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Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine says he likely wouldn't have voted for stimulus package

Speaking at the City Club of Cleveland forum on Friday, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said that he likely wouldn't have voted for the federal COVID-19 relief package.

CLEVELAND — Mike DeWine isn't a U.S. Senator anymore.

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But if he were, the now-Ohio Governor says he likely wouldn't have voted for the $1.9 trillion coronavirus (COVID-19) federal relief package that was signed into effect by President Joe Biden last week.

"No, probably not," DeWine answered when asked by former 3News Senior Political Correspondent Tom Beres if he would have voted for the relief package during a City Club of Cleveland Forum on Friday. "I wish that it would have been a bipartisan deal. I think when you're dealing with things like this, it is better for the country if we can pull people together.

"I think we would have all been better off with a bipartisan bill. I think some of the parts of it, I certainly would have agreed to. But I'll be candid with you, I'm no longer in the senate. I'm not studying those bills every day. I'm not living every day it. I'm focused on what we're doing in Ohio."

DeWine served as a U.S. Senator representing Ohio from 1995-2007.

The Ohio Governor isn't the only Republican in the state to express his concerns with the stimulus package, which no Republican member of Congress voted for. Earlier this week, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced that he was filing a lawsuit against the Biden Administration over the relief package, which he said "threatens to withhold needed federal funds from Ohio in an effort to handcuff the state’s authority to make changes to its tax structure and economic policy." 

In particular, Yost is seeking to bar the enforcement of the “Tax Mandate," a provision that he claims exceeds the authority of Congress -- a notion DeWine agreed with when asked about it on Friday.

“The federal government should be encouraging states to innovate and grow business, not holding vital relief funding hostage to its preferred pro-tax policies,” Yost said in a release.

You can watch Beres' full interview with DeWine in the video player below.

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