress passed last week earmarked almost $ 490 million in total for unemployment benefits and more than $ 297 million for tenants in Kentucky. The state’s vaccine distribution push will receive nearly $ 57 million, and its testing, screening and mitigation efforts will receive nearly $ 290 million in funding, he said.
“This act did not do everything I expected, but it is a significant help in fighting the virus, to recover and help our families that are struggling,” said the governor. “They are going to need more help, more relief.”
Beshear joined many other Democrats and some Republicans this week to push for greater direct payments as part of the federal government’s relief from COVID-19.
Last week, after Congress approved the current aid package, Trump criticized it for its direct payments of $ 600, calling the project a “disgrace”. But the president signed the legislation on Sunday, noting that he hoped to move forward with discussions for bigger checks.
McConnell is facing a divide between Republican senators over whether to support pressure from Trump, with several saying the price would be too high and others, including Georgia senators seeking re-election, supporting the increase in checks.