Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said Friday she wants a provision for marijuana businesses to “access banking services” to be included in the phase 4 coronavirus stimulus package, saying it helps for therapy.
In a press conference Friday, Pelosi answered questions about the next coronavirus package, which has continued to be stalled by disagreement on both sides of the aisle. During the press conference, Pelosi was asked specifically about Republicans’ complaints on things like marijuana being included in a coronavirus stimulus. She responded by fully defending marijuana related legislation, saying it needs to be in the next package.
“I don’t agree with you that cannabis is not related to this. This is a therapy that has proven successful. And it is by no means of the caliber of money or misrepresentation that remodeling the federal building is, for over a billion dollars, so that another hotel doesn’t come in there and compete with the President’s hotel,” Pelosi said.
WATCH:
“That’s what that’s all about. That has nothing to do with cannabis — with the coronavirus. So we’re going to have to come to some compromise on the legislation, I just don’t accept there’s any equivalence in what you’ve put forth there,” Pelosi continued. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Congress, White House Unlikely To Deliver Phase 4 Stimulus Before Recess, Sources Say)
The comments come as a number of Republicans have come out against another massive stimulus bill. Republican Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy criticized his party’s $1 trillion coronavirus stimulus package Wednesday, saying too much money is being spent. (RELATED: ‘Spending Porn’ — Sen. John Kennedy Comes Out Against Republican Coronavirus Stimulus Package)
“There’s a lot of non-coronavirus spending in this deal. And I call it ‘spending porn’ because the bill was supposed to be about coronavirus,” Kennedy told reporters on Capitol Hill.
More than a dozen Senate Republicans reportedly voiced serious displeasure at signing off on another $1 trillion package at a conference lunch last Tuesday.
Hopes are low that Congress will put a Phase 4 stimulus package on President Donald Trump’s desk before the upcoming August recess, people familiar with the negotiations told the Daily Caller.