McConnell: ‘Set Aside’ Liability Protection, State and Local Funding in COVID Relief Negotiations

During a press conference on Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) called for liability protections and funding for state and local governments to be “set aside” in the next round of coronavirus relief and tackled when another request for relief comes in 2021 in order to pass a package that everyone can agree on.

McConnell said, [relevant remarks begin around 11:25] “It remains my view that we ought to pass what we can agree on, and I think that’s a pretty broad area that includes PPP, vaccine delivery, additional assistance to healthcare providers, and a variety of other things that are not controversial. The two big items that you’ve been writing about are liability protection and state and local government.”

After defending the substance of liability protection, and saying that many Senate Republicans have issues with some of the money for state and local governments, McConnell added, “So, what’s the way forward? We know the new administration’s going to be asking for another package. What I recommend is we set aside liability and set aside state and local and pass those things that we can agree on, knowing full well we’ll be back at this after the first of the year.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett