government executive senior correspondent erik katz. then, that heritage foundation representative will be talking about voting by mail. and the voting ceo amber host: this is the "washington journal" for may 11. at the house works on the next round of stimulus spending, three members of the senate, sanders, harris, markey, have laid out a proposal that if passed would pay $2,000 monthly to most americans, and that payment would continue until the coronavirus pandemic starts to fade. we'll show you doe tails of this proposal, but we want to get your thoughts overall on this idea of a monthly payment based on coronavirus. and to get your thinking on it. democrats accident let us know at 202-748-8000. republicans, 202-748-8001.

and independents, 202-748-8002. u can text us if you want at 202-748-8003. you can tweet us and post on our facebook page. it was over the weekend that ed markey out of massachusetts appeared on a boston television station highlighting this proposal that he and california senator kamala harris, vermont senator bernie sanders have laid out for this proposal -- this payment based on the coronavirus pandemic. >> right now, we are in the midst of the greatest economic down turn in our lives. >> massachusetts senator ed markey, along with senators kamala harris and bernie sanders, unveiled new legislation that would send americans a check every month until this public health emergency is over. >> americans need more than just one payment. >> the bill would provide $2,000 a month to every individual with an income below

$120,000 a year. married couples would receive $4,000. families would receive $2,000 per child for up to three children. and the legislation would give payments to all u.s. residents, even if they do not have a social security number. >> that money is the life raft that will help families to make it through this healthcare crisis. host: the senators have laid out the proposal in detail on their various web sites. we'll show you some of the details, as you heard senator markey talk about during the course of this segment. but if you want to comment on this idea of a $2,000 monthly payment, you can let us know. again, it's 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8001 for republicans. nd independents, 202-748-8002. text us at 202-748-8003. and you can also post on our twitter and facebook pages, @cspanwj is on twitter. and facebook is

facebook.com/cspan. as we're taking a call, we'll take a look on the house side, as they work on this next round of stimulus spending. joining us on the phone, natalie andrews of the "wall street journal," covers congress. good morning. thanks for joining us. guest: good morning. host: where are we exactly on the back and forth between house democrats and the white house on the next round? guest: there is not much back and forth happening right now. we're not seeing what we saw with previous legislation in terms of treasury secretary steven mnuchin going in and out of offices on capitol hill. those are having repeated phone calls. those talks are not happening right now. house democrats are working on their own proposal. we expect to see that soon. that will be their solution for this next phase. host: when you say soon, is it possible some type of draft could be released this week? guest: yes, that is -- host: go ahead. guest: yeah, we expect soon.

some house members thought they might vote on it this week. that might not happen. it would have to come out soon if that would happen. host: what are democrats looking at as the price tag that's being floated? goipt component of this bill will be nearly a trillion dollars of funding for state, local, and tribal governments. this is money, several municipalities and states, tribal governments are spending a lot of money to combat the virus, while also, they've lost money because they're not getting tax revenue that they're used to getting. they're not getting state parking fees that cities are used to getting. and so nancy pelosi has made a major priority to be able to send -- up to a trillion dollars to these local governments. host: what's the general mood

on the senate side, and is it a universal mood as far as whether they'll go along with this proposal? guest: this is more of an initial phase. i would expect if something's going to pass the republican senate, there would need to be further negotiations, as we've seen in the past. mitch mcconnell has said that he would like to see how the previous bills that congress has passed, he'd like to see how they play out, like see all the money go out before he considers another bill. we do know some senate republicans are itching to pass more legislation. there are several senate republicans who have put out proposals for what they'd like to see in the next legislation. bill cassidy from louisiana wants to send $500 billion to states, which is in line with what house speaker nancy pelosi has said, because that's what the governors have asked for. there's also proposals for direct aid for americans from

republican senators, such as senator hawley from missouri. so there are republicans who are itching to get things done. it's very unlikely to be similar to nancy pelosi's proposal, but the speaker wants to put something out there and spark conversation. host: we saw steve mnuchin on the sunday shows yesterday talking about where the white house is on this. what did he have to share? guest: well, the white house is talking about things that so far have not been popular with lawmakers on capitol hill. the president would like a payroll tax cut, which generally has fallen flat over the past few months when it's come up. the president has gone back and forth on whether he would support state and local aid. it seems lately he would not like that. he's talked about not wanting to help state pensions. but in the past he has supported that. we'll see what kind of meetings he has this week, if he talks to the governors again, that kind of thing. host: do you get a sense that the release of the recent unemployment data last week may be a driver as far as where this process goes?

guest: certainly the dramatic numbers have lawmakers wanting to help their communities. they see these numbers and they're dire. they see also the number of the virus is affecting. that will certainly dominate the conversation this week. host: and this is natalie andrews who covers congress. is there any clear sense of when the house will come back into session? guest: there is not. lawmakers are going to receive several days' notice before they have to travel to washington, and so we should know tpwhl advance when they vote. but it could definitely slide into next week depending on when their proposal comes out. host: natalie andrews, who covers congress for the "wall street journal," we thank you for your time today. guest: thank you. host: again, we've shown you a little bit about what ed markey had to say about that proposal, $2,000 monthly to cover costs related to coronavirus pandemic. this will continue until the pandemic subsides. what do you think about this idea? again, democrats, 202-748-8000.

republicans, 202-748-8001. independents, 202-748-8002. from georgia, eric starts us off on our democrats line. thanks for waiting. go ahead. caller: thank you, pedro. there's three points i'd like to make. first of all, this is corporate socialism. the republicans are not going to do anything to help the american people. they've got what they wanted. the democrats had their chance. some of these issues, they wanted a proposal in the first deal. under reagan, bush, and now trump, we've had bailouts, corporate bailouts and socialism. this is bernie sanders' time. joe biden is not offering anything. we have not got medicaid and healthcare, the minimum wage raise, anything out of these deals to systematically change the system. republicans have got anything, trillions of dollars have been put into the economy by jay powell and steve mnuchin. basically what we are going to have after this $1,200 run out, we have 30 million people who

lost their jobs, over 30 million. they are hungry. they're in food lines. this is worse than the great depression, and what the stock market is up. think about that, pedro. host: but eric, to the idea itself that the senators are proposing, you call this corporate socialism. does that mean you agree with it or don't agree with it? caller: i'm saying this is a good proposal now, but it should have been put in the first deal. republicans are not going to agree along with any other bill, because they have got corporate socialism. that's what i'm saying. host: ok. we'll go to auburn, new york, republican line. this is david. caller: good morning. just a quick observation. been watching this bailouts and all they're doing is they're throwing money, that creates a demand, but the supply for the goods and services, it don't exist. this is what's missing. and as all these businesses are shutting down, and we're shutting them down here, i can

see right here in my hometown, once that supply pipeline starts to dry out, you're really going see something. because it's all demand and no supply. host: so this idea to a direct payment to the individual, is that something you could go along with or not? caller: there's really no goods and services. people need to have jobs and work and produce all these promises. because that's all that money represents. you're going to see -- you're going to end up with inflation, because that's the way it will end up. host: you're saying that if the country opens up, more people get back to work, that will resolvet issue other than a direct payment. that's what you're saying? caller: well, yeah, that's part of the solution. but the rest of it is, you can't continue to inflate the cost of government. you can't it be this huge inflation and expect a good result. prices are going up now. and if you get people demand

with no supply, it's a recipe for failure. that's my opinion. host: ok. david in new york, we'll go to san francisco, independent line. caller: good morning, pedro. i'm for it, for sure. i think it's a great thing to do. everybody's desperate. that's barely enough anyway. so yeah. i just think mitch mcconnell won't let it happen and make people suffer for a while. maybe, i don't know, we'll have to see. host: the previous caller talked about this idea of printing money and putting that into the situation, saying that might be the best fix. what do you think about that idea? caller: i think that will work, why not? why not? host: why do you think it will work? caller: well, it will pump up the economy. but with this illness, what can people do? they can't go out. can't go out to restaurants. people are afraid. i think maybe more tests, too.

host: this kind of payment is sustainable if you want to carry it out until the pandemic subsides? caller: well, i think it can be sustainable, yeah. i think it can be. host: why so? caller: they can print up extra money. why can't it be sustainable? host: ok. we'll hear from virginia. virginia in waldorf, maryland, democrats line. caller: yes, good morning. this is just going to put us deeper in debt. there's no justification or no comments coming out about how they're going to regroup this money that they're giving out. i think governor hogan has one of the best plans out there as far as gradually opening businesses, so as the gentleman said from new york, it's supply and demand that will eventually adjust itself. but if you just continue to give out money, what are you

really doing? hat are you accomplishing? host: are you word about this kind of payment and what it does to deficit, that kind of thing? caller: yes, yes. host: jerry is in maryland, republican line. jamestown, maryland, hi. or north dakota, i'm sorry. go ahead. caller: yes, sir. using the philosophy of not letting a crisis go to waste, i would say i'd go along with this, provided that the democrats in return, there's no more gun law restrictions, there's no more sanctuary colonies in cities, and maybe we'll throw something in there about abortion. if the democrats can go along with that, hey, i'd say the republicans go along with providing $2,000 a month. host: aside from that, it sounds like you don't agree with this proposal.

caller: well, like i said, i'll agree with it if the democrats go along with what i propose. host: why does it have to be connected to those things? caller: why not? because they have the kennedy live arts center connected to one of the previous bailouts. host: ok, jerry in north dakota, calling us this morning. if you go to "usa today," it a recent story there takes a look at the spending that's been done by the federal government that makes comparisons to not only what it does for damage, but other comparisons as well. one of the categories, how much the u.s. has spent on coronavirus stimulus so far.

host: they make comparisons so social security, other discretionary spending. you can see more of that on the website at "usa today." more about this proposal from senator sanders, harris and markey, $2,000 for those that make under $120,000. it would continue throughout and for three months following the pandemic. those married filing jointly will receive $4,000. $2,000 per child, that's up to three children.

