Ayanna Pressley to ‘keep pushing’ Biden administration for progressive policies to combat coronavirus pandemic

U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley said the federal government has “failed” to meet the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic and vowed to “keep pushing” the Biden administration toward the progressive policies she says are the only way out.

“We needed to give relief to the American people,” Pressley said Saturday in Boston, talking about the stimulus package that just passed the U.S. House. “This will mitigate some of the hurt, but I believe the federal response has failed to meet the scope and scale of this crisis.”

Pressley said everyday citizens are experiencing a “tsunami of hurt” due to coronavirus and that if the Biden administration wants to “Build Back Better” from the pandemic — President Biden’s oft-used slogan — “they’re going to have to be bold.”

“The Biden-Harris administration keeps saying they want to go big,” Pressley said Saturday in Boston, adding that if they’re “saying ‘go big,’ listen, because they never say that.”

Just hours after the $1.9 trillion “American Rescue Plan” bill passed the House, Pressley said there “will have to be” other relief packages and said she would “keep pushing” for recurring stimulus checks higher than the $1,400 one-off checks in included in the current package.

“I’ll continue to fight for $2,000 recurring survival checks for the duration of this crisis,” Pressley said. “We’ve got to get direct relief to people.”

The new bill that passed the House on nearly party lines in a 1 a.m. Saturday vote contains the one-time checks, a $15 national minimum wage, boosted unemployment and big bucks to states, cities and towns.

Democrats say a sweeping bill like that is the only way to move out from under the financial strains imposed by the coronavirus pandemic, while Republicans worry about the huge price tag and balk at some of the less-pandemic-focused liberal policies in it.

The bill is already running into roadblocks as it moves to the U.S. Senate for approval. Because of Republican opposition, Democrats are trying to pass it through a complex budget procedure called reconciliation that would require only a majority vote. But the procedure has limits on what it can include, and the Senate parliamentarian already has said the minimum wage hike — which was spooking some centrist Senate Dems already — won’t qualify.

The Boston congresswoman said she’s going to “keep pushing.” Pressley, a member of the “Squad” of progressive House members on student loan debt.

“I’m just simply holding them to a higher amount to have a true impact — $10,000 canceled student debt is barely interest for most people,” said Pressley, who represents the Massachusetts 7th Congressional district. “It’s critical that for a just recovery from the pandemic, we need to eliminate a bill for people. I have people in the Massachusetts 7th that are paying student loan bills that are the equivalent of a mortgage.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3q2va9S