Pelosi defends $3T price tag of coronavirus relief bill

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday defended the $3 trillion price tag of the latest coronavirus relief bill, saying that “the American people are worth it.”

Pelosi, D-Calif., in an interview with The Associated Press said the newly proposed coronavirus stimulus package was needed to confront the “villainous virus” that is coronavirus, which has caused the country’s economic decline.

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“This is the biggest disaster that our country has ever faced,” Pelosi told the AP. “The president calls it a war — we’re all warriors, that people are dying in the war. No these are family, and people are dying in the family.”

She added: “We have to address in a big way. The American people are worth it.”

The new bill introduced this week is more than 1,800 pages long and has a price tag of nearly $3 trillion.

The package, called the HEROES Act, includes more direct payments beyond the $1,200 check most Americans received under the CARES Act, which passed in March. The new bill offers another $1,200 payment for each family member in a household, totaling up to $6,000.

The bill allocates nearly $1 trillion to state, local and tribal governments for “honoring our heroes.” The bill also creates a “Heroes Fund,” which provides $200 billion to essential workers who worked during the pandemic as hazard pay.

The bill also extends the Paycheck Protection Program and adds $10 billion in COVID-19 emergency grants.

The bill extends unemployment benefits of $600 payments, in addition to state benefits, through January 2021, creates a special enrollment period in Affordable Care Act exchanges for the uninsured, provides $175 billion for families to pay their mortgages and rent, and increased maximum SNAP benefits, which are currently $768 a month, by 15 percent.

The bill also adds $75 billion to “ensure every American can access free coronavirus treatment,” and to expand testing and contact tracing.

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Republicans are blasting the legislation as a "recipe for a prolonged recession.”

Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, accused Democrats Wednesday of being more concerned about helping special interests than getting the economy back up and running before the 33 million Americans who are temporarily jobless become permanently out of work.

"The word 'cannabis' appears more times in Democrats' bill than the word 'job'," said Brady, the top Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee.

Brady also took issue with the House Democrats' plan to repeal the $10,000 cap on state and local tax (SALT) deductions that he pushed through during the Trump tax cut program. Lawmakers from high-tax states like New York and California were incensed that the federal government would no longer allow taxpayers in those states to get a full deduction for state income and local property taxes.

The House is set to pass the package Friday.

As of Wednesday, the U.S. reported more than 1.3 million positive cases of COVID-19 and more than 82,800 deaths.

Fox News’ Marisa Schultz, Morgan Phillips and The Associated Press contributed to this report.