Mississippi’s US Senators both say they are proud of their roles in congress passing the CARES Act, a national relief fund in response to the Coronavirus pandemic. Federal dollars have started trickling through state agencies to assist those who need it. While he’s confident in what the legislation is doing, Senator Roger Wicker says the act is not perfect, and some issues need to be addressed.
“Including the need for more money on the paycheck protection program, which we passed last week. We also need to continue providing effective oversight of these new programs to make sure the money is spent efficiently.”
Last week, congress set aside 15 billion dollars just to expand testing, which Senator Wicker says this is crucial in helping slow the spread.
“We need to be able to test Americans on a large scale so that we can isolate those who are infected and the rest of us can return to work safely.”
One thing that Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith says she’s concerned about -- rural hospitals across Mississippi. She says the US Department of Health and Human Services has set aside 10 billion dollars to help rural healthcare providers.
“And that money should go out either at the end of this week or the first of next week. The second thing is that some of our county-owned hospitals were not covered under the paycheck protection program. So the treasury amended its regulations to make sure that our small county-owned hospitals are eligible now for that.”
While Senator Hyde-Smith says it’s her job to bring relief money to the state, she says she’s confident that Mississippians will be able to restart their economy.
