St. Petersburg Democratic Rep. Charlie Crist says he’s glad to hear that President Trump wants to increase direct payments to Americans who are hurting due to the pandemic but wishes he had interjected his opinions on the subject well before Congress passed the $900 billion COVID recovery bill on Monday night.

“People need help,” Crist told Spectrum Bay News 9 on Wednesday morning. “They need the money. They need the support. If the President wanted to change the dynamic, he could have weighed in over the past five months, and I don’t know why he didn’t.”

Trump released a video Tuesday night calling on lawmakers to increase direct payments for most Americans from $600 to $2,000 for individuals and $4,000 for couples in the stimulus package. That is something that “most Republicans strongly oppose,” reports the Associated Press. Trump also blasted the legislation for including “wasteful and unnecessary items” and called on Congress to send him a “suitable bill.”

Sarasota-area Republican U.S. Rep. Greg Steube tweeted a link to Trump’s video on Wednesday, writing “Thank you President @RealDonaldTrump! The American people don’t need political games and unnecessary spending – they need targeted relief and fiscal responsibility.”

Steube was one of three House Republicans from Florida to oppose the economic recovery bill, as did U.S. Senator Rick Scott (Florida’s other Senator, Marco Rubio, supported it).

Spectrum Bay News 9 spoke to a few St. Petersburg residents who said they didn’t believe $600 was nearly enough of a stimulus.

“The $600 is too puny,” said Jeff Bardsley while riding his bike near the Dali Museum. 

Bardsley says he’s retired and doesn’t need the additional cash but says for the people who do need it, “I don’t see how $600 represents very much of anything. Certainly it isn’t a month’s rent in St. Pete.”

Retired St. Petersburg school teacher Barbara Fuller said that the $600 was a “slap in the face” for the people who have lost their jobs or had their hours reduced because of the pandemic.

“They need more,” she said of those whose livelihoods have been deleteriously affected by COVID-19. “That will not do anything for people who have not worked or who have businesses that have suffered.”

The COVID recovery bill that Congress rushed through on Monday is 5,593 pages, and most members of congress had just hours to attempt to digest it before voting on it. That’s led to criticism from members of both sides of the aisle about a lack of transparency.

When asked if it was a good idea for members of congress to have to vote on such a massive piece of legislation in such a limited time frame, Crist “ideally, it shouldn’t, of course.”

“You rely on good staff, and you rely on good representation about what’s in the bill,” he said, adding that he knows much of it will help a lot of people in need, and “that’s why I voted for it.”

The House of Representatives is scheduled for a “pro forma” session on Thursday at 9 a.m., and Democrats are expected to make a unanimous consent request to push for the increased stimulus payouts. But Republicans are expected to block the request.