and then one of the stipulations is no recent tax return sfiling needed or a social security number required. again, there's more of these details on the various web sites of the people who proposed it. check them out for yourself. we're getting thoughts from you too. this is on facebook. as much as i like this idea, there are a lot of people who don't make that much while working. i think it would encourage people not to work, just the same about the unemployment rate is now. people are making more on unemployment than if they were working. vickie off of facebook saying with everyone out of work and most not being able to return to their jobs or denied unemployment, one $1,200 check isn't going to help families in need. again, that's from facebook. twitter is available to you, too. you can text us as well. kevin in north carolina, independent line. good morning. go ahead. caller: good morning. think this idea -- let people

work again. if i had it my way, i would ke a new update -- host: dave in ohio, in cincinnati, democrats line. caller: good morning, pedro. host: good morning. go ahead. caller: this is a good idea. i'd rather see it spent on infrastructure. we should do the things that roosevelt did, spending on infrastructure. it's a good time to do that. tiffs just watching a show before you came on, the gentleman talked about deflation being the most deadly thing to happen in the short term, not inflation, because people will still be staying at home, still not spending money. so seo this is an issue where deflation would probably be in the short term a problem. host: could you elaborate why

infrastructure is a better route than giving money directly to people to put that money back into the economy? caller: well, it's the jobs, pedro. just based it on roosevelt. the infrastructure did help us get out of the great depression. host: from mark. mark in idaho, republican line. caller: yeah, hi, pedro. thanks to c-span for this forum. i think one of the things the founders did wrong is, in our bill of rights, they never put in that we have a right to work and earn a living. as a youngster, i spent a few years in eastern europe. my father was in the united nations. we were in romania. and they had similar programs there in the communist countries, and they would pay

people, and they would never show up to work anymore. there was no incentive for them to do that. they had long, long lines of people, you would just get in the queue. you would ask people what's this line for, and they would say we don't know, we're just getting in line, hoping that we have some food or something, and you'd get to the end of the line, and they'd be handing out shoelaces. so i think we are exchanging our rights to work and earn a living for the higherups in government to just tell us when we can work and what type of work we can do, and that's just not what this country is all about. host: the phenomena you talked about compared to this one, if there is a future date where this money will stop supposedly, you think that this ring will still people, people

will go to work, up until the point the money stops coming in. caller: well, i can tell you, got n son was laid off and this unemployment where he was making more than he was earning at his regular job. he got called back to work, and he called me and said, dad, i really don't want to go back to work, i'm taking a pay cut to go back to work. host: was this done under the pandemic or before? caller: no, this was under the pandemic. host: ok. >> and i said, well, i mean, you weren't raised like that. you have to go back to work. that's your obligation and your duty. and he did. but what i'm saying is, if we keep incentivizing folks to just take the government handout and not work, our country is going to really go

down the tubes. all we're going to see is a gigantic spiral. host: are you hesitant to any assistance at this time or short term, or where's your comfort level? caller: no, i think the first thing they did was entirely appropriate, because they forced us to stay home, whether you liked it or not, and i think that was appropriate to do it. but, you know, life comes with lots of risks. and when you get in your car to go to work, you're taking a chance. you're driving a $4,000 missile down the road. so we all have to weigh those risks against the reward, and i think americans are smart enough and capable enough to do that without the government dictating whether we can or we

cannot. and i'm afraid that what we're going to have here is certain state governments are going to push things too far, and they're going to push people across the line into absolute rebellion. and that is the last thing we need. but if they don't pull back a little bit and begin to work with the people, they're going to wind up with that. and they're going to push us into total chaos. host: mark talking about his experiences there in idaho, at least giving his ideas there from idaho. virginia, independent line. duane we'll hear from next. caller: yes, sir, how y'all doing? host: fine, thank you, go ahead. caller: i was calling about this stimulus money. they should not have done that. that's just going to put us deeper in debt, and we're never

going to get out of debt if they keep handing out money like kobe and all the others did. people got sense. they know when they can and cannot do. and this virus thing, people know they need to get out and go to work. they know how to take care of themselves. they don't need the government telling them what they can and can't do. you don't need to be handing out no money. host: the previous caller said basically government told people to stay home, it's an obligation, at least on the short term to provide some assistance. what do you think about that? caller: no. they don't need -- the people are not dumb. people got intelligence. they know what they should or should not do. and they know how to protect themselves. so therefore, people have to work to make a living. host: but in some states, people were told to stay home from work though. caller: then they should tell the government not to interfere.

that they have to do things. the government has no business bothering or interfering in public life. whatsoever. people are not dumb. you got to give people credit. host: that's duane in rochelle, virginia. you heard about at the top of the hour, our phoner guest talking about the back and forth between the white house and house democrats when they look at stimulus proposal. there's a story in "the washington post" about current concerns about the cost of stimulus, the overall cost, saying white house officials have discussed including measures in the next relief package that would trigger automatic spending rucks once the economy improves, according to people where the internal conversations are. a senior white house economic fficial are also exploring mericans to choose checks --

host: patty is next in williamsport, pennsylvania. caller: yes, some of the stimulus payment that they're proposing possibly, the $2,000 a month, i think that would help a lot of individuals, and like previously mentioned, it would be for a limited time, maybe to the end of the year or at a rate demic is that it's -- not the virus -- host: well, at least there's some type of subsiding of the pandemic is the idea. caller: uh-huh. and i think individuals, i know who received this last stimulus, the $1,200, then $2,400 for married couples,

i've never heard one person mention that foolishly used. usually it's to help them with their bills. another person told me it came in right on time because it helped pay their taxes, like property taxes. so i think it's a good time, especially during this time, and when people were forced to stay home, and i don't think people -- i know one gentleman felt people would become dependent on that and not go back to work. i disagree that, because this check isn't providing you with benefits as far as health benefits, just to go back to that job to get those, so i think it's going to be a big help for individuals who are really hurting during this time, even if they still are working, i think it's a big benefit. host: some of our callers this morning have factored in the

overall cost of such a proposal to debt and deficit. where do you fuel that, and how much of a concern is that to you personally? caller: me personally, it is a concern. we will be in a lot of debt. but we're going through this pandemic. it's killing a lot of people. i think it's something we have to bite the bullet on and just -- it's something that we have to do. i don't think it's a matter of let's take a vote, should we or shouldn't we. it's something that we need to do. because of this particular time that we're in, and hopefully they'll come up with a vaccine and things will start to level out over the years, and i don't think it's something that people were saying in a couple of years this will go away. i think this is something that's going to be here for a

while, until that vaccine is put out. host: that's patty in pennsylvania, calling on our line for democrats, talking about this proposal. again, ed markey of massachusetts, kamala harris of california, bernie sanders of vermont making this proposal. similar piece of legislation on the house side as well. we're getting your thoughts on the idea of this payment, $2,000 to some americans, lasting throughout the course of the pandemic and a little bit after that. you can give us a sandall give us your thoughts, too. 202-748-8000 for democrats. republicans, 202-748-8001. independents, 202-748-8002. about 700 plus of you on facebook making comments, even before the start of this program this morning. one of those, dennis saying every dollar given to a citizen will be snent their local economy. this is what actually stimulates the economy, not tax cuts for the wealthy or corporate subsidies. you can make your thoughts there. our twitter feed available to you, too. and our texting service,

202-748-8003. if you do that, include your name and your city and your state. joan, myrtle beach, south carolina. you are next up on this proposal, what your thoughts on it are there. good morning, joan. go ahead. caller: good morning, pedro. i'm a person, a 78-year-old woman. and this is ridiculous to give people $2,000 a month, plus they're children. that's just a way for people not to work. this don't make no sense. host: were you ok with the stimulus payment as they're paying now, the $1,200 or so, were you ok with that or did you have problems with that as well? caller: i was ok for people that was put out of work. i got my social security check every month. so i wasn't -- no change in my life other than the fact that i couldn't move a belt.

this is just another way, and i used to be a democrat. i was a democrat all my life. up until about four, five years ago. and this is just a way for socialism. host: democrats line, we'll hear next from phillip in tulsa, oklahoma. hi. caller: hello? host: hello, you're on. caller: ok. pelosi and 2,000, progressive democrats, i am a lue dog. the money needs to come out of their pockets, not out of the taxpayers' pockets. it's not the government's money, it's the people that go to work, like me, and other people. i'm a blue dog democrat. i don't believe in this.

it's installing slavery is what it is. you got to vote to give yourself money. democrats, we give it to you if you vote for them. it's making you a slave to the democrat party. i'm a blue dog democrat, and i don't believe in that. host: you have the same type of sentiment for the $1,200 stimulus check that previously went out. it r: well, won't deposit anywhere. ke my uncle did down in -- host: but why not deposit it? is this an act of protest on your part? caller: i don't need it. people really don't need it. call them back to work. the son doesn't want to go back to work. what the company needs to do is call them back to work. if they don't want to go back

o work, they won't collect the $1,200 a week or whatever it is to not work. but they should call the unemployment office, the state unemployment office, give them the social security number, they have a job. but they should be coming off the damn unemployment check. host: that's phillip with his thoughts from tulsa, oklahoma, to this idea of going back to work and reopening the country. that was one of the topics of discussion that the treasury secretary steve mnuchin engaged in on fox news sunday, asked about the risk of opening up some areas of the country because of desires to go back to work. here's the treasury secretary. >> if we do this carefully, working with the governors, i don't think there's a considerable risk. matter of fact, i think there's a considerable risk of not reopening. you're talking about what would permanent economic damage to the american public, and we're

going to reopen in a very thoughtful way to get people back to work safely, that has been social distanced. one of the things we've seen, chris, is a lot of businesses can do telework, not everybody has to come back into the office at the same time. but people will be able to go into stores. some of them will have reservations when they go in. but businesses will be able to reopen, and i think, as you know, certain parts of the country had very devastating impacts, like new york, and certain parts of the country didn't. and this is all being monitored very, very carefully. host: let's flare paul. paul is in tampa, florida, independent line. caller: how you doing? yeah, listen, these last couple of callers kind of stole my thunder. but anyway, i think it's the craziest idea i ever heard. give $2,000 to each and married couple you're going to give another $2,000 and three kids, $10,000 a month?

