U.S. Rep. Golden of Maine defends standing as lone Democrat against COVID-19 relief package

(The Center Square) – Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Golden of Maine is standing behind his vote against the $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill signed by President Joe Biden on Thursday.

The measure, the largest relief package approved by Congress since the Great Depression, includes direct payments and a unemployment-benefit extension, as well as hundreds of billions of dollars for COVID-19 vaccines, schools, state and local governments and businesses reeling from the economic impact of the coronavirus.

Golden was the only House Democrat to vote against the plan’s final passage on Wednesday. Biden signed the bill on Thursday.

In a statement, Golden defended the vote saying his concerns about unnecessary spending and the “size and scope” of the bill weren’t addressed.

“Borrowing and spending hundreds of billions more in excess of meeting the most urgent needs poses a risk to both our economic recovery and the priorities I would like to work with the Biden Administration to achieve, like rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure and fixing our broken and unaffordable healthcare system,” he wrote.

Golden, who voted against a previous version of the bill in February, said he didn’t think the measure went far enough in some ways to help his constituents. He cited the Senate’s decision to exclude a proposal to hike the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour, a move he supports.

“I voted for a $15 minimum wage in the last Congress, and given the opportunity, I intend to do so again,” he said in the statement.

Golden wasn’t the only member of the state’s congressional delegation to oppose the relief. Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, voted against the bill when it went before the Senate last weekend. Collins was among a group of Senate Republicans who offered a scaled down relief package, but it was rejected by the Democratic majority.

Other members of Maine’s congressional delegation, Independent Sen. Angus King and Democratic Rep. Chellie Pingree, both supported the relief bill.

In an interview posted on her social media website Wednesday, Pingree said the massive spending package will provide relief for everyone from fishermen to child care workers.

“There isn’t a Mainer who will not be impacted in some way,” she said. “The goal is to eradicate the virus, get our economy up and running, and see our state through this year.”

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