Congress could pass a rescue plan next week with one or two cash payments for millions of Americans. The package is meant to give the tumbling economy a boost from the coronavirus’s fallout. U.S. Senator Roy Blunt, R-Missouri, hopes lawmakers can get it to the president’s desk next week.

Senator Roy Blunt addresses the Missouri House on April 4, 2018 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

“We’re looking somewhere in the $1,000 per adult that makes less than $75,000 as something that they would get one time,” says Blunt. “And then if the economy needs that, maybe three months later we might do that one other time.”

Blunt says Missouri adults with kids at home could get another $500.

“Clearly what we’re trying to do is to do what we can to both stabilize and encourage an economy that’s really got a set of consequences going on and actions going on we haven’t seen before,” says Blunt.

The plan could also include business loans for certain industries getting nailed by the coronavirus, including airlines, hotels and others.

Ford and General Motors are putting the brakes on production at its North American plants through at least March 30. The move – meant to slow the tide of the coronavirus outbreak – will impact thousands of workers at the General Motors plant in the St. Louis suburb of Wentzville and the Ford factory near Kansas City. Blunt says he hopes the companies will be up and running again sooner rather than later.

“There are other places where people have to work – law enforcement, firefighters, first responders, people in hospitals, people in food processing facilities. There’s a broad spectrum of economic challenges here in trying to be sure that the ones that have to function continue to function really is a priority,” says Blunt.

The Ford plant in Claycomo has about 7,200 workers with about 6,900 of those being hourly employees. As for the Wentzville GM plant, it has about 4,100 workers – 2,800 are paid by the hour.

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