that's like insane. and they don't need that much more money if you have -- if you're living in a house, a single person living in a house almost has the same expenses as a married couple or children. they have a little bit more for food. you still have a mortgage. you still have cable tv. you have a phone. you have electric bills. there might be bills that go up like 10%, 20%. you don't need an extra $2,000 per child for one thing. and this whole idea of a blanket money. so you're going to give $2,000 each to people that are still working. so they're going to be making $5,000 or $10,000 a month working, plus another $10,000 from the government. how insane is that? host: is the amount something that bothers you? is this the length of time? does the assistance bother you overall? caller: no, people need assistance are those that aren't working and couldn't collect unemployment. if you're working or you're collecting unemployment and getting additional $600 a

month, why would you -- why would you need an additional $10,000 a month? it makes no sense to pay people that are still working. there's a lot of essential workers. my friends work at the post office. they're making good money. they're making $30 an hour. you going to give them another $4,000 a month? for what? you need to help people that are unemployed, can't collect unemployment, aren't working. that's the people you need to help. this is like insane. it's as crazy as abolishing ice, what liberals want to do. crazy ideas. host: that's paul in tampa, florida. i'll just show you the headline. this came out of one of the interviews that took place sunday with a white house, former chair of the economic advisors, the council of economic advisors, just about the future jobless rate. he's thinking that as far as the future, it could go past

20%. more of that interview available online if you want to see it. from michigan, republican line. katherine, hello. caller: yeah, hello there, pedro. thank you for taking my call. i agree with the gentleman from oklahoma and idaho and florida. this is just ridiculous. and this is additional money that families would be getting besides their unemployment. what incentive would they have to go back to work? i agree with these gentlemen. this is just crazy. and the democrats have gone crazy. my family were democrats. but right now the way that the democratic party is going, they do want socialists in this country. and i'm against this. it's just so far out there that

you wonder why they're not using the brain that god gave them. host: katherine in michigan. this is mark off twitter saying how can you stimulate the local economy when government has closed most businesses down? this is really not a lot of places to spend their money on. this is the dumbest idea i've heard, talk about taking away the incentive of work. where does this money come from? gain, our twitter feed is at @ cspanwj. our facebook page available to you as well. and bangor, wisconsin, democrats line. caller: hello. i believe in passing this bill $4,000 per adult and for the married couple. but i don't believe in giving the children $2,000 a month.

i can see giving them $500 a month that you received before. because like a lot of these people are saying, why do they for a ,000 a month amily of five? a person can live -- i'm a low-income person. $20,000 a month. i mean, a year, i should say. it's just the fact that they can live off of -- if you budget your money, you can live off that $4,000 a month for a family of five. host: judge ann in wisconsin. this is from "usa today." this is a follow-up story to those stories that you heard about, cases of coronavirus in the white house itself. michael collins writing in the

pages of "usa today," saying that the president and vice president will be tested daily for the virus, as will every staff member in close proximity to them. white house guests will be tested. work spaces will undergo regular deep cleaning, and staff will follow social distancing guidelines, undergo daily temperature checks and have their symptom histories reviewed, according to a white house spokesperson who made the comments on sunday. again, adding to what was previously said, the valet who had been in the same room as the president on tuesday tested positive last week, and then vice president pence's spokeswoman, katie miller, also testing positive on friday, prompting tests for six other pence staffers who had been contact. all six staffers tested negative, according to the administration. next up, renee in louisiana, independent line. caller: i do agree on the stimulus package. i'm not quite sure i agree with the amount. but i think people do need

short-term assistance while we're in this pandemic thing. and i'm not sure why a lot of people are against it. people are hurting out there. so i think it's a good thing. host: so if this is to continue when the pandemic passes, would you consider that short-term till then? caller: possibly so. you know, because not everybody -- you know, every state is going to be different. not everybody is going to be able to get back to work so fast. things are changing. host: ok. that's renee. we'll hear from annette. annette in alexander city. good morning. caller: good morning to you. man, i tell you what, i have heard of nutty things, but this is the nutiest thing i have ever heard of. our federal government is broke. our state and city governments are broke.

nobody is working, putting tax dollars into the budget. you cannot spend your way out of debt. the people, if this goes through, our children and grandchildren are going to be saddled with this debt. we used to be horrified watching the national debt go up every year by the trillions. now we're doubling and tripling down with nothing in return. good god, it used to be you had to go to college, get a good education to hope to make $1,000 a week or month. now it doesn't matter if you flip burgers, which is an honest living, but they want to give people, everybody, doesn't matter if you're college educated or whatever, you know, $2,000 a month each, and then also for your children. i don't understand this. host: so for those republicans then who supported the $1,200

stimulus payment, did you support that effort as well, the $1,200 initial one? caller: yes, it was a one-time thing. this is every month, giving them $2,000 until the pandemic ends, and they're saying the pandemic might not legitimately end a year from now. we can't afford this. we're already getting crippled by shutting down every business. this is ridiculous. i don't know why their minds are. they think just throw money at everything, money that they don't have. you can't print your money to get us out of this debt. it's going to take people going back to work and getting our tax base going again. how do they think our kids are ever going pay for this, i don't know. host: ok, that's annette in alexander city, alabama. we talked about the house's work of coming up with another stimulus package, states and localities being included in that. in the interview with c-span recently last week, it was the

house speaker pelosi who was asked about the estimated cost of the next stimulus package. >> is there an estimated price tag? >> we're working on it, yes. > a trillion, $2 trillion? >> you're getting warmer. >> $3 thrillion? >> you know, when people ask about the price tag for us to get money and help to the american people, which in many ways is a stimulus, you know, making sure states can meet their payrolls for the payment for what they have spent on the coronavirus and revenue, but no other expenses than they have or putting money in the pockets of the mesh people, around here, nobody batted an eye lash on the republican side of the aisle when they, in the dark of night and the speed of light, give 83% of the benefits of a tax scam to the top 1% in that country, and that was nearly a $2 trillion addition for the

national debt. didn't create any jobs, except more burden to our children. host: more of that interview, a lot of topics were covered. if you want to go to our website, it's c-span.org, you can go there, an interview that was conducted with c-span. eric is next. compton, california, democrats line. caller: thank you, thank you, thank you. thank you, america. i'm wondering, you know, we are an inherited country, and we inherit things. and this money has been passed down to us from generation to generation. we are very wealthy. as donald trump, president donald trump said, we have the greatest economy going on. so explain to me, people, americans, even if your own child -- you pass down wealth to your children. this money has been passed down o us from generations. it's nothing wrong with this. we all inherited some wealth

more type of thing. host: some of the callers have highlighted the fact that even if you propose, if you're supportive of this, and it sounds like you are, what it ultimately does for deaf -- debt and deficit. caller: we are god we trust. everything belongs to god. so it's a promissory note. we all know this. and it's based upon the wealth of the world that we all work together. as a people. and we've been doing that. that's why we have the greatest economy in the world. neent reality of inherentance, salvation. host: ok, we'll go to baltimore, maryland, independent line. caller: hi. thank you so much for c-span. i'm a long-time listener, first-time caller. i'm a graduate student at johns hopkins, and i don't know. i think i need to educate myself more about how inflation works. but several callers ago, somebody mentioned this idea of

-- and i don't know. i'm on the fence about whether i support this or not. but several callers ago, someone mentioned the idea of a small family with just a couple of children getting $10,000 a month. so the first image that popped into my mind was like a barrel full of money, like valueless dollars, and i just wondered to what extent is this like a way to prepare the american mind for the idea of like an income that's not actually really very valuable, or am i just being paranoid? i don't know. but i'm take the answer off the air. thank you so much. host: steve is next, massachusetts. republican line. caller: yes, good morning, sir. i think we need to be a little more proportional on our response on this. $120,000 for a salary is way too high. drop it down to a family under $60,000 a year, $1,000 per month. at a time other half of this

massive program, stick this into sort of a w.p.a. type infrastructure rebuild in this country. it's time to stop bickering, democrats and republicans. we need to compromise. we don't know if we're in this for the long haul, ok? but there's talk of covid coming back in the fall. we need to do something now. don't chisel this program and cast iron. we're going to do this for a year. say if we don't have a major pandemic again come the fall, next winter, then we can cut back. but we do need infrastructure. people need to get together. host: i was going ask, what do you think the long-term benefits are for the approach that you're proposing? caller: well, money goes back into the economy. i mean, this is obvious. we need to rebuild our infrastructure, roads in some states are bad. i would also say, start thinking of activating national guard in some states. but then you have weapons involved, which is a tough

call. but if it is a w.p.a. federal program, i don't want total control over people, but we have a certain bit of control where people are told you need to social distance, etc., while you're working. we need to investigate china more. we have to get more proactive on that. i don't trust a country that is communist, marxist, maoist, dictatorship, whatever you want to call it. they have closed journalism there, so we need, the world needs to make china accountable. this is their virus. also, the idea, you know, we need to start opening up businesses, you give people $2,000 per month, where are you going to spend the money, ok? that doesn't go back into the economy. but we need to start thinking as americans, and i appreciate your time, pedro. i appreciate c-span. host: steve in massachusetts giving his thoughts. unrelated to covid-19, "the washington times" reporting a story by the associated press

on the latest in the killing of aumad aubrey saying the attorney general is looking into the case, saying we are committed to a complete and transparent review of how the case was handled from the outset. the family, the community and state of georgia deserve answers and will work with another law enforcement to find those answers. the story adding that all officials also say they arrested a 20-year-old man after the -- after investigating an online threat against the people investigating the killing. the georgia bureau of investigation on sunday said state police arrested a man and charged him with dissemination of information and was taken into custody. maria in washington, d.c., emocrats line, hi. caller: good morning. you know, i may not agree with the children amount, but i do agree that people need some

assistance, and here's the thing. callers are talking about, well, this will incentivize people not to go back to work. well, that is the idea. we are in the middle of a pandemic. and people are supposed to stay home. this is temporary. this is a temporary measure to help with a health emergency measure. and i don't know, some of these people who are talking about it are talking from the comforter their pension, from unemployment. i don't know if people are realizing that people are dying. there are 80,000 deaths. and i know that some people don't believe in these numbers. that's a whole different topic for another day. but this is the idea that people do not go outside, that ople stay home until these

pass. so yes, i do believe that a lot of people are hurting and that they would need that support. the amount is questionable, yes. but we cannot leave people hurting out there right now. we're in the middle of a pandemic. host: that's maria, washington, d.c., commenting on this proposal. during the last couple of weeks, especially in light of the coronavirus pandemic outbreak, we've had chances to talk to members of congress via zoom to get their perspective, not only on issues going on in their state, but the larger issues here in washington, d.c. joining us via zoom is representative adams, a democrat from north carolina, serves the 12th district, a member of the education and labor committee. good morning to you. guest: good morning. host: could you start by talking about what's going on in north carolina when it comes to coronavirus cases and where is the state currently. guest: well, we've got almost

