Ocasio-Cortez Will Oppose 'Insulting' Coronavirus Response Package

[TexasTowelie]

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) told reporters on Monday that she would vote against an interim deal on coronavirus response funding, saying that it leaves too many important priorities on the table while allowing Republican priorities to move along unimpeded.

The $450 billion deal, an interim extension of some programs from the CARES Act, will reportedly include $350 billion more for disaster loans and forgivable Paycheck Protction Program (PPP) loans for small businesses, along with $75 billion more for hospitals to defray costs and $25 billion to surge testing. Republicans wanted the additional small business loans to move forward by itself, but Democratic leaders demanded more testing and money for hospitals as “concessions.”

Democrats also asked for money for state and local governments whose budgets are crashing amid significant lost revenue; Republicans blocked that for the bill. On the press call, which included not just Ocasio-Cortez but Progressive Caucus co-chairs Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Mark Pocan (D-WI), and Squad members Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), the left-wing members rattled off a series of priorities, including direct payroll support for workers, rent cancellations and broader eviction moratoria, hazard pay and emergency temporary workplace standards for essential workers, postal service funding, vote-by-mail guarantees, and expansions of health coverage for everyone during the pandemic.

None of those appear to be in the bill, which Ocasio-Cortez derided as incrementalism. “We have not seen the final text of this bill, but what I can say is that if it matches up with what has been reported, I will not support this bill personally,” Ocasio-Cortez said in response to a question from the Prospect.

Read more: https://prospect.org/coronavirus/ocasio-cortez-will-oppose-insulting-coronavirus-bill/
(American Prospect)

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