Murkowski responds to failed congressional relief deal

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) says she’s disappointed that Congress could not reach an agreement to provide COVID-19 relief to Americans. President Trump took executive action this weekend to extend federal unemployment benefits, defer payroll taxes, extend moratoriums on evictions, and defer student loan payments after negotiations with Congress on a new coronavirus rescue package collapsed.

In a statement, Murkowski said in part, “These steps will help provide temporary relief to struggling Americans in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic—from renters and homeowners to small business owners, workers and students, and those that have lost their jobs. Both the pandemic and its economic impact continue, so our efforts to alleviate those impacts must as well. But Congress still needs to come together to be responsive and provide long-term relief to meet the needs of the most vulnerable—the vulnerability that has come about because of a global health pandemic and the ensuing economic crisis we see now. People are hurting and they need us to respond.”

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