5,000 cases in north carolina, less than 600 people have died. 63 of those individuals in my county in mecklenburg, where we've had about 1,900 cases. of course, we are right now testing in north carolina. we're trying to, particularly during this first phase that the governor has announced, we're going going to beef up the testing from about 700 to 0 to the health department wants to do about 1,800. so i think that will help, identify where many of the problems are. people are suffering in our state. of course, so many have lost their jobs. unemployment is way up.

and we have a lot of concerns about our businesses as well. our children are still out of school. and they're going to be out for the remainder of the school term. so we have a variety of issues here. but we're working through it. we've got our state, as well as our local government working with us on this issue. host: the first full week of phase one taking place in your state. did you agree with going to phase one, and what are your concerns as you stpwher week? guest: well, my concerns are always about safety. and whether or not people -- our folks in north carolina have, based on my observations, particularly in my district, have been very conscientious about keeping their distance,

about wearing masks and, you know, we continue to tell people to wash their hands. so i think people are really trying to adhere to that. a lot of people are anxious about wanting to get out. but then there are some folks who are still apprehensive about it. so we'll have to see. we have a partial opening in this phase, stores, some of the retail stores are open, or some of the businesses. but they must adhere to the standard that the governor has outlined in terms of the social distancing and so forth. so i think people are willing to do that. but there's still some folks who are a bit apprehensive about it. we're concerned about health and whether or not we'll have more people getting sick. but we'll have to see. we're just trying to move with caution.

and hopefully we won't see too many problems as we do that. our county health department has said this is not a time for people to go hang out at the mall and do those kinds of things. but we've opened places up so that assist people with some of the businesses they need. host: on the senate side, when the house is considering another round of stimulus package or help, some senators would say maybe it's time to evaluate the money that's already been distributed, seep how it's working, and then go from there to determining new amounts. what do you think of that argument, especially as the house is working on this new package? guest: i think we should always evaluate what we're doing, and i think this is one of the things that we tried to do as we issued the first cares package and the p.p.e., and the fact that it did not work for many of our small businesses, who some did not have those relationships with s.b.a., they

didn't have relationships with banks, and some of the big folks got out ahead and the little folks were left out. i just believe that our mom and our our singe proprietors small businesses, what i consider maybe four to 10 people or even less, are too small to fail. and so as we evaluate that, i sit on the committee with congressman waters, and we work with our small business committee in the house and found that we had to do some things, so we went back to re-evaluate it and to actually make some adjustments so that some of our small credit bureaus, some of our minority banks and so forth, would have an opportunity and would be empowered to work with some of these small folks too. but we have a pandemic, and i think we need to continue to

provide for our citizens, because this thing came upon them, and we asked them to close up their businesses, stay home, and i think we have an obligation to make sure that we keep our citizens afloat, and that's what we're trying to do. host: one of the things you talk about with your citizens, i read that you said that the pandemic exposed something you called the digital divide. can you elaborate on that? guest: well, one of the things that we know is that, certainly if we didn't know it, we know it now, i've always known it. i've worked in these communities for a long time. many of our young people, for example, who are out of school don't have the connections necessary. they don't have the hardware. they don't have the software. we don't have broadband in many of our communities. and so that means that our children will be left behind.

and many of these young people i'm talking about are young people in our minority communities, black and brown communities. so that's a grave discrepancy there, and we're going to have to fix that and make sure that there's equal access and opportunity for everyone regardless of what your zip code is, regardless what side of town you live in, or what town you live in, out of the counties we have here in north carolina. host: one of the committees that you serve on is the agricultural committee. what did you think. move recently by the white house mandating meat processing plants to stay open, and what are your concerns overall as far as food supply issues, particular when will it comes to meat? guest: well, i think we need to be very much concerned. it's about the fact that we have required these companies to open, and i understand that

there's a lot of concern about the economy. i certainly am as well. i'm certainly concerned about these businesses and the fact that we have farmers involved as well. but i think that when we require this opening, as the president has done, when we do that without any -- we can't go back to business as usual. i mean, i think we have to make sure that these are essential workers, obviously, and they need to be protected. we need to have essential protections for them, which is why i have written letters to the president, and i also filed a bill through the committee that i chair, workforce protections, that would allow n emergency to be put in place by osha so that we would be

able to make sure that there are mandatory protections in place for our workers and not just protect the president's order was vague at best. i did not think a lot about it because it did not protect our workers. these folks are coming into work, they are going back home, they are interacting with their families and other people in the community. we need to make sure that if we believe they are essential, we need to look out for them in an essential way and make sure they have essential protection. that is the problem you just put a rule out there and it is not enforceable, it does not benefit anyone. this temporary standard we are proposing through this bill will enable our workers to be

protected. i think people need to have that sense of security as they are going back to work. host: the republican national convention is set to take place in charlotte, north carolina. what are you hearing about if it will go through, what issues of safety are there as the months head toward the start of the convention? guest: i have heard the convention is still planning to come to charlotte. be -- the final decision will be up to our city government, our mayor and the city council. voted thatlready they will come. at that time, the pandemic was not in front of us. i am not real sure what will happen. our governor has closed the state, we are reopening in phases.

we are not sure what will happen. i believe it will be a big convention. we have to be concerned about people coming into our state and eric county from all parts of countiesry -- and our from all parts of the country. i think we have to be concerned about that aspect of safety in terms of health, but also safety in general with so many people. it is a large county. the largest in the state. we have a lot of small businesses, about 8000. there already a lot of people here. i don't have any real thoughts -- my thoughts have to do with safety, even before the pandemic. hatred seen a lot of across the country.

since we have had the pandemic, and even before. that withcerns about our city and our police department is working to make sure our citizens are safe. i think we will do that. as far as whether or not it will come off, i don't have any idea at this point. host: we are talking about a variety of issues with covid-19. we thank you for your time. much, thatk you very is north carolina. host: close to 10,000 federal workers have contracted coronavirus and we would hear from government executive eric katz. later on in the program, concerns about the impact on the election this november, prompting some democrats and

republicans to push for voting by mail. we will hear from the heritage foundation's hans von spakovsky on why he thinks that will not be a good idea. journalon ca continues after this. ♪ >> today, the supreme court continues hearing oral arguments via teleconference. issue,0 a.m. eastern, at whether the prosecution of a native american over crimes on tribal land. the justices hear a consolidated case. our lady of guadalupe school. and st. james school. it looks at whether the first amendment's religion clause -- today onme court, live c-span. c-span.org, or listen on the free c-span radio

app. immediately following the live supreme court session, join jeffrey rosen of the national constitution center, leading a live discussion with scholars. ♪ presidents, from public affairs. available now in paperback and e-book. biographies of every president, organized by the ranking, by noted historians, from best to worst. it features perspectives into the lives of our nation's chief executives and leadership styles. visit our website to learn more about each president and order your copy today, wherever books and e-books are sold. tonight on the communicators, the microsoft president, co-author of a new book, --

>> we need businesses to step up, exercise more self-regulation and a higher commitment to responsibility. we do think we need more regulation of technology. think about how we live our lives. if you go to the grocery store and you pick something off the shelf, you will read the nutrition label knowing it is standardized and accurate because of regulation. you go over to the pharmacy department and purchase a product, you don't worry about the safety of it because it is regulated. when you get in your car, it complies with certain safety standards, the same is true with an airplane. has goneechnology longer with less regulation than almost any technology since the middle of the 1800s. we think the market, customers and even the industry itself would be better served for the long-term term with a different balance. >> watched the communicators

tonight at 8:00 eastern on c-span two. ♪ television has changed since c-span began 41 years ago. our mission continues, to provide an unfiltered view of government. this year, we brought you primary election coverage, the presidential impeachment process, and now the federal response to coronavirus. you can watch all of c-span's programming on television, online, or listen on our free radio app and be part of the national conversation through c-span's daily washington journal program. c-span, created by private industry, america's cable television company as a public service, and brought to you by your television provider. >> washington journal continues. host: eric katz is a senior correspondent with the

publication government executive. he recently published a piece looking at federal employees and how they have been impacted by covid-19. good morning. guest: good morning. host: paint a picture overall or we are with the number of employees. guest: the number of employees who have tested positive is over 10,000, and that has been growing pretty rapidly. a lot of these workers are on the front lines. their exposure rates are pretty elevated. climb at an that pretty rapid rate. a lotfense department has of positive cases, veterans affairs, health care, employees have a lot of cases. the postal service is also up there. they are out there every day. interacting with customers, and doing the rounds. that has left them to fairly

high exposure. over 2 million federal employees here. it is to be expected there would be some cases. host: if you are saying front line people like the dod, like the postal service, what is the overall impact on the workings of federal government and are the concerns there? guest: the missions of these agencies are still being carried out. there are certain rules in place , and it varies by agency, to try to mitigate the impact of large numbers of employees getting sick or being quarantined due to exposure. we have seen some agencies put in very strict, sort of leave policies, so they don't have a shortfall of workers, or they are hiring more. at v.a. for example, they have and frontlinees

medical staff, but they are also making sure employees that might have exposure still work until they develop symptoms and test positive. seen agencies that are putting in some cases all of their efforts into response efforts. the homeland security department, for example, is taking on a big role in screening those who are coming fema is leading the charge. staffave a lot of deployed and helping to coordinate all of the shipments of ppe and things like that. a lot of agencies around government are focused on response efforts and some are

still trying to carry out the normal duties. the social security administration and agencies like that, making sure the normal functioning of government is still conducted. 28, 500 of april employees affected were with tsa. are there concerns over flightsafety if you have that kind of number of employees at tsa specifically who have covid? guest: that is a case or at the beginning, there was a concern. there were a lot of employees staying home because the agency was allowing anyone who felt like they might be at a high even reallyidn't need to prove it, they just had to express to their supervisor they did not feel comfortable coming in. that led to thousands of employees staying home. at this point, flight traffic is so low, they have more staff

than they need. those who are still going to work are working one or two days a week, or even a couple of days every other week, and being placed on paid administrative leave to be home. they are sort of adjusting to the fact that they are screening a fraction -- a small fraction of what they normally do. i have spoken to some tsa executives who say there is nothing for us to do right now. i think they have covered their basis. host: eric katz joining us for this conversation. we have divided the lines differently if you want to comment on federal employees and how they are being affected by covid. if you are a federal employee, the number is (202) 748-8000. if you are a contractor for the federal government, (202) 748-8001. all others, you can call us at (202) 748-8002. you can text us and tweet us

your comments. if i am a contractor, eric katz, how am i affected differently if i am not an employee of the federal government? guest: contractors here are in some cases operating under a different set of rules. they will not necessarily be subject to the same leave policies the government is implementing, which is not consistent across all agencies. cases, employees are eligible -- federal employees are eligible for certain things that contractors might not be. they are answering to a different boss in most cases. they have to follow their own company's guidelines. they might not be receiving the same sort of equipment that

employees do, although agencies have struggled to get masks and things like that distributed at a rapid rate across the board. work next toou somebody, you might be subject to a different set of rules. the contractors are probably used to that, but it is probably creating some weird dynamics in the office. host: eric katz, if i am a federal employee and i contract covid-19, and my required to stop working? guest: yes. theoretically, you should. if you test positive, you should be sent home immediately, or told to stay home, if you are already there. you will most likely have to take your own sick leave in order to continue getting paid. if you do not, you risk being placed on leave without pay.

