“We still need more federal resources directly to the states that are on the front lines of this crisis,” Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, a Republican who chairs the National Governors Association, said at a press conference Wednesday. “We’re gonna come back and ask for additional funding for the states and local governments to help with this crisis in the next round of stimulus.”
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, whose state is the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak, slammed the deal as insufficient. New Jersey’s Governor Phil Murphy applauded the package as a positive development while acknowledging that his state with the second-highest number of cases will likely need additional aid, and Governor Gavin Newsom of California, which has the third-highest U.S. case count, said he strongly believes the federal government will need to do more. All three are Democrats.
The bill expands unemployment benefits to include those impacted by the virus who are self-employed or independent contractors who wouldn’t normally qualify for regular unemployment insurance, said Michele Evermore, a senior researcher and policy analyst for the National Employment Law Project. The bill also adds an extra $600 a week on top of state benefits.
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