Mucarsel-Powell says COVID-19 funding bill is wasteful spending free

During her weekly Zoom press conference with members of the media, elected officials and professionals in the healthcare industry, Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (R) said that she believed that “any” public spaces like beaches and parks should not be hastily reopened before significant reductions in  COVID-19 cases and deaths occurred.

During the Q & A portion of the teleconference, Rep. Mucarsel-Powell was asked if she would like to see the current supplemental funding bill being discussed in Washington be a “clean bill,” and not a bill like the CARES Act that saw non-Coronavirus related programs funded.

The CARES Act was held up when House Democrats saddled the bill with a “wish list” of programs. Not all of these non-essential programs made it through, but several did.

“Everything that’s included in that bill currently is specifically related to the effects of COVID-19, it includes $319 billion to provide PPP and emergency disaster loans, we have also included that $25 billion for testing,” stated Mucarsel-Powell

Mucarsel-Powell also said that she was focused on increasing SNAP benefits but doesn’t feel confident that the House bill will make it on to the Senate legislation.

The freshman Congresswoman also pointed out that “local municipalities” needed to receive aid because they were “footing all the costs upfront” essentially “paying for all these bills upfront.”

While Mucarsel-Powell has been critical of President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis over how they have handled the pandemic, she has also fairly given credit where credit was due, including supporting the recent stay-at-home orders put in place.

What we’ve seen that has been working is the Social distancing and stay-at-home orders,” said Mucarsel-Powell That’s the one tool that we’ve had that has helped us contain the spread of the virus.