$3 trillion ‘Heroes Act’ proposal continues to divide Democrats and Republicans
WASHINGTON D.C. (WCMH) — Another multi-trillion dollar coronavirus relief bill is on the horizon. Democrats call it the “Heroes Act” but republicans say it’s dead on arrival.
Illinois democratic representative Mike Quigley is optimistic about the Heroes Act.
“It will get bipartisan support,” Quigley said. ‘It’s a really good first step.”
Even though his republican colleagues, like Indiana representative Greg Pence, say it’s not going anywhere.
“It’s not a legitimate bill,” Pence said. “In fact, lets call it a fake bill.”
House Democrats authored the $3 trillion bill. Ohio democratic representative Tim Ryan says it helps those hardest hit.
“It has another cash payment, it takes care of state and local governments, it takes care of the frontline workers and the healthcare workers with hazard pay,” Ryan said.
But Indiana republican representative Jim Banks says too much of that money goes to bail out what he calls “blue states.”
“Hoosiers taxpayers shouldn’t be on the hook to bail out years of mismanagement and wasteful spending by states like Illinois, our next door neighbor,” Banks said.
Other Republicans, like Ohio representative Bill Johnson, say the dust hasn’t even settled from the $2 trillion CARES Act, which passed in March.
“We need to find out how effective that’s going to be before we do anything else,” Johnson said.
But with more than 30 million Americans now unemployed, Quigley says the need for this bill is growing.
“We need to provide housing and food and health security as soon as we can,” he said.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the Heroes Act is “a starting point” for negotiation. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says the Senate won’t take any action until after Memorial Day at the earliest.