some agencies are doing that differently. you are on administrative leave, so you don't take your own personal leave. generally speaking, yes, you do have to stay home, and in some cases, you will be asked -- in every case, eventually you will have to come back, and at some agencies it will be more quickly than others. at some agencies, you have seen once your fever has gone down for three days, you are asked to come back in. for some, it is a week or 10 days. it depends on where you are. you should not be working if you test positive. host: if other states are opening up their governments, isis pose there is a drive -- i suppose there is a move to reopen the federal government.

guest: there are federal facilities around the country. about 85% are outside of the washington area. government put out guidance about two weeks ago about how agencies should start to look at their reopening. lot two-state and local -- they differ a lot to state and local leaders. they are not prescribing necessarily when that should happen, exactly, at least they are not doing that yet. like you mentioned, that is creating some concerns among federal employees who are worried that they will have to proper -- before proper equipment can be provided

and certain steps can be taken so there is social distancing in place within the office, and what that means -- i have talked to employees who are worried about taking mass transit, how does that leave them exposed? employees are still scrambling to get masks and other things. employees don't necessarily want to sit in an office all day wearing a mask. a lot of these workers have been doing their jobs just fine from home and they don't see the rush to get back into the office, because they are still able to do everything they have to do, remotely. concerns andg some some of these offices, they are very crowded. beingis no way to avoid six feet apart if cubicles are

right on top of each other. people going see back in on a rotational basis, half on one week, half on another week. that has been floated. there are definitely some employees who are worried about what this will look like. host: federal employees, if you want to ask questions or give comments, (202) 748-8000. .or contractors, (202) 748-8001 for all others, (202) 748-8002 to have a conversation with eric katz. caller: good morning. my quick question was, how as employees isderal getting affected, can they take federal money, just like the working public, as far as people

who are on unemployment that are trying to get stimulus money or unemployment money. affectingt actually federal employees, as well? if you could answer that question, that is my first question. is, as far as,on does that take money from the taxpayers, as well? katz.mr. guest: the stimulus payments that congress authorized and president trump into law, federal employees are qualified based on their salary, than they would receive those payments. there was a carve out for federal employees in the first bill that was passed that was dealing with sick leave. most federal employees should be

eligible for the extra two weeks of sick leave if they get sick due to coronavirus. cases ofn't been any federal employees being laid off. there should not be -- at least on -- at least not on any widespread scale -- an uptick of unemployment among federal workers due to the coronavirus, like we have seen in so many other sectors around the country in the private sector. the federal sector is largely still working, still doing their jobs and not impacted in terms of unemployment. joseph, he joins us from california. go ahead. caller: good morning. think when everything was ok

-- there was no coronavirus, coronavirus showed [indiscernible] we claim to be the most powerful -- we havethe world, the highest number of deaths or affected people. we are suffering from a shortage of ppe. [indiscernible] is joseph in california. on,estion i will follow up if a federal employee has to go

into a workforce, is there enough ppe issued? guest: no. it depends on what agency you're in. it is getting better all the time. in terms of access to ppe. however, there are still agencies that are telling people they have to bring their own masks and things of that sort. we have heard a lot about food inspection, meat inspection plant or hotspots have developed, and hundreds of employees have tested positive and it is led to closures. there are federal inspectors in every single one of those plants and i have written a lot about them. they were not being provided masks until just a few days ago, they just started providing that led to and lot of employees getting sick.

a lot of federal inspectors getting sick. written a lot about shortages there, employees working in an emergency room were getting one mask per week, at best, one mask per shift, and thatis not always the n95 the cdc suggests. a bunch ofd employees for tax season. originally, they were not being provided masks, but eventually the irs was able to secure that. of ppe to shipments agencies that needed them for internal employees. up, helping more and more employees get that who need it. it has not been across the board

from the get-go. in some cases, it has been far short of that. host: this is from washington state. we will hear from don. caller: good morning. host: good morning. go ahead, please. caller: thank you for taking our calls. need to get back to life, work, school. this will start with federal workers from the top down. you shouldys told me not write a check you cannot cash. this will all run out at some time. another caller said it is all down from years of hard work. host: what would you like our guest to address specifically? caller: we need to work together and get this ppe under control and we all need to get back to

work. we have families of all color and all creed that are dealing with this throughout the whole nation. we have stores that have already shut down that are not coming back. host: that is don in washington state. startller said it has to with the federal government getting back to work. it is a really interesting point because there is that feeling out there that the federal government will set the tone. employeesked to many who have raised this point. obviously, president trump has been pushing the notion that we need to reopen the country, as he says, get everybody back to work who has been sent home. what does that mean? will he use the federal government as the guinea pig?

what we have seen so far is more that the federal government will follow the guidelines set by governors and state public health officials, and local leaders. tore has not been a drive make the federal government set the tone for everybody else. it has been more, what is going on in your area where your facility is and follow the guidelines that are being set in that area. that could change. there could be a nationwide push, but we are not seeing that yet. there has only been a few agencies that have started to recall employees. there were some that stated -- all agencies stayed open, there were only some that made employees continue go to the regular workstations because of the nature of their work, they had to be there. agencies wheree

their missions require employees to be there and they cannot work remotely. aher than that, it has been slow, small number that have come back into their offices. we are still waiting to see that ramp up. host: here's what the american federation of government employees had to say. this is about going back to business as usual. the preconditions include universal testing for covid-19, using science-based standards for the safe return to work sites, treating all workers equally, following cdc guidelines, removal of symptomatic employees and those reporting contact with infected employees. that is a long list. what is the likelihood the union will get all that? guest: it is a long list and somewhere where we are pretty far from checking all of those

boxes. it is unlikely we will have, for example, universal testing before federal employees go back to their offices. that would be ideal, obviously, but we have not ramped up the capacity for that yet in this country. that wouldw when happen, if ever, so i don't think that would be a prerequisite in terms of what this administration is looking for ticket employees back into their offices. -- is looking for to get employees back into their offices. isolating employees who have had exposure, that does it happen at every agency. of office a lot settings, that could be a policy implemented. providing the appropriate masks

and things like that, i think we are starting to see that more and more, like i described. some of these requirements -- some of these requests that the unions are asking for, i think will be implemented. there has been an adversarial relationship between the administration and the employee union. the way this will get bargained over will be interesting to see. they have not always agreed on even what should be negotiated over the past several years. that will be something to keep an eye on. obviously, the union wants to look out for its members. that could lead to some tension. next fromill hear wisconsin. david, hello. caller: good morning.

how are you doing? host: fine, thank you. go ahead. caller: i would like to stress the point of gloves. i am talking about a nice pair of knit gloves that you can buy o $12.re from $2 t they have rubber on the front side, you can use hand cleaners or spray them with lysol. they are very handy, very comfortable. i believe the virus will keep spreading until we wear gloves to protect ourselves and masks to protect others, and get back to work. host: that is david in wisconsin. we have a viewer on twitter. measuring his of people are home teleworking is productivity remains the same? guest: some of this will take

some time to measure. it will be a retrospective look. in some early cases, we have seen productivity staying where it was or even going up. there was an anecdote out of the social security administration that they were reducing their backlog. pretty much everyone in the agency is working from home, they have had a lot of cases built up over disability checks, eligibility. they have started plugging away at that and getting through it. in some agencies it won't be possible, whether it is administrative hearings that have to happen, some of those are happening over zoom and teleconference and things like that, but a lot of them cannot happen when they not meeting in person. in some cases, that will lead to more backlogs piling up.

for the most part, what we have heard and seen is, agencies are continuing to focus on their mission and get the job done. there has been some cases, at irs for example, tens of thousands of employees were not set up for telework. they did not have agency laptops, they did not have the proper equipment, they are actually not even working at all. nowlked to some employees who say it has been weeks since have been home. they say they have been ready and willing to for telework but they have not been set up. other agencies around government, there are rules about classified information, where you have to be in a certain protected facility in order to look at documents. they don't have that set up for home.

