Senator Risch talks about stimulus package helping Idaho

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIDK/KIFI) - The White House is seeking a stimulus package worth anywhere from $850 billion to more than $1 trillion as the Trump Administration looks to battle the economic impact from the coronavirus pandemic.

KIDK Eyewitness News 3 anchor Todd Kunz talked with U.S. Senator Jim
Risch of Idaho Tuesday about this stimulus and what he is doing in conjunction with Idaho Governor Brad Little.

"The House passed a bill called the Family First Coronavirus Response Act last Friday. It has a number of problems with it. They corrected it, but we have that now. We are probably going to pass that here in the next day or two. It has a number assistance programs in there for supplemental nutrition, for food assistance programs, even some small business stuff in it. The main small business stuff is going to come in phase three, which is being drafted right now is the Senate. And it is going to have three parts to it. One is going to be helping small businesses retain employees. There's going to be $250 (to) $300 billion dollars. And then there is going to be another provision in there. They're still working on it for direct payments to people who are affected financially from this. And then thirdly, of course, is the airlines or national security issues. That is what's going on. I talked with the governor at length about it. We're coordinating between the two of us what's needed and that's the state of play right now. Nobody knows how this is going to play out. Look, this is serious and people, although Idaho doesn't have the number of cases like Washington or California or other states do, they need to take the recommendations seriously," said Risch.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told GOP senators that unemployment could reach 20% if Congress doesn't enact the stimulus package.