Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan: Stimulus payment is not enough to cover all Americans

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — Ohio Democratic Representative Tim Ryan says to save the economy, almost every American making less than $130,000 a year needs a monthly $2,000 payment from the government.

“And it stays in place every single month until the unemployment rate gets back to where it was pre-COVID-19,” Ryan said.

His proposed legislation also covers college students and senior citizens, along with $500 for all dependents under 16 years old.

“If you want a quick recovery, to me this is the best way to do it,” Ryan said.

$1,200 emergency stimulus payments from the Cares Act started arriving this week, but Ryan says that’s not enough to guarantee long-term stability.

“It’s got to be more bold, more robust, and more directly into the pockets of the American people,” he said.

But some conservative groups already say Ryan’s idea does more harm than good.

“I think we need to take a look at the cost of this,” said Joel Griffith, an economist at the Heritage Foundation. “This would be $500 billion plus per month in additional spending.”

Griffith says targeted payments to the unemployed is a better solution.

“Going ahead and dropping helicopter style, that just saddles all of us with debt, erodes the value of our dollar.”

But Ryan says he’s hopeful Republicans will get on board.

“We’ve made adjustments to really work on getting it down to the grassroots level,” he said. “I hope that appeals to a lot of the conservative Republicans.”

Ryan wants a vote in the House of Representatives once Congress returns to Washington.