Indiana Sen. Mike Braun on $480 billion package to help small businesses, hospitals

16 News Now's Lauren Moss spoke with Indiana Sen. Mike Braun about the $480 billion package that the Senate passed on Tuesday.

The relief package includes hundreds of billions of dollars in new funding for small businesses, along with other priorities like money for hospitals and expanded COVID-19 testing.

"This bill has some special guardrails in there that earmark it towards the smallest of the small businesses," Sen. Braun said.

The bill goes to the House, which is expected to vote on the package Thursday.

Braun reacted to Governor Holcomb's plan to gradually reopen the state.

"I think the Governor has been basing it on data and what the healthcare experts have been saying, so based off the numbers," Braun said. "I think Indiana has done a good job with it but that doesn't mean that it's the same across the state."

"We need to be smart about how we differentiate in places across the state that can get the real economy going again because if we wait too long, I think it might be unnecessary in places and you'll have real demand and supply destruction that makes this a whole lot worse than what it could be," Braun added.

Watch his full interview here: