By SOPHIE QUINTON | Stateline.org (Tribune News Service) | Published: March 5, 2021
Stars and Stripes is making stories on the coronavirus pandemic available free of charge. See more staff and wire stories here. Sign up for our daily coronavirus newsletter here. Please support our journalism with a subscription. Despite the coronavirus pandemic, Utah’s economy is growing. Fewer than 4% of state residents are unemployed. Lawmakers are expecting a budget surplus of $1.5 billion from income and sales tax revenue. That’s a lot of money for a state of roughly 3 million people. “It’s hard to believe, quite honestly,” said Utah state Senate President Stuart Adams, a Republican.
Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and other centrist Democrats increasingly are in control of the fate of President Biden's COVID-19 relief package - and perhaps broader pieces of his agenda.In a Senate where both parties hold 50 seats, a single defection by a Democrat can sink legislation, giving the centrists significant influence.Just this week, several Democratic moderates worked behind the scenes to limit eligibility.
As the Biden administration works to approve another relief funds package to states, some officials are split over whether the money is really needed. Democrats welcome the support while Republicans say it's unnecessary.
Democratic centrists flex power on Biden legislation msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Democratic centrists flex power on Biden legislation thehill.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thehill.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.