some of that work is either not being conducted or the employees have to still go in in order to do it, so that has created complications in terms of normal workflow. like i said, for the most part, the work is getting done. upperthis is from marlboro, maryland. gloria, good morning. caller: good morning. i was not sure you were talking to me. my name is gloria. i am very comforted by the fact that america seems to be going proudhe experts, i am so of our governors, my governor, especially. governor hogan, if i got to shake his hand, you have almost persuaded me to be a republican. i don't think we know enough about this virus to be rushing people back to work. it is atand

multifaceted problem, but the bird in the white house has to understand his next campaign to remain president, and i hope he does not succeed in that because he has done such astronomical harm. host: since we are dealing with topics of federal employees, do you have something specific to ask our guest? caller: the specific thing i would ask our guest is if people are forced back to work too soon, federal employees, mom-and-pop businesses, whatever, what is the cost if we wind up losing everything we have gained? we don't have enough testing, we don't have enough masks, we don't have enough anything. why are we not adjusting to the emergency instead of putting people in harm's way? thank you. guest: there is certainly a risk

of going back to soon. we have seen that in federal offices and places across the country, where employees effective continue working, that hotspots can develop. federal offices are not immune to that. possibility,e that and it is possible that agencies would reopen and then after a few weeks, realize it is not safe and then have to close again. this administration would really not like to see that happen. you cannot rule it out. i mentioned this earlier, many of the -- many of these offices are crowded, there are hundreds or thousands of employees, especially in offices in d.c., in some cases there are tens of thousands of employees going into them, and they are funneled into small entranceways often,

and there are common areas. there is only so much you can do to spread out and ensure employees -- there are only a few going into an elevator and things of that nature. there are concerns about reentering too soon. we have talked about what the unions are looking for before that happens. some of the demands they are making. like i said, i don't think all of those will be met. we will have to see once the agencies start bringing employees back, we will be kee ping an eye on whether there is an uptick in cases of federal workers. host: one of the subsets of the pandemic is the effectiveness of the postal service. what are the concerns about the postal service at this time? guest: the postal service is

dealing with this crisis on multiple fronts. we talked at the beginning about employeesmber of usps who have contracted the virus, though not a huge percentage based on the size of their workforce. they are also facing a financial crisis. the postal service has been dealing with financial issues for about a dozen years. that is when it really started to hit, at least, where they were losing money year after year. some of this is based on certain constraints that are placed on them by congress and the way they have to operate. ongely, a lot of it is based their business model, it is changing and evolving and people don't send as much mail as they used to. that is being exacerbated by this crisis, the economic fallout from this pandemic is

being felt all across the country. andle are sending less mail that is hurting the agency. they have anticipated tens of billions of dollars in losses, and a huge mail volume decreased because of the pandemic and they are asking congress for financial assistance. any services do not receive from congress. they are all funded from you ,uying stamps and sending mail packages and things like that. they want financial assistance, aey want a laon, they want , that hastion amounted to about $75 billion they have asked for. the president has been very reluctant.

democrats and congress are pushing to accept that assistance, but republicans and the white house are pushing back. president trump has an issue he has pushed for years that the postal service should raise its rates to get more money, and there are mixed thoughts on what that would mean for the agency. so far, they are at a standstill. there is expected to be a push in the next bill that congress passes to include the postal service to help alleviate some of these concerns, but the president so far has said it is a no go for him. others are pushing for more comprehensive reform if the postal service is to get this appropriation. host: eric katz, a senior correspondent for government executive, we thank you for your time. guest: thank you for having me. host: we started talking about a

proposal by three democratic senators to offer a $2000 monthly payment to most americans during the pandemic. markeynsor, senator ed from massachusetts. an interview he did with a boston new station, he talked about this proposal. [video clip] >> right now, we are in the midst of the greatest economic downturn of our lives. >> massachusetts editor ed markey, along with kamala harris and bernie sanders, proposed legislation that would send americans a check every month until this health emergency is over. >> americans need more than one payment. >> the bill would provide $2000 per month for every individual with an income under $120,000 per year. married couples would receive $4000. the legislation would give payments to all u.s. residents, even if they don't have a social security number. >> that money is the life raft

that will help families to make it through this health-care crisis. 9:00,our next guest at until then we want to get your thoughts on this proposal. tell us why. (202) 748-8000 is the line for democrats. .epublicans, (202) 748-8001 .ndependents, (202) 748-8002 we will take those calls, tweets and texts when washington journal continues. >> the supreme court continues hearing oral arguments by teleconference. issue, whether the prosecution of a native american for crimes committed on tribal land is subject to exclusive federal jurisdiction. the justices will then hear a consolidated case. it looks at whether the first amendment's religious clause prevents federal courts from

taking up employment claims against religious employers. today onme court, live c-span, on demand on c-span.org, or listen on the free c-span radio app. immediately following the live supreme court session, see jeffrey rosen leading a live discussion with scholars. ♪ changed sincehas c-span began 41 years ago. our mission continues. to provide an unfiltered view of government. already this year we brought you primary election coverage, the presidential impeachment process, and now federal response to the coronavirus. you can watch all of our public affairs programming on television, online or listen on our free radio app. be part of the national conversation through c-span's daily washington journal program, or through our social media feed.

c-span, created by private industry. as a public service, and brought you today by your television provider. washington journal continues. sanders,ator bernie senator kamala harris and senator ed markey coming out with a proposal for a $2000 monthly payment through the course of the coronavirus pandemic. here are some of the specifics for those making under $120,000. it would continue for three months following the pandemic. for those filing jointly, they would receive $4000. $2000 per child for up to three children would be included. no recent tax filings are required and no social security number is required. you can give your comments until then :00. ore number is (202) 748-8000 f

democrats. republicans01 for and (202) 748-8002 four independents. washington, d.c., you are first. caller: good morning. is ank the $2000 stimulus leastmotivator to at stimuli stay economy. ofhink the annual income certain people they want to qualify for it, i think that is a little high. $150,000, iing don't think they should receive a $2000 a month stimulus if they are not in a position as far as losing a job, or if they are not behind with their bills. i think it should focus more on bottom,o are at the

because you have a lot of brown, black, white, poor, low income people who are working in these 49 per hour jobs. people working mcdonald's, burger king, you have construction workers that are underpaid. you have a lot of people that are out there that are making it and you have a lot of people who are struggling. one more thing about the postal service -- host: we will stick to this topic. rochester, new york. republican line. caller: that sounded like a typical democrat right there. i have never been a republican until the democrats forced me to be. what this is -- america needs to get back to work. i have had it up to my eyeballs with this covid-19 hyped up b.s.

so the democrats can shut this country down and destroy the economy. the best candidate the democrats have is a virus. idea,does the payment what is wrong with the proposal? caller: it is a socialism trial run for an idiot democratic voter. maryland,idge, independent line. caller: i keep hearing things from your listeners that disturbed me, like they are not paying attention. one of your callers said we don't know much about the coronavirus. point of fact, we know many things because we have been told by experts. one thing we know is there are multiple strains of the coronavirus, multiple differential strains. the other thing we have been told is each one of these is weaponized.

they have told us exactly how they have been weaponized. host: what you think of the proposal by the senators? caller: until these labs that are producing these weapons are shut down, i don't know why anyone is even talking about getting a check in the mail. host: let's go to eve on our line for democrats in grand rapids, michigan. caller: good morning, thank you for taking my call. i would like to say to those people, i think they need to go classnd take a civics because we are the government. we the people are the government. if we say it is our right for people to get paid through this pandemic, they should be getting paid through this pandemic. the people who are sitting in their basement and making millions of dollars per day, and you have people on the front they making $9, i think

should be paid that amount and then some. this money is passed down. this is our money. host: that amount monthly up to the point where the pandemic subsides, you are ok with that timeframe? if so, what is that? caller: i am ok with it because it is saving lives. there are a lot of people who are actually afraid to go out of their house because of the pandemic. all of these other people the want to walk around with their guns and talk about the fact the country should be opening up, let them go out and work, let them give their life. we have had young people die, older people, middle people who have died from this virus. host: let's hear from maryland, hello. caller: hi. i have an idea i want to put out there. some people need the help and

some people don't. $1200 and iet my gave it away. given,t stimulus that is i think people should be given the opportunity -- if they take it, there is a payback. [indiscernible] apologize, you can try back again if you like, your signal is really breaking up. see if you can get to another part of the house and get a better connection and give us a call back and see if we can improve the signal. washington state, republican line. go ahead. caller: good morning. as a citizen of this free country, i am disheartened, maybe even disgusted, by hearing people advocate ice cream for everybody based on the government decree of guaranteed income. this is going to be perpetual. when you hear for the duration

of the virus, for the timeframe, what is the timeframe? it is ambiguous, it is in the abstract. there is no way to tell how long it will last. what about the next virus one year later, whatever the case is? we cannot go down that road. i work out of my home, i am self-employed, so i am naturally quarantined, i can continue to work. for me, it is about what i can do for my country, not what my country could do for me. host: what did you think about the initial stimulus amount, $1200? caller: i don't qualify, i am self-employed. host: what about the proposal for the americans who got it? caller: i want everyone to have what they did, but that is another thing, when they say people who can afford it, they don't need a. who makes that decision? someone might have high medical expenses. who is the one who points around and says you get it, you don't

get it. it makes absolutely no sense. we cannot go down this road. there is nothing in the constitution, the 10th amendment does not allow the government to do this, it does not allow the government to pick winners or losers. walmart is a company on wall street, you can stay open, or home depot. restaurant,and-pop it is going to fall through your fingers and vaporize. int: we will go to john illinois, independent line. caller: i hope that is me. host: that is you. caller: the irony of people complaining that everything goes to the 1%, and then some of it comes to them, and now we are outraged. just loadedis, we up the right side of the balance sheet, trillions and trillions of dollars.

the asset side of the balance sheet has not risen, there are a lot of issues. the money on the right side has to go over to the left side, that imbalance has to be dealt with. one way to do it is to give people money and let them spend it. it will go right back into the financial institutions, or they can donate it. if they don't want the money, they can donate it. say ask thing, people what your country can do for you, that stuff, you have to read the preamble. the preamble confirms it is dout what this country can for its citizens. host: one of the points you made to this idea of giving money directly to the people, we had a few callers talk about this idea of printing money just to resolve a short-term problem,

but it leaves a longer-term problem. caller: the money has already been printed. it has already been released. all of these big stimulus packages, they are only on the right side of the balance sheet. there is no way you can have trillions and trillions and trillions of financial securities and very little assets on the others. all of that cash is going to come across, or it is going to blow up. you have two choices -- you will either blow up the economy when the financial assets collapse again. we bailed out the mortgage industry. we could have just given up and given everyone a mortgage. these corrupt guys don't deserve your money. host: let's go to pennsylvania, democrat line. think the government passing out this money would just make our money worthless. i am on a fixed income.

i mean, i just can't see the government passing out all this money this way. we are breaking our government at the same time, and then we are making our money worthless. buts easy to print money, what will it be worth? i am on a fixed income. ofave watched the prices things go up over the years. to have products, you used get 10 pounds of sugar in a bag, now you get eight pounds. all it will do is add to inflation. chuck in's go to georgia, republican line.

absentee ballots are

people who are disabled. there is no reason to switch to an all-male election given we don't know what the health thattions will be like doubt we will all be at home. you heard many times that five states do this. work.they seem to why not apply this on a national scale? the problems you see with absentee ballots would be magnified. what they find from that is

absentee or mail ballots, millions of them in prior elections have been misdirected. they were mailed to the wrong address of voters. many were rejected by election officials. there is no election ballot. they put them on the mail. they never saw them again. that is one of the many problems with these ballots. they are many instances of that occurring.

the heritage foundation. i don't think it's a wise policy. was it ever enough to sway the election? were the heads results skewed on a grand scale? guest: i can cite you numerous cases. look at the 20 18th congressional races. there was one contested race in north carolina. a political consultant hired by the republican candidate was going to homes and collecting their ballots. in instances, filled out the ballot so the voters were filling it out. they forged signatures. in indiana, this is not a

theisan issue, in 2004, indiana state supreme court overturned an election in a small town. absentee ballot fraud and pressure being brought on voters to vote a certain way involving ballots in a democratic primary. our guest is with us until 9:30. for the eastern and central town zones. (202) 748-8001 for the central zurich -- mountain in western time zones. you brought up something the washington post editors take a look at. they could put reasonable limits on ballot harvesting. that is when third parties

collect. voter fraud is extremely rare in the united states. guest: that depends at how you're looking at it. it can make the difference in close elections. we have them all the time. they're been numerous cases of absentee ballot fraud. the other thing people need to keep in mind, wisconsin just held a very successful election. people voted absentee and in least 300,000. the state put in safety protocols, everything from social distancing to sanitizing voting materials and voting booths. they took all the steps and more.

they are the same in grocery stores and pharmacies. sayingas a report issued there has been no surgeon covid-19 infections. the turnout was almost equivalent to the turnout in the 2008 presidential primary when there was a very heated contest we have the ability to hold elections. you have to put security protocols in place. want to stayo home, we have the ability to do that. host: the first call comes from wisconsin. you are on the line. caller: good morning. i have a comment. we had a spike in cases after that election.

"think your use of the word successful" is pretty abhorrent. your try to contact about voter fraud examples. it i would like for you to do is walk us through a case of one person committing voter fraud. why they would do this for one vote and risk a felony and how they would do this? i've never been able to get anybody to walk through what the point would be for one person to risk felony for one vote. i think this is voter suppression. please walk why one person would do this. the medical report suggests and people can easily find it, there has been no spike

in covid-19 as a result of the election. by people from stanford. motives, an individual stealing votes, i can't give you that. you would have to ask those people why the married couple who we just added to our voter fraud database. if you believe there is no voter fraud, i would urge you to look at the website. we have a database of proven cases. people convicted in a court of law. one person was convicted in massachusetts.

they voted absentee ballot in new hampshire. you would have to ask them. some people are willing to commit fraud. host: in washington, pennsylvania. you are next. is ir: my statement believe this could turn into some voter fraud, maybe large amounts. i don't know. my statement is this. we have an election voting in more than one day? that,ocial distancing and why is it they have to be done on one day? is there a possibility of another way of voting? thank you for taking my call. can do that,

depending on what state you live in. inas was the first to put early voting, which is opening a smaller number of polling places prior to election day. stateswo thirds of the allow early voting. the amount of time varies. ore states, it's only a week two. it depends on where you live. it's up to that state to decide whether they want early voting or not. the majority of states have decided to do that. one of the problems with early voting, particularly during if you already voted, you wasted your vote. thatn fortunate example of

, we had a super tuesday primary in march. we had a dozen states holding presidential primaries. before, theyays dropped out of the race. these people in the states that have early voting already started. there were hundreds of thousands of ballots cast. they were no longer on the ballot. they wasted their vote. that's one of the problems with early voting. host: hello. caller: good morning. how are you? believe there will be voter from, especially from california and new york.

that's way they are harvesting and putting them in motels. that's my comment. i think a lot of people here the term folder harvesting. they don't quite know what it means. state, you can vote by absentee ballot. you can request a ballot. back,n either mail it return it yourself, a member of your family can return it. states, they have legalize it anybody can show up at your door and pick up your ballot. the problem with that is you are giving access to a very valuable commodity.

all of them have a state in the outcome of the election. that political gun for hire in north carolina was charged with several felonies. host: if you track it through the post office, would there be more security? guest: yes. i don't think you should allow voter harvesting. members of your family should be able to deliver your ballot.

allowing third parties to do that, it's not a good idea. male is yourith handing the election over to the post office. reports of election systems that show millions of ballots being misdirected to the wrong address. viewers could talk about getting mail at their home intended for other individuals. are using the absentee ballot, that's going to happen. sherry, good morning from eureka. hello? let's go to lee. lee is in new york.

did morning. caller: hello. host: you are on. caller: i think there is an ulterior motive to all of this. it would mean one party would be -- never mind. what i wanted to say was just like the census, they don't want you to put on whether you are a citizen or not. the same thing with this. everyone should be able to have an id card free of charge and it should be mandated. thank you. ?ost: guest: new york does not have an id requirement. say there are a couple of states that put in an id requirement for absentee ballots.

it's an easily met requirement. it's one of the ways to handle this. if you have a drivers license already from the state or an id justissued by the state, put the serial number on the absentee ballot request form. that's one way of trying to ensure the integrity of the process. this provides a free id for the small number of americans who don't already have an id that would qualify. host: can we get your reaction to california being a vote by mail state. guest: i said that's a mistake. example, oregon is cited as this great example of

an all vote by mail election. a professor at one of the state universities there did a survey. surveyed individuals admitted that someone else had filled out their ballot. 2.5% admitted someone had signed their ballot. that may sound like a small number, if that was true for the rest of the state, you were talking about thousands of ballots other than the voter. someone besides the voter sign it did not get caught by election officials. that illustrates one of the problems with by mail elections. host: does that include that those were outside their family? was this done for fraud cases? guest: it doesn't answer that.

if someone else assigning your ballot, that's fraud. if someone else's filling out the ballot, that's not the way our system works. you can't do that within person voting. that's not a good idea to have those security problems in the voting process. if somebody can take advantage of it, they will. the mayor of a small town in alabama last year was removed from office because he engaged in anentee ballot fraud election he won by 16 votes. he was convicted of fraud and removed from office. the election was overturned. it to affect the voters. massachusetts, hello. caller: i have a question.

dead people voting through guardianship situations. bundles.called democrats and republicans are buying the bundles to allow dead people to vote. the elderly are being targeted, especially in this pandemic. there are so many people in nursing homes that are such high risk of losing their lives. there are so many issues. i will hear your answer off-line , to see if you are aware of what i'm talking about. their rights when guardians are appointed to take over their lives.

it's a nightmare that's got to stop. i just want to age gracefully like my mother did. god bless you. stay safe. concern when it absentee balloting. we had a caller earlier from pennsylvania. they have the dishonor of absen. we had a having a former congressman who was convicted of voter fraud. it is he was going into nursing homes and voting the absentee ballots of nursing homes. there are too many examples of that. i did a case study that i voterhed about a specific fraud prosecution in chicago in which one of the techniques that was party activists

andg into nursing homes voting the balance of nursing homes who were not competent to vote on their own. that is a particular problem. the all delete are victims of this. also, people who are poor. individualseral were convicted of absentee ballot voter fraud in troy, new york. wasconsultant who convicted, they stole absentee ballots from registered voters. targeted a low income housing neighborhood. one of the consultants who was , these individuals

were people who were least likely to noticed it had been stolen and least likely to complain about. stealwho are willing to votes or commit fraud, they are often targeting the elderly and people in low income neighborhoods. mail legalok to documents, it's not ok to vote. our signature is our id. guest: i can cite to him cases of fraud in new york, including that one or very big cases in brooklyn county. i wrote a case study about that. there was and is no id

requirement. that allowed impersonators to go into the polls to vote in the name of people who had moved out of state or were still on the voter rolls. it's just not the case. host: what about the idea of a signature being a confirmation? --st: the problem with that i will give you an example. i was in oregon some years ago. at a meeting of election the head of the oregon elections was talking about how wonderful their system was. another official from another state leaned over to me and said he voted three times.

she was registered under her maiden name and her married name. if i falsely register five times under five different names, that is easy to do in a lot of states and i request five ballots under those five different names, my signature will match. host: terri is in illinois. caller: good morning. excuse me. i have one idea. fingerprints, you've got to put your fingerprint. then you go in later to vote. i think that would stop the problem. on the thing i heard in california, a republican that was running for

a seat was ahead of the democrat. they were going to have a booth set up in the county that was on lockdown. host: we will have to wait there. ahead. interestings a very idea. when i was in the department of justice, we worked with a person who had been in charge of election fraud and campaign finance cases for over 30 years. ballots, when the signatures were forged, those were tough to prove. they had to bring in a handwriting expert to compare the signatures. even if they showed someone had stolen the ballot and forged the

signature, they could not find out who it was. he suggested it would be great if it absentee ballot form had an area where you could push down your thumb and put your thumb print on it the way you can these days. it would be easy to tell. to find the ability forger. it's not a bad idea. a lot of people are leery about giving the government there fingerprint. host: this is the heritage foundation joining us, talking about absentee voting. we thank you for your time. guest: thanks for having me. i hope everyone stays well out there. host: we will hear another perspective from amber mcreynolds. she is the ceo of the vote from home institute.

that conversation is coming up on washington journal. >> the supreme court continues hearing arguments be a teleconference. 10:00, whether the prosecution of a native american for crimes committed on tribal land is subject to federal jurisdiction. the justices here consolidated cases. this looks at whether the first amendment prevents federal courts from taking up employment discrimination claims against religious employers. humiliate following the live supreme court session, join the

national constitution center with a live discussion with scholars. television has changed since c-span began. continues, to provide an unfiltered view of government. we brought you primary election coverage. now, the federal response to the coronavirus. you can watch public of their programming on tv. you can be part of the national conversation through c-span's washington journal program or through our social media feeds. c-span, created by private industry as a public service and brought to you by or television provider. >> tonight, brad smith from

microsoft. >> we need businesses to step up and exercise more stuff regulation and a higher commitment to responsibility. we think we need more regulation of technology. think about how we live our lives. store,go to the grocery you will read the nutrition label knowing it is standardized and accurate because of regulation. you go to the pharmacy and buy a product. you don't worry about the safety because it is regulated. car, theret in your are certain safety standards. digital technology has gone longer with less regulation than almost any technology since the 1800s. bethink the industry would better served for the long-term.

