Battle brewing over how to get more relief money to Americans
By Naomi Jagoda - 05/05/20 08:32 PM EDT
A fight is emerging in Washington over how best to get more money into people’s pockets to weather the coronavirus pandemic.
President Trump is making a payroll tax cut a priority for a future recovery package, but Democrats, as well as some Republicans, are not keen on that idea. Democrats argue that a better option is to provide Americans with direct payments like the ones mandated by the $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief package Trump signed on March 27.
Trump described a payroll tax cut as a must-have for the next coronavirus relief bill during a Fox News virtual town hall on Sunday.
“We’re not doing anything unless we get a payroll tax cut,†he said. “That is so important to the success of our country.â€
Reducing payroll taxes is an idea championed by conservatives with connections to the president. They argue that it could be a way to encourage people to work after Congress passed an expansion of unemployment insurance that has resulted in some people receiving more money in unemployment benefits than they would be receiving in wages had they not lost their jobs.
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https://thehill.com/policy/finance/496286-battle-brewing-over-how-to-get-more-relief-money-to-americans