San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Trump’s aid proposal falls short, Pelosi says
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Saturday dismissed the latest White House offer in COVID19 aid talks as “one step forward, two steps back,” but said she is still hopeful that progress can be made toward a deal. The White House had boosted its most recent offer to about $ 1.8 trillion with a key state and local fiscal relief component moving from $ 250 billion to at least $ 300 billion. President Trump is eager for an agreement before Election Day, even as his most powerful GOP ally in the Senate — Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — said Congress is unlikely to deliver relief by then.
“Covid Relief Negotiations are moving along. Go Big!” Trump said Friday on Twitter.
Pelosi’s most recent public offer was about $ 2.2 trillion, though that included a business tax increase that Republicans won’t go for.
NEW JERSEY
Exgovernor leaves hospital
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says he’s been discharged from a New Jersey hospital where he spent a week after contracting the coronavirus. Christie says in a Saturday post on Twitter that he’d been released from the Morristown Medical Center.
Christie was among several coronavirus cases connected to President
Trump’s inner circle. Along with Trump and first lady Melania Trump, several people who traveled with the president or attended his events recently contracted the virus.
NEW MEXICO
Record daily infections
New Mexico is losing ground in efforts to contain the spread of COVID19 as newly reported daily infections hit a record of 488 cases. Three additional deaths also were disclosed this week by state health officials as fatalities surpassed 900.
Bernalillo County, with the state’s most populous urban area, accounted for 135 new cases. The state’s infection and positivity rates for the spread of the virus are climbing as the administration of Gov. Michelle Lujan
Grisham holds the line on emergency public health restrictions.
ARIZONA
Payments for Navajos
Enrolled members of the Navajo Nation will be eligible for payments of up to $ 1,500 as part of the tribe’s response to the coronavirus. President Jonathan Nez and Vice President Myron Lizer approved the $ 49 million plan adopted by the tribal council. The funding comes from the tribe’s share of federal coronavirus relief funding. Adults will be eligible for payments of $ 1,500 while minors are eligible for $ 500. Nez said there isn’t enough funding to cover payments for all enrolled members of the tribe, so the money should be directed to elders and those most in need.