Florida Sen. Rick Scott votes against $900 billion COVID-19 relief package

WASHINGTON (WESH) — Florida Sen. Rick Scott was just one of six United States senators to vote against a massive $900 billion stimulus bill Monday night.

The relief package, unveiled Monday afternoon, sped through the House and Senate in a matter of hours. The Senate cleared the massive package with just six voting against it after the House approved the COVID-19 package by another lopsided vote, 359-53.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, also a Republican, voted in favor of passing the relief package.

Scott provided some insight into why he would be voting against the bill hours before the vote was cast.

“We must help Americans & small businesses in need but we can’t keep operating this way,” Scott said. “Once again, in classic Washington style, vital programs are attached to a massive omnibus spending bill that mortgages our kids & grandkid’s futures. Therefore, I can’t support this bill.”

The tallies were a bipartisan coda to months of partisanship and politicking as lawmakers wrangled over the relief question, a logjam that broke after President-elect Joe Biden urged his party to accept a compromise with top Republicans that is smaller than many Democrats would have liked.

The bill combines coronavirus-fighting funds with financial relief for individuals and businesses. It would establish a temporary $300 per week supplemental jobless benefit and a $600 direct stimulus payment to most Americans, along with a new round of subsidies for hard-hit businesses, restaurants, and theaters and money for schools, health care providers and renters facing eviction.

The 5,593-page legislation — by far the longest bill ever — came together Sunday after months of battling, posturing and postelection negotiating that reined in a number of Democratic demands as the end of the congressional session approached. Biden was eager for a deal to deliver long-awaited help to suffering people and a boost to the economy, even though it was less than half the size that Democrats wanted in the fall.