Dem Rep. Escobar: Three More Coronavirus Stimulus Packages May Be Needed

‘One of the other things that we’ve been talking about is this is obviously not going to be the final investment that we make in a stimulus package’

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Texas Rep. Veronica Escobar, a Democratic member of the House Judiciary Committee, says that three additional coronavirus stimulus packages might be needed after her chamber votes on the Senate's record $2 trillion legislation.

The GOP-controlled Senate's 883-page bill was passed in the late hours of Wednesday evening. The Democrat-controlled House is expected to vote Friday in favor of the measure, which President Trump has indicated he will sign.

"One of the other things that we've been talking about is this is obviously not going to be the final investment that we make in a stimulus package," Escobar told Just the News on Wednesday. "There will probably be a fourth package, maybe even a fifth or six."

Critics of the Senate bill point out that it has provisions not directly related to the coronavirus pandemic such as $25 million for the Kennedy Center of Performing Arts. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting received $75 million and the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities received $150 million.

Escobar argued that "everything in the [final] House bill has to be linked to coronavirus."

"Everything has to be directly linked," she said. "I have no doubt there will be things in there that are going to be very difficult for me to support. There are going to be things in there that I think don't go far enough."  

If the House amends the Senate-passed bill, the Senate would have to come back to Washington to approve it. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that the chamber is out of session until April 20. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged senators to be "on-call" in case they need to vote on additional coronavirus measures.

(Just the News)

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