WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he’ll begin to
roll out details of the new COVID-19 relief package to senators as soon as next week.
McConnell suggests the measure will include new funding for school reopenings, some
unemployment benefits and money for health care providers. The cost of the emerging
Republican package could reach $1 trillion. In recent days, Treasury Secretary Steven
Mnuchin has been reaching out to GOP senators ahead of negotiations with Democrats,
who have already approved a $3 trillion package in the House. McConnell has spent the
last several days crisscrossing his home state of Kentucky and spoke briefly in Henderson
and outside of the Owensboro Health Muhlenberg Community Hospital to his gratitude
for Kentucky’s front-line healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic which he says
is not going away anytime soon. He also stressed how important it is for everyone to wear
a mask to help stem the spread of the deadly virus. McConnell is seeking re-election to a seventh
consecutive six-year term in office this November.