Portman talks relief bill, vaccinations

WASHINGTON D.C. — Earlier this week, Sen. Rob Portman (ROhio) held a news conference with reporters expressing his concern for legislation of new stimulus bills.

The Democrats are using a legislative tool called budget reconciliation to speed up the process of passing a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill that would include a $1,400 stimulus check by the middle of March.

“I did work with 10 Republicans to develop a package a couple weeks ago. We were told they were going to move ahead with reconciliation instead,” said Portman. “That’s the situation we’re in. It’s unfortunate because it starts the new administration and this new Congress off on the wrong foot, but also because it’s not good policy.”

To provide some background on reconciliation, the provision has been in use since the 1908s and it’s been used by both parties more than 21 times since then.

In the 1990 and 1993 Omnibus Reconciliation Acts, the major purpose was to cut spending and increase revenues. Each of those laws reduced the deficit by a little over $700 billion over five years.

“The Biden administration chose to jam through a COVID-19 bill without any Republican input or support. It makes no sense. COVID-19 legislation has always been bi-partisan,” said Portman. “We’ve done it five times with huge bi-partisan votes each time. The President’s speech on Inaugural Day matched what he said in his campaign which is he wanted to work across the aisle and change the tone in Washington. But the reality has not matched the rhetoric.”

Portman said his hope was that Republicans would at least be given an opportunity to make some amendments to the bill because a lot of the language doesn’t pertain to coronavirus relief.

“$1.9 trillion — much of which is not related to COVID-19 at all — is just the wrong way to go. We just passed a bill at the end of December — $900 billion — we now believe

that roughly half of that has been spent,” said Portman. “Most of the $1.9 trillion will not be spent in 2021.”

Portman said there’s $100 million earmarked for an underground railway project in the Bay Area and $1.5 million partitioned for a bridge that would connect New York to Canada.

“How is that COVID-related?,” Portman asked. “I hope we’ll be able to make some changes to the bill through some reasonable, thoughtful bipartisan amendments, we’ll see. But overall, I’m discouraged by the fact that Democrats on the hill and the Biden administration are choosing to go this route.”

Switching topics, Portman expressed his thankfulness that the Food and Drug Administration passed the coronavirus vaccine being developed by Johnson & Johnson and how many vaccines are getting to Ohio and the rest of the country.

“I am really happy about that because already more vaccines are going to Ohio and the rest of the country. They expect 100 million by the end of June will go out,” said Portman.

He said he was a part of the Johnson & Johnson vaccination trial and he’s glad to see good results.

“I was one of the participants in testing that vaccine. I did it because they told me they needed more people in the trials and that happened. I’m really glad that all that data is being used to show that it’s safe and effective,” he said. “It’s been a tough time for our country but I think we’re starting to turn the corner and you see that in the Ohio numbers which I get every day. We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to the researchers, scientists, doctors, engineers, the ones who put this together so quickly in record time. My hope is people will step up and get vaccinated.”

Portman’s hope was that by the end of March or April, anyone who chooses to get a vaccine would be able to do so.

“It’s starting to finally be something that is more widely available. My hope is in March or April, we’ll be able to have enough vaccines out there so those who want to get one, can get one,” he said. “Certainly by the end of the June, we’ll have a lot more. It’s good news but we still have to be very careful and use appropriate precautions including wearing masks and social distancing. Let’s get through this thing. It’s exciting to see the progress on the vaccines and the progress in our state in particular.”