Hope for a COVID-19 relief package from Congress is all but gone with the Senate out until after the election.
We're hearing from politicians what the hang up might be. Both Sen. Sherrod Brown and Rep. Bob Latta are hopeful the leaders of both House and Senate will sit down and work something out after the election. Brown says Democrats want to secure funding for the unemployed, schools to return safely, and for local government. He says Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell isn't focused on a package at all. Latta says House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hasn't worked well to negotiate with Republicans and he thinks nothing may get done until February.
"In August, 600,000 Ohioans lost their $600 a week unemployment insurance," said Brown, the Democratic Senator from Ohio. "What are they supposed to do to stay in their home. They can't find a job. What are they supposed to do to stay in their homes, so they don't get evicted or foreclosed on? How are they to take care of their families?"
"The stuff they've put in this legislation," said Rep. Latta, Ohio's 5th congressional district. "I mean, they've got all kinds of things that the American people really wouldn't want to see in a piece of legislation like this. It has nothing to do with getting people back to work because when you're giving dollars to illegals and things like that. There's all kinds of things in this legislation that should not--never been included."
The latest bill offered to the House was near $2 trillion but couldn't be agreed upon.
