Pelosi says new stimulus package will focus on ‘recovery,’ in wake of $2T coronavirus response
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday that a fourth round of coronavirus legislation will focus on the nation’s «recovery» and singled out building up critical infrastructure.
Pelosi said Congress first addressed the «emergency» phase of the crisis with the initial $8.3 billion package for health funding and the second bill to grant free tests and paid sick leave. Next, Congress moved to what she called the «mitigation» phase with the massive $2.2 trillion legislation that passed last week to give direct payments to Americans, boost unemployment and rescue businesses, she said.
TRUMP WANTS NEW INFRASTRUCTURE BILL
The next phase «will be about recovery,» Pelosi said on MSNBC’s «Morning Joe.»
The California Democrat said the fourth bill should include investments in infrastructure such as water systems, surface transportation and broadband access.
In a pair of tweets Tuesday, President Trump said he, too, wants a «very big and bold» infrastructure package in the fourth coronavirus response bill and even signaled modest praise for Pelosi, saying her interview «wasn’t bad.»
But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell remains skeptical of a fourth round of massive government spending.
«I think we’ll have to wait and see. Remember, this [third $2.2 trillion] bill was only signed into law last Friday,» McConnell told Hugh Hewitt Show on Tuesday, warning against Pelosi trying to achieve unrelated policy goals.
«I think first, we need to see what the effect of the current bill is,» McConnell added.
Pelosi rejected criticism that she tried to squeeze Democrat wish lists into the bills, saying «that isn’t so.» She said proposals to help states implement «vote by mail» and boosting Postal Service funding are needed to safely conduct elections amid the pandemic.
«I think that we’ve acted in a bipartisan way every step of the way and we will continue to do so,» she said.
