U.S. Sen. John Barrasso expressed much concern during an appearance on PBS News Hour Tuesday about President Joe Biden’s proposed coronavirus relief bill.
This would be the third relief bill, the first put into action by Biden, and would include a latest round of stimulus checks, and features a price tag of $1.9 trillion.
“One of the things in the president’s proposal is to pay unemployment bonuses,” Barrasso said. “Basically, the math says you do better by not working than working.”
Senate Republicans have balked at the number, feeling there are too many non-coronavirus related stipulations in the bill, such as an increase of the U.S.’ minimum wage to $15 per hour.
A bipartisan group of senators is planning to meet with Biden to discuss the bill and see if any compromise can be made.
Barrasso hoped some good would come from the meeting, and noted that more work needed to be done to get people back to work and for the coronavirus vaccine to be rolled out more efficiently.
Last week, the senator criticized the proposed relief bill, echoing similar sentiments.
“We want to make sure people can get back to school and work and that they can get the vaccine,” he said. “Those are the critical issues we need to address.”
