Senator Grassley.
Members of the U.S. House are starting work on the newest COVID-19 stimulus package which Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says promises to be far too expensive.
With reports estimating the latest coronavirus relief plan around $1.9 trillion, Grassley says several fellow Republicans in the House will work to whittle it down from what President Biden has requested.
“They aren’t going to go along with that big package,” Grassley says, “and if they can get a smaller package, that would be to my liking.” The plan is again expected to include direct payments to most Americans which Grassley says may be checks of several hundred dollars, a thousand dollars, or as much as $1,400.
“Whatever it is, it’s got to be targeted towards the more needy,” Grassley says. “The way it’s written by Pelosi, so people up to $350,000 could get help, it ought to be targeted more toward families of 40- to 50- or maybe $60,000 a year income.”
The latest round of checks, approved in December, were for a maximum of $600. Grassley says when government relief checks are sent out to wealthier Americans, they don’t typically provide the needed boost to the economy.
“When you get above $75,000 worth of income, about 80% of it’s saved, it’s not going to stimulate the economy,” Grassley says. “But when it’s below $75,000 and those people get it, about 80% of it is going to be spent and spent quickly and will be a stimulus.”
President Biden is pushing to have a $15 federal minimum wage amendment included in the COVID relief package, which would make it very unattractive to most Republicans.