WASHINGTON — President Biden will welcome a group of Republican lawmakers to the White House Monday.
Ten GOP senators will meet with the President and Vice President Kamala Harris to discuss their coronavirus relief plan. Among the ten Republicans will be Indiana Sen. Todd Young.
“I hope it can be done in a bipartisan fashion that brings all the American people along,” Young said to All Indiana Politics on WISH-TV. “So, it needs to be properly scoped.”
The GOP plan is significantly smaller than the nearly $2 trillion proposal Democrats are putting forth. Democratic Sen. Jon Tester defended the cost of the Democratic plan Sunday.
“So, I don’t think $1.9 trillion, even though it is a boatload of money, is too much money,” Tester, who represents Montana, told CNN.
“What has been presented to us by the Biden Administration is not a bipartisan effort,” Young said. “I certainly am hopeful that effort fails.”
The group of Senate Republicans wants $600 billion in COVID-related funding, including 160-billion for vaccine distribution, as well as COVID testing and protective equipment. It would also have stimulus checks of up to $1,000, but only for people of “more modest means”, according to Sen. Young.
It would also provide much needed economic relief for Americans hit hardest by the fallout from the pandemic.
Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, one of the Republicans who signed on to the letter, told Fox News on Sunday that the GOP plan includes payments starting at $1,000 — an amount lower than the $1,400 Biden’s plan provides for — that would decrease depending an individual’s income level.
