Rob Portman of is one of the 10 Republican U.S. Senators who met with President Biden this week to talk about their proposed COVID-19 relief package, which is a third the size of the one proposed by Democrats. Ohio Public Radio's Karen Kasler reports.
Portman says the Senators had a good meeting with Biden over their COVID relief plans, which include some common elements. But Biden’s $1.9 trillion package includes $350 billion in emergency funding for state and local governments, and the Republicans’ $600 million proposal does not.
“I support more state and local, but it should be based on need. Obviously not all of my Republican colleagues agree. So that's not in our initial proposal. But that would be something that would be included to get into a real negotiation.”
Ohio’s Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown is backing the idea of a fund with half the money for cities, towns and villages and the other half for counties. Several Ohio cities have said they spent all the earlier CARES Act funding they received.