(WSIL)--Local lawmakers are responding to criticism about the amount of time it's taken for Congress to agree on a new COVID relief bill.
Congressman Mike Bost (R-Murphysboro) called the bill "a bi-partisan effort" and while neither side of the aisle got exactly what they wanted, the bill is good for the American people.
However U.S. Rep. Bost, like many Americans, said 4-months to negotiate the bill was just too long.
"When politics take precedent over the people that are suffering from a pandemic that's destroying lives, destroying businesses, changing the economy, and that 900 billion is only 3.25, there about, billion more indebtness. However it's doing all the things that we could have been doing from August on," said Bost.
Bost said the new stimulus bill, after negotiations, will also fund COVID-19 testing and the cost of the COVID-19 vaccinations.
