Stimulus progress: ‘we’re way overdue to provide real relief to the people of this country’: Sen. Shaheen – Yahoo Finance

Yahoo Finances Julie Hyman, Myles Udland, Brian Sozzi, and Jessica Smith speak with Senator Jeanne Shaheen about the COVID-19 pandemic and stimulus progress.

MYLES UDLAND: As our viewers know, we have been following the progress-- or lack thereof-- on conversations down in Washington, DC to get an additional stimulus bill passed by the end of this year. And joining us now to talk more about this issue is Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen from New Hampshire. We're also joined by Yahoo Finance's Jessica Smith.

And Senator Shaheen, I'd love to begin the conversation by just outlining, in your view, from your vantage point, where we are today with just two weeks left in the year?

JEANNE SHAHEEN: Well, I think we're way overdue to provide real relief to the people of this country, those who are about to lose their unemployment the day after Christmas. We know 12 million people are in that category. Those small businesses that are worried about-- particularly restaurants and hospitality businesses that are worried about how they're going to get through the winter-- we had a small business hearing last week, and 25% of our small businesses have closed since the pandemic began. They need additional relief.

We have hospitals that are in financial distress. We have-- we need more help to distribute this vaccine. We need to help states and local communities that are on the front lines. And so, this help is way overdue. And I'm very proud to have been part of a bipartisan group to have put together a bill that we gave at the beginning of this week to leadership-- both majority Leader McConnell and Democratic Leader Schumer. I understand they're working from the broad outlines that we provided, but it is time now to put aside our differences and to get this help that people need.

JESSICA SMITH: Thanks, Senator. Jessica Smith here. We have heard a lot this morning about Senator Toomey's demands that the Bill bar the Fed from restarting its emergency lending programs. What do you think about that demand, and does this potentially derail the talks at this point?

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JEANNE SHAHEEN: Well, it shouldn't. Senator Toomey should be willing to accept a provision that said this can work through the-- as long as COVID is-- the pandemic lasts. I mean, that was part of the reason that the emergency authorities were put in, to address emergencies. This is an emergency. Let's allow this to continue. It's not acceptable that Senator Toomey's problem is that he doesn't like Janet Yellen. Well, you know, that's-- there's a time and a place to talk about that. He'll have a vote on the Senate floor about whether he wants to approve her, but we need to make sure that the authorities are there to deal with this emergency.

That's one of the problems with the current administration. They have not dealt with this pandemic, and provided the urgency that they should have provided.

JULIE HYMAN: Senator, it's Julie here. Gosh, we have had this conversation about so many different things over the past several years, haven't we? Where it gets down to the wire.

JEANNE SHAHEEN: Right.

JULIE HYMAN: And then Congress eventually manages to pull this out. Can we expect anything different in the next four years? I mean, is this just how things are going to be in Congress forever, that you have a very tight, between the two parties, and this always happens?

JEANNE SHAHEEN: Well, I think there's something very different that's happening now, and that is that we had a bipartisan group, an equal number of Republicans and Democrats. We started with eight of us and we added to our ranks, that said, it is time to see action out of Congress, to provide help for those people who need it as the result of this pandemic. We started working right after the election. We worked until Monday, and we turned over to leadership on the Democratic and Republican side, actual written language. We consulted with the committees within the Senate about when there were questions. We compromised on so many issues to provide real help for people.

And we said to each other that this is the way it should work. We should be able to work together to address the urgent needs of the American people. And we are not going to stop with this. I question whether we would be in this position, when whether the leadership would have resumed negotiations without the work of this bipartisan group. So I think we will continue to talk and to try and work together to get things done, to try and move leadership and so many people within this process who are just way too partisan and aren't willing to compromise to get things done.

JESSICA SMITH: Senator, your bipartisan group that you worked on was not able to come to an agreement on the two most contentious issues, the state and local aid, and liability protections. So is there any chance at this point that that is going to be resolved next year when lawmakers have not been able to figure this out for six-plus months at this point?

JEANNE SHAHEEN: I think we will continue to work on that. And the fact is, there's a lot of help in this COVID relief package that we put together-- the bipartisan group-- and that I think much of what we put in there is continuing under the leadership negotiations that can provide help to state and local governments, help for housing, rental assistance, help for food, so much support for nutrition programs, help for distributing the vaccines that are real costs to states right now, and help for schools. There's this big support for K through 12 education and higher education.

So there are a number of things in this bill, even though we weren't able to get support for state and local governments, that should provide help for communities, and certainly, for those people who need help.

JESSICA SMITH: Leadership right now is talking about a stimulus check in the range of $600. Do you think that's going to be enough to satisfy lawmakers like Senator Sanders and Senator Hawley who have pushed for $1,200 checks?

JEANNE SHAHEEN: Well I'm not sure we can always satisfy the people who are at either extremes ideologically, but hopefully, we can satisfy those people who understand that most legislation is a compromise and we've got to get there, and we don't have any more time to mess around now. It's time to get this deal done. The American people have been waiting for months, and it's getting too-- it's getting late. They need help. Our small businesses need help. Our hospitals need help, and they need it now.

JULIE HYMAN: Senator, I think a lot of Americans would definitely agree with that sentiment. I want to look a little bit forward to the seating of the next Congress, the next administration. And I know you're enmeshed in these negotiations right now, but what do you think Congress's first priority is going to be, and should be, as you get underway in 2021?

JEANNE SHAHEEN: Well, I think it is what President-elect Biden has identified. We've got to address this pandemic. We are not going to be able to get our economy back, get our lives back to normal, until we've gotten control of the coronavirus. We have very good news this week with the Pfizer vaccine beginning to be distributed and it looks like the FDA, today, is going to approve the Moderna vaccine. So I'm getting those vaccines out, getting people vaccinated, making sure that they get distributed everywhere they're needed, is really critical. I think that is job number one.

I think job number two is going to be to continue to provide help for those people who are suffering. To get our economy back, we need a stimulus package. What we're talking about now is not stimulus. What it-- it's emergency relief. But we need we need to look at how we can inject help into the economy. I think we need a major infrastructure package that would include, as part of it, making a commitment to get broadband to every household in America. Because what we've seen from this pandemic is the disparities that exist because we have some people who have access to high-speed internet, and some people who don't. And in 21st-century America, that defines opportunities.

And Senator, just finally, you touched on it a bit there, but I just wanted to ask about the-- any hope you have that the incoming administration might be more constructive on national messaging around the pandemic, and if you are more hopeful now about what the next year might look like then you may have been a few months back?

JEANNE SHAHEEN: Oh, I am much more hopeful. And I think as President-elect Biden has said, and has modeled, mask-wearing, social distancing, trying to avoid super-spreader events, handwashing, following CDC guidelines, and focusing on the science. And it's very disappointing that we are where we are with over 300,000 Americans who have tragically died, that we have over 17 million Americans who have gotten the coronavirus. And it didn't have to be this way. It's disappointing that this pandemic has been politicized. I expect that to end when Joe Biden takes office.

MYLES UDLAND: All right, Senator Jeanne Shaheen from New Hampshire. Senator, thank you so much for taking some time--

JEANNE SHAHEEN: Nice to talk with you.

MYLES UDLAND: --to talk with us. Have a great new year.

JEANNE SHAHEEN: You too.

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Stimulus progress: 'we're way overdue to provide real relief to the people of this country': Sen. Shaheen - Yahoo Finance