YORK, Pa. — Almost six months after businesses deemed non-essential in Pennsylvania were forced to close due to the Coronavirus outbreak, Sen. Pat Toomey, -R- Pennsylvania, visited the White Rose City in York County Wednesday to discuss federal relief from the pandemic.
The Junior senator hosted a forum at the York County History Center's Agricultural and Industrial Museum to discuss reopening the economy safely. He touted the Commonwealth's recovery efforts, saying jobs are rebounding.
"It looks like nationally about half of all the jobs that were lost have been recovered and the unemployment rate has come down faster than most people had projected," Senator Toomey said while addressing the forum.
He also referred to negotiations in Washington to extend more benefits to Pennsylvanians who are struggling due to job losses.
"I've been on phone calls with Republican senators starting at 10:00 A.M." he noted, "I think a few of the big issues were wrestling with are 'what is the nature of extension of forgivable loans for small businesses?' the PPP program as it's know has undoubtedly saved tens of millions of jobs. That program has expired at this point and so we're very intensively discussing whether, and more likely how, we extend that."
Another issue that has been plaguing some people is whether additional relief and financial aid can be acquired on top of traditional unemployment compensation benefits. Senator Toomey says stimulus checks, like the ones issued in April, could be issued in October if a deal works out next month. "Its very intensively underway, I cant give you a prediction as exactly when or how it'll be resolved but I think most likely a deal will get done by the end of September."
Aside from economic relief, Senator Toomey also answered a question about whether or not he would approve a house bill to fund the United States Postal Service. In recent weeks, congressional and state leaders alike have condemned the Postmaster General's decision to start removing mail boxes around the country ahead of the General Election in November.
USPS is ultimately requesting $25 billion to help prepare for a massive influx of mail-in ballots, which are being sought after because of the Novel Coronavirus Pandemic.
The bill, which was approved by the House on Saturday evening, is pending a vote in the senate. Sen. Toomey says the numbers don't seem to add up, so he doesn't feel an obligation to vote for it. "It's not clear to me that we need to spend a whole lot of money, which the Postmaster General said he couldn't spend if it was sent to him," the Senator said.
Postmaster General Louis Dejoy was appointed head of the mail service by President Trump back in May. Democrats insist he has been tampering with the Post Office system in order to stop Democratic votes from being counted against the President.
The Senator also addressed the school reopening process for this school year.
In some states, including Pennsylvania, school districts are debating their own reopening plans and in some instances there are threats to withhold federal funding if they don't open for classes. Senator Toomey commented on the debates on Capitol Hill, where the issue has taken center stage. "The question is exactly how does this money get allocated to whom, is it a requirement that the school actually be reopening in order to get some of this money, which kinds of schools get this," he iterated.
"My own preference would be: let the money be directed by parents to the school they want to send their child to" The Senator said. "At the end of the day, there's also going to be additional funds for schools."