Mitch McConnell spoke to local businesses in a closed door round table

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Mitch McConnell visited Bowling Green Thursday and spoke to local businesses in a closed door round table.

McConnell then gave updates on some of the issues going on locally with the workforce.

McConnell said much of the concern he heard from the local business leaders was about the rising inflation and the worker shortage in the area and across the nation.

The Senate minority leader responded saying he disagrees with Governor Beshear’s decision to continue the extra $300 per week federal money for unemployment but says that will come to an end in September.

“What we need to do is quit paying people more not to work than to work which is the whole issue behind the $300 per month federal bonus on top of the state unemployment. The single best way to get people back to work is to discontinue a process, a policy, that makes it more lucrative to stay at home then to go back to work,” said McConnell.

One local business man said he didn’t notice any benefit locally for Beshear’s $1,500 bonus for returning to work.

McConnell said he believes the infrastructure bill may be the only portion of the budget that can be agreed upon in a bipartisan manner saying the rest of the budget will just put the U.S. more into debt.

“I don’t believe any members of my party will support that. There is a bipartisan discussion about part of what the administration would like to do, that’s the infrastructure package. I think we may have a chance of getting there on a bipartisan basis but that’s only $1 trillion of the $7 trillion they would like to spend or begin to authorize spending for this year,” said McConnell.

McConnell also took a moment to encourage the public to continue to get vaccinated for COVID 19 and work toward herd immunity.