US Senator Bill Cassidy talks to 101.7 / 710 KEEL's Robert J Wright and Erin McCarty about the best and safest ways to transition from the Coronavirus shutdown to reopening the economy and what he thinks another COVID 19 stimulus bill might look like.

Cassidy tells KEEL listeners that he favors more testing during the Phase I and Phase II reopening. "There has to be testing for the virus," says the Senator, "And if you have testing you have to have a strategy."

The doctor also says that a smart strategy must be applied as the start of a new school year approaches. "Now, I'm a big believer that we have to reopen schools," he says, "You're only five once in your life and when your five your brain's a sponge. You don't want that child to miss school because it's critical for their future and it's critical for our future of our society. But they could infect their parents and we have be aware of that."The Senator then tackles the question of how money federal from the CARES Act is distributed by the states. "First, I want to be sure that the money is used in accordance with federal law. When we passed the CARES Act, it was intended for COVID relief." Cassidy adds that local governments have some leeway in how the money is used, "For example, paying police and other first responders."

And when it comes to the possibility of another COVID stimulus bill, Cassidy says, "We're trying to come up with some sort of compromise. Everybody acknowledges there has to be something more.I'm supporting a bill that would help local and state governments make up for lost tax revenue, revenue they lost because the federal government asked them to shut down."

 

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