It’s safe to say that the mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio, is not a fan of the stimulus plan proposed on Monday by Senate Republicans. He was very vocal in his Tuesday press conference, suggesting that if the proposal passes as is, the city could lay off up to 22,000 municipal workers due to a lack of increased state aid.
The mayor of six years voiced his frustrations towards Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, saying that there is “not much of a stimulus there.” He said there is “zero support” when it comes to helping finance states that are already struggling to keep basic needs going, “it literally misses the opportunity to help us fight back.” New York, particularly within The Big Apple, was the hardest hit place in the country amid the coronavirus pandemic until the recent events in Florida and has been up against it financially in keeping things afloat with their frontline workers. Calling it an empty bill, de Blasio compared it to a fire truck pulling up a burning house and refusing to hook the hose up to the hydrant actually to fight the fire.
Videos by PopCulture.com
In the Republicans’ $1 trillion stimulus package, which has been dubbed the Health Economic Assistance, Liability Protection & Schools Act, citizens would receive $1,200 checks just as they did back in May when the first bill was passed. There would also be an extension on unemployment, though a drop from the extra $600 in the first plan would see it at $200 moving forward. Student loan deferment would also be included as would funding to support schools that open in the fall. There remains no timetable for when a second stimulus bill would be approved as many kinks need to be worked out, but there’s a strong belief something will get done in early April.
Across the country, the coronavirus continues to run rampant as many states have seen record highs over the past few weeks for positive daily results. Florida reported a new daily record high COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday with 186, upping the total amount to 6,116 since the pandemic began. The Sunshine State also rolled in another 9,243 positive tests. The country has seen less than 60,000 total cases per day two times in a row, which remains a significant increase from the prior month that saw approximately 20,000 cases per day.
