House Speaker Nancy Pelosi considers universal basic income ‘worthy of attention now’ amid pandemic [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Monday that Congress may need to come up with different approaches like providing a minimum guaranteed income should the current economic relief assistance won’t reach enough people.
• Pelosi asserted the need for additional funding to state, local and tribal governments, as lawmakers are considering to legislate another law to help the struggling economy.
• The House Speaker advised that there should be an oversight to ensure transparency and accountability, as banks came under scrutiny for channeling some funds to their bigger clients.

Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi said on Monday that lawmakers may need to come up with different strategies to provide financial assistance if the COVID-19 relief won’t reach enough Americans. They might also need to look at giving a minimum guaranteed income.

Pelosi was asked if the $310 billion aid for fresh small business due to be released by the government on Monday would help enough people.

“Let’s see what works, what is operational and what needs attention,” she told MSNBC.

“Others have suggested a minimum income, a guaranteed income for people. Is that worthy of attention now? Perhaps so. Because there are many more people than just in small business and hired by small business … that may need some assistance as well,” the house speaker added.

Banks in the US were preparing for another heavy workload as new funds are set to be delivered through the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program. This program would resume the lending process applications for businesses affected by the shutdown due to COVID-19.

According to the banking groups, the fresh funds are expected to be withdrawn in just days as there were already hundreds of thousands of backlogged applications from lenders.

As Congress is looking for the next big legislation to help the country’s struggling economy, Pelosi stressed the need for additional funding to state, local and tribal governments.

“Then we’ll see what the needs are,” Pelosi said. “We may have to think in terms of some different ways to put money in people’s pockets.”

The small business funding program came under investigation after it was found out that banks channeled some of the resources to their bigger clients which include hedge funds and public companies — in which Pelosi referred the importance of transparency and accountability on.

“These dollars are precious dollars,” the House Speaker said. “They make a world of difference, life and death, to the survival of a company for some companies, and others really don’t need it that much.”

Source: AOL.com