'There Cannot Be A Gap In The National Response': Gov. Jared Polis Meets With President-Elect Joe Biden About COVID Relief
DENVER (CBS4)- President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Harris met with Gov. Jared Polis to discuss how he can help Colorado tackle COVID-19 and the economic fallout from the pandemic. Polis is a member of the executive council of the National Governors' Association.
The council includes four Democrats and four Republicans. Polis says they all had the same message for President-elect Biden. They told him two months is too long to wait for help.
The governor says his immediate concern is stopping the spread of the virus and preventing foreclosures and bankruptcies.
He says, by the end of the year, money will run out for testing and contact tracing as well as unemployment benefits. Small businesses, he says, also need another PPP-type loan program.
He says, while Biden won't be sworn in until January 2021, he can help now.
"We also sent the message, and I think nearly every governor who spoke said this, is that it's also important that before Jan. 20 we get some of this done, like funding for the vaccination program, testing funding which expires at the end of December. That's a month gap between Dec. 20 and Jan. 20. There cannot be a gap in the national response. That's not on President-elect Biden but I asked him if he can help with Mitch McConnell and Speaker Pelosi, bringing them together around getting something done really in the next couple weeks."
Polis said he also talked to the President-elect about the need to implement a national strategy, as soon as he takes office, to get all kids back to school safely.
