Opposing Opinions Arise After Gov. Wolf Proposes $2,000 Stimulus Checks

NBC 10 political reporter Lauren Make pressed Governor Tom Wolf on his plan. She joins us live in the studio with the latest from Lauren. Hey guys, this is not the first time Governor Wolf has proposed this. He tried it during budget negotiations, but now Democrats are reintroducing it. his plan and comes as people are really feeling the impact of higher prices, but lawmakers from here to Washington disagree on what will help Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf today with his proposal to give some residents Pennsylvania a little extra money at a time. when they are paying more for essentials, people need help right now and we can do this, we can afford to do this as a commonwealth right now, Wolfe and the Democrats are making another attempt at a plan to send households that earn

checks

of up to 80 thousand dollars.

At two thousand dollars they are joined today by a Full Croft resident who feels a financial constraint while raising two great-grandchildren it's about what I pay this month and what we can do without she says the money would help, but not all consumers say that is the way to go, what do you think would help right now? Sending more

checks

will help with elimination. I think that's why we're in trouble. We are in first place. The federal government sent out

stimulus

checks during the pandemic. Since then, some states, including Delaware, have delivered their own payments in Pennsylvania. the republicans who control the legislature do not support

wolf

e's idea.

A spokesman for the Republican House caucus said Wolf's proposal lacks both sincerity and common sense and said, quote, that

stimulus

is gone with these same ideas that are contributing to the inflation problems that the governor says is happening. trying to alleviate with his plan to send checks directly to Pennsylvania residents. I asked a professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania about the idea that some states are testing, what impact those programs have on inflation and the economy in general, so they certainly don't reduce inflation, if anything, which will actually help support higher inflation by giving people more consumer purchasing power.

Professor Kent Smetters points out that the intention, however, is to get money to families affected by rising prices. The salaries come as federal lawmakers are also debating how best to curb rising prices and ease their pain in Pennsylvania. What is your response to concerns that putting more money into the economy could make inflation worse? Yes, there is a war in Ukraine. There's a lot of disruption right now, and the thing is, as several people said, people in Pennsylvania right here are hurting, Governor Wolf called the two thousand dollar direct payments a drop in the bucket on the overall economy.

I don't think that would have a big inflationary impact, what he would do is help people pay their bills. I also asked Governor Wolf why he thinks this could happen now when it didn't work before. Well, he said that he believes there is a growing awareness that Pennsylvania has the financial capacity to do this at six o'clock, what Washington might vote on in the coming days, and what that pen professor says about whether it could combat inflation . I'm Lauren, I do NBC 10 News, Lauren, thanks for that and companies are posting fewer job openings as the country grapples with inflation and higher interest rates, the labor department revealed today that job openings Jobs fell to a high of 10.7 million, yet unemployment is still near its lowest level in 50 years.