Sen. John Barrasso wouldn’t commit to backing President Trump’s payroll tax cut as part of the next coronavirus bill, stating he needed to see more of the specifics.
Barrasso, appearing on FOX News Monday, said the focus of the next bill needs to be on the 30 million American who are unemployed.
“We want to make every dollar count. The payroll tax cut will help people who are working and the employers but we need to make sure that the 30 million people have what they need,” Barrasso said.
One thing Barrasso did commit to, however, was not being in favor of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s $800 billion-plus coronavirus spending plan.
“A lot of that would be used to bail out state pension plans that have had decades of mismanagement. I am not for that. Republicans are not for that at all,” he said.
Barrasso said he was in favor of passing liability reform that would protect health care workers and small businesses from an explosion in lawsuits as a result of the virus.
“You may have seen some of the ads,” the senator said. “It’s astonishing. Sue the nursing homes. Sue the college that sent you home early. Sue your boss.”
“We can’t have our health care workers and small businesses living in fear of these lawsuits as we reopen America,” he said.
On that note, he said he was pleased with how Wyoming is handling its reopening.
“Wyoming is open for business again,” he said. “We reopened on May 1. People are out and about and we’re doing it sensibly. Socially distancing and people are doing all the things that the guidelines would suggest.”
