Next COVID-19 relief bill remains stalled in Washington; ‘Adverse impacts on the economy and individuals will be longer-lasting than they could have been’
By Sarah Downey
With the outcome for a new COVID-19 financial stimulus package still in flux, concerns about the lasting economic damage have heightened the longer the legislative stalemate goes on.
The bill’s most recent incarnations have included targeted aid for American families and businesses. But Republicans and Democrats remain at odds about how much relief to deliver and which entities will receive it.
“The Administration and House Democrats are not focusing on an efficient response to the Covid-19 recession,” Wayne Winegarden, Ph.D., senior fellow in business and economics at the Pacific Research Institute, told the Northern California Record by email.
“An efficient response will not waste money by sending checks to people who still have their jobs. It would provide the resources necessary to keep the businesses and families afloat while the pandemic persists without the overly burdensome restrictions. The federal response also needs to focus on providing certainty to these impacted entities rather than focusing on reaching some arbitrary size threshold . . .”
