Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., said in the end the good "outweighed the bad" in the coronavirus stimulus package passed by the Senate.
Scott, along with Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Ben Sasse, R-Neb., and Rick Scott, R-Fla., had voiced last-minute concerns over the bill prior to the Senate vote.
"A massive drafting error in the current version of the coronavirus relief legislation could have devastating consequence: Unless the bill if fixed, there is a strong incentive for employees to be laid off instead of going to work," they had said in a statement Wednesday.
Tim Scott appeared on television's "Fox & Friends" on Thursday to explain his concern.
He said he was troubled the bill could pay workers more in unemployment benefits than they would make in salary: a $600 per week payment on top of ordinary benefits that are calculated as a percentage of income.
"Think about this, if you graduate from the University of South Carolina, or if you're a beat reporter graduating from the University of Kansas, you make $30,000 a year working. Under this legislation, we would pay you $50,000 a year to not work. So, if you're on unemployment for 16 weeks, we would give a 50% raise under that scenario."
But, he added, "Overall, there is more good in the bill than bad, but there are parts and aspects of this bill that we should be questioning," he said.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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