“It’s something we’re looking at very carefully. Senator Portman has a good idea. He understands incentives and disincentives,” said Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, on Fox News. “The trouble with the $600 plus-up, and maybe we needed it in that emergency period, but frankly it’s a major disincentive to go back to work and we don’t want that. We want people to go back to work.”
Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, has also been promoting the idea of return-to-work bonuses to help jumpstart the economy, including in conversations with Kudlow.
Kudlow also said the administration is still keen on a payroll tax holiday — an idea that has drawn a lukewarm reception from members of both parties.
It’s still relatively early days for the next aid bill, whose necessity and timing remain question marks for some Republicans. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell last week told House Republicans that Congress still needed to wait and see the impact of its previous rounds of aid, which have had totaled almost $3 trillion.
