PHOENIX — "We've got to do more to help these businesses as they're struggling through this time,” said U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema.
Gathering at Mariscos El Nuevo Altata in the West Valley, Senator Sinema made it a point to pause and listen to several leaders in the Latino small business community.
Many praise the help of the Paycheck Protection Program and vocalize how inflation is hitting their business hard.
"What I'm looking for, is ways to help businesses manage through, that so that they don't have to cut back on employees, so they don't have to close their businesses,” Sinema said.
The Senator with an idea to bring to the Small Business Association said, "To use existing federal funds to create maybe a grant program so that locals can make decisions about how best to use those dollars to help businesses during this time of the resurgence of COVID. And, as we saw, record inflation."
Aside from the event, we asked Sinema about President Joe Biden's plans for Title 42 at the border.
When asked if she had a chance to review the updated plan that President Biden came out with, Sinema replied, "I was actually briefed last night by The White House on the announcement they made today. And while it sounds like it could be helpful, it really all comes down to their implementation. If they choose to administrate this in a way that is effective, it could reduce some of the strain on our already overtaxed border communities. If they don't administer it effectively, then we'll see the same crisis we've been living through for these past decades. I do want to be clear, though, that it is incumbent on Washington DC to actually change the legal system so that we can solve the underlying problems."
ABC15 also asked Sinema about her plans when it comes to running for office in 2024, and she responded, "You know, I as you've heard from my action plans, I'm 100% focused on doing my job. Arizonans know that I'm always someone who puts my nose to the grind and gets the work done. And I deliver real results for our state. I'm going to stay focused on that. And the election will come later."
