Toomey, Keller visit Centre County to discuss COVID-19 response efforts
Hospitals, schools, businesses, government and workers have all felt financial impacts of COVID-19, and as counties across the United States begin to reopen, elected officials are re-evaluating how best to respond to the pandemic.
With options like a second stimulus check and additional business loans under consideration, Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Pat Toomey said Wednesday morning that he doesn’t think borrowing or printing more money is the best way to solve challenges created by the pandemic.
“There is no free lunch,” he said.
In a joint forum hosted by the Happy Valley Adventure Bureau and Chamber of Business and Industry of Centre County, Toomey and U.S. Rep. Fred Keller, (R-Pa.) addressed issues faced by local businesses, county and municipal governments while sharing what’s next as elected officials decide how to rebuild the United States economy and health care system.
“I have great reservations about simply loading up the money canon and sending out hundreds of billions or even trillions, as some of my colleagues might say, of additional money — especially considering not all of the money is already authorized and has yet made it to the intended recipient,” Toomey said.
With layoffs and furloughs, limitations on businesses and a steep decline in tourism revenue, Centre County has not gone untouched by the coronavirus. But as senators and congressmen return to Washington next week, Toomey said he is eager to work toward strengthening local communities.
“It’s been an extraordinary few months,” Toomey said. “And we’ve tried to respond in ways that, I think, make sense.”
When the coronavirus was first reported in and began to spread throughout the United States, Toomey said his colleagues tried to address the pandemic in three ways — replace lost income, fight the virus through research and vaccine development and stabilize businesses to protect jobs in the future.
“We wanted there to be jobs to go back to,” he said. “We wanted business to survive.”
All funds allocated to Pennsylvania schools, universities and businesses come with a price tag, Keller said. Going forward, he hopes the federal government will collaborate with state and local entities to address financial issues.
Keller said he also hopes to address problems with the American health care system, like access and affordability in rural areas.
But before life can go back to normal and in order for the federal government to fully evaluate and address the problems created by COVID-19, Toomey thinks a vaccine has to happen first.
“One of the few things I’m confident of, all of these problems are easier to solve if we had a vaccine,” Toomey said. “The reluctance of people to travel, to go to restaurants ... is going to diminish dramatically if people are confident that there’s an effective vaccine.”
This story was originally published July 15, 2020 at 5:04 PM.
