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Sen. Hawley reaffirms support for stimulus checks, will ‘gladly work’ with Rep. Ocasio-Cortez

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In a rare showing of bipartisanship, conservative Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), a supporter of sending more stimulus checks, reaffirmed his support on Friday and also said that he would “gladly work” with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), a self-described democratic socialist, and anyone else to make families and workers the priority when it comes to COVID-19 relief.

“I will gladly work w/ @AOC and anyone else who wants to help working families,” the junior senator from Missouri wrote in a tweet. “Families and working people in need should be the FIRST consideration in COVID relief, not last”.

On the same day as Hawley’s tweet, Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), another member of “The Squad,” a group of progressive Democrats, called for $1,200 stimulus checks to be included in the next COVID-19 relief package. Stimulus checks have only been sent out once during the pandemic so far, which was back in the spring and part of the CARES Act.

Negotiations between congressional leaders, as well as with the Trump administration, over delivering a new COVID-19 economic stimulus package have been stalled for months. As the months have piled up, calls for both sides of the aisle to reach a compromise and send more stimulus checks to the millions of Americans affected financially by the pandemic have intensified.

For the most part, experts expect that such legislation will likely not be passed until January, when the newly elected Congress and President-elect Joe Biden are sworn in. However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday and Friday both expressed optimism about getting a mid-sized relief bill passed.

You can follow Douglas Braff on Twitter @Douglas_P_Braff.

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Economy

Massachusetts Democrat Mayor wants to end ‘right-to-shelter’ law amidst migrant crisis

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More Democrat leaders from non-border states are wising up to the immigration crisis our nation faces. Woburn mayor Scott Galvin, of the progressive state of Massachusetts, is hoping that lawmakers will overturn a 40-year-old law because the reality of being “bleeding heart liberals” is resulting in the demise of his town.

The 40-year-old “right-to-shelter” law has got to go, says mayor Galvin, because of the immense strain the thousands of migrant families are putting on the area’s residents. By Friday, there were about 150 families living in the city’s hotels, an “unsustainable” arrangement for his 40,000 constituents.

Galvin told the New York Times the right-to-shelter law, which only exists in Massachusetts, was “passed at a different time, and was not meant to cover what we’re seeing now.”

National Review reports:

Under the 1983 right-to-shelter law, Massachusetts officials are legally required to offer housing to any homeless families seeking shelter in the state. The law now covers a rising influx of migrant families, although individuals are not covered under its provisions.

“We’re going above and beyond, while some communities around us are not being impacted, and we don’t have endless capacity in our schools,” said Galvin. “The benefits that are bestowed on migrants make the state a very attractive destination, and without some changes, this challenge is not going to abate.”

Massachusetts Democrat Governor Maura Healey already declared a state of emergency on August 8th, requesting help from the federal government. On August 31, Healey activated up to 250 Massachusetts National Guard members to assist the more than 6,000 migrant families already in the state’s shelter system.

Approximately 6,300 families are living in emergency shelters and hotels across the state, up roughly 50 percent from the year prior. The cost for such accommodations for all the migrants is approximately $45 million per month, National Review reports.

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