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host: a little bit about your organization, who supports it? 501(c)(3)are a nonpartisan nonprofit. we have been in existence for 2.5 years. our goal has been to help states improve the vote by mail process. host: one of the issues you deal with is the idea of voter fraud. what is your experience looking at the system overall. are there cases of fraud? system that includes a lot of human beings and processes has inherent risks. we recognize the need. this is the focus of ours, to

ensure the security measures are bad actorso detect and hold them accountable. not only protect the system, but protect voters. we need to make sure that voters are not intimidated, they have a safe process. thatd example of where wasn't the case was north carolina. it's important we build security measures in and we recommend various practices including ballot tracking, signature verifications so we can detect bad actors that are trying to interfere with the individual experience. host: the previous guest talked about ballot harvesting. what should be done about that? ballot harvesting is a term that hasn't been in the

election terminology for a long amount of time. --is a newer term that that surfaced in 2016. we have to have security measures in place. you notuld not include being able to let your husband or your neighbor or friend help you with your ballot. people will help each other out and do that. that issueake sure came up. one of the reasons it happened north carolina was the individuals did not have many options. they did not have access to a lot of different dropbox is drought the community. because of all of those individual voters, they will

take advantage of that situation. of five badesult actors. it was election fraud done to voters. those are the things we have to make sure our secured. because of the coronavirus, are you advocating for a nationwide vote by mail system? guest: what we advocate for is a convenient, accessible, secure process for every election. what i was able to help with in colorado, yesterday was the seven-year anniversary, we designed a system that put voters first. the goal was to see dreamliner the process and make sure voters had a safe process. it was also dated driven. voters were asking for it.

we adjusted our system not to be all vote by mail. we send a ballot to every electorate. person voting. ballot.e of an off we are going to send a ballot. the election administrators, if you want to choose a different option or vote in person, you can still do that. that streams line -- streamlines the process. enhancellowed us to what exists throughout the process, to make sure our system is secure. that's an example of what we are trying to do. we don't say universal vote imail.

we want voters to have the option. there should not be different versions of that like there are now across the country in different states. host: if you want to ask a question, (202) 748-8000 for the eastern and central time zones. (202) 748-8001 for the mountain and specific time zones. you are on with our guest. go ahead. the guy before you, he said mail goes to the wrong place. have special envelopes the postman would pay more attention to? -- that's about it. host: ok. guest: thank you for your

question. it's a great question. it's something we've been working on with some of our strategic partners. they've been doing is helping stated local officials around the country redesign their envelopes so it's very obvious as to what it looks like. instructions and everything about the envelope are clear. every single envelope that goes a stamp that the post office applies and all of election officers are required to apply. that is the identifier. the other enhancement that some states have made, this is something we started back in

denver, things like ballot tracking systems. that's a system that allows you to track your palate like you would a ups package. ballot like you would a ups package. on its wayere it is to you and when you return it. enhances, things that it would give voters that accountability to know where it is. host: this is from daniel in north carolina. hello. caller: how are you doing? amber forke to thank her work. you could vote up to election day. that's not going to happen if we

-- if we don't online voting were each citizen is issued a number which everyone finds secure. everyone is issued an id card. they can vote. computer,ote on the your information is long to, not just your name and id card number. computer,ey use the that's an easy opportunity for fraud detection. they only do one third of the votes online anyway. host: would you go as far as vote by internet? guest: security efforts have suggested that the internet system is not quite ready yet for the population to utilize. i appreciate the question.

it's important for us to continue to find solutions that serve others. estonia is smaller than the united states. state byry is state by voting. if you implement a national system across the internet, it's vulnerabilities than what we are ready for. situation, it is different by state, it's part of the federalist process that we have. all of those rules and regulations are different. is we have toay have a safe secure process. accessible, it has to serve military voters in difficult parts of the world, it

home, serve voters at voters that might have transportation issues to get to the location. we have to have a system like we talk about. we also have to have an accessible way to transfer or deliver that ballot to voters who need it. there are different examples of that around the country. to continue to improve. highlighting new ways of doing things, that's important. the critical value we have to make sure of is security. to look for new ways of doing things. are we ready for that? the answer is no.

host: we have a viewer off twitter. there is something about getting ready to go to the polling place. i know you talk about a lot of different avenues, some people -- you have to make widespread changes. great about this is while we mail a ballot to everyone automatically, most voters that have used this a lot, they prefer to drop the ballot off. they can vote at home with extra time, research issues, they can do all of that home and take their time over a few days. then they can drop it off. we see a ton of people drop balance off. there are boxes located at city

hall's or libraries. see that the voters prefer to drop off that ballot in person. we want to make sure they have those options. if she would like to vote in person on a machine or on a paper ballot, you can still do that. there is no such thing as all vote by mail. host: from florida, we will hear from vince. the postal service cannot forward the ballot. it comes to the person. if they are not there, if they moved, it is not forward a bolt. it will be returned to the post office and then it goes to the

election commission. misdirecting available going on. that's just a misnomer. it's another slam against the post office. i don't know if anybody has heard of this, there is a free speech television. it's been there for 25 years. host: ok. thanks. anything to respond to that? guest: he brought up a great point about balance. we get asked this a lot, if they move what happens. they're are not forwarded like other male. one of the pieces of this that we advocate for, how do addresses, what does voter registration look like on the front end.

it used to be accurate and needs to be updated. for your election office to send you a ballot, will registration matters. voters keeping things up to date matters. offices, by using the change of address database from the post office, all of tot so voters don't have fill out another piece of paper. the address is critical to the success of the system. paramounto, that was in what we designed, to automatically update collectively so we would correct things going to the wrong address. sure ballots get to where they need to be. it take toong does

incorporate the system? right now, every single state has some form of absentee or mail in voting. this goes back to the civil war. tested process. americans have utilized this over a long time. this mostly existed in the western half of the united states. they have perfected the systems over time. we have enhanced the addressing. created this. in colorado, when we went to this kind of voting, a lot of

did not have those things they now offer. what i think the real votersnity for states, are choosing to vote this way. it's not like election officials are forcing this. the volume up take is inevitable. we want to be ready for that. we can look to states who have done this before and developed best practices. this ensures the election goes smoothly this year. that is one of our main focus points. states and it right. there are plenty of directions where it's been done well. we want to make sure everyone

does it well. we saw in north carolina in 2018. the website is vote at home.org. we will hear from bob in florida. caller: how are you doing? i was curious. do the polling stations across when we cast our why isn't there a democrat and republican at every polling station when we do the counting so there is no discrepancy? that's a great question. i'm glad you brought it up. these are variances by state. they are driven by regulations. colorado, it's required that

there be bipartisan balance at all sensors. it's a requirement. you do have that balance. if the supervisor is a democrat, the assistant has to be republican to balance out the reports. thing is you have a centralized process in place. opportunity to make it more transparent. location, youcure do have bipartisan teams. in colorado, a lot of states have different rules and regulations around that. the system is transparent. there are teams engaging in the voters in the field.

they make sure that confidence exists and let's observers see everything. process streaming the online so you can watch from afar. it really matters in terms of the confidence in the election process. host: richard is in new mexico. --ler: i would like to say host: are you there? richard, we are going to put you on hold. you are breaking up in a severe way. let us see if we can get a better signal for you. kurt is in indiana. caller: good morning.

i have a couple of comments. suspicious that he was brought on as an expert in anything other than voter suppression. he's been cited by federal judges for lying in court about to munication's. in regard to the heritage foundation to the attorney general -- host: that guest is gone. you have a new guest to speak with. please comment on the article by the washington post this weekend and had to do with the president and first lady changing their domicile and florida, where they are legally unable to reside. i did not read that

article. it's hard for me to comment on that. really think i would say is from state to state. there is some difference. states are responsible for that. i would have to take and low bit further when i read the article. host: for someone who studies voting on a larger scale, are you concerned about a drop in pertussis because of covid-19? guest: yes. it's interesting is we have historical precedents. 1920, theo back to spanish flu was ravaging the country in the world. it was historically low.

it's one of the lowest on record. it's one of the lowest on record. it was the movement to get the 19th amendment ratified at the same time. a lot of historians have looked at that. it could have not happened. n example from 100 years ago. what we've seen over the last few months, it exposes the anderabilities that exist the reliance on in person voting. that have get states requirements around absentee voting and mail-in voting. voters need a safe and secure way to vote. opportunity, is an it's a significant challenge for this election subsite -- cycle. we can improve how states of an operating with absentee voting.

operating withn those policies and procedures. there is a huge opportunity for improvement. my team and all of us have been working on a new report we will release later this week. it analyzes and does a deep dive into these different procedures and policy issues in every state. there are significant issues. states need to address this ahead of november 2 ready for and vote in absentee from home options. voters are choosing it in record numbers. we just saw that in michigan. nebraska, record turnout and record numbers of mail-in voting. voters are opting in.

out parties are sending applications across the country. the increase is inevitable. we have to make sure that officials are ready for that significant volume increase they will see in the fall. host: we've got just about a minute with our guest. what is the potential cost? it varies by state. it will depend on where that state currently is in terms of how many absentee ballots they have or what the system looks like. they may have already implemented certain bits of equipment. analyzed the state of michigan, we took a look at what their current structure is and how that can handle a volume increase.

the difficulty in michigan it is decentralized. there are 1500 local officials. in a state like michigan where there are so many local officials, it's extremely difficult because the equipment and the structure has to be implemented. had is forideas we states to contemplate centralizing some of these operations, maybe they do it at the county level. they do signature verification, they scan everything in a central place. that is one way to do it. it hasn't been done in many places. that is one way to contemplate this. the estimate we came up with for

just that piece of the election was approximately $35 million. thato share with people the whole end-to-end, the cost of that is usually about two dollars per ballot. if you think about that, that's the cost. had we have that huge issue. that is something the vendors are trying to coordinate and figure out. i want to remind viewers the census just went out, three different mailers across the country. that was done by multiple vendors.

it was produced by the federal government. with are ways to do this high volume and high integrity to make sure every american has an opportunity. , we thankr mcreynolds you for your time today. guest: thanks for having me. host: we are going to take you to the supreme court. the supreme court continues to cases. two cases that will be heard, the first is at 10:00. it's about native american land. the second will be about religious freedom. after the session, stick around for a discussion about the arguments. that will include experts from the national constitution center. websitego to our c-span.org.

>> oyez! oyez! oyez! all persons having business before the honorable, the supreme court of the united states, are admonished to draw near and give their attention, for the court is now sitting. god save the united states and this honorable court! argument first this morning, number matt, state mac, -- >> may it please the court, this case is revolves