The Latest: McConnell criticizes Dems' plans for health care

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Latest on the 2020 presidential campaign (all times local):

9:45 a.m.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is jabbing the Democratic candidates for president, saying their health insurance proposals would hurt business owners.

At a speech in Louisville, Kentucky, on Tuesday during a conference for the Distilled Spirits Council, McConnell said he's “never seen a Democratic party like we’re confronted with today.” He said even the centrist Democrat candidates who support a “public option” are supporting government-based insurance.

He said he is “hoping the Senate will still be in Republican hands after this election. If the worst were to happen, if the president were not re-elected and the House were not to become Republican, we (the Senate) would be the firewall.”

McConnell said that any public option or “Medicare for All” proposal would not make it through the Senate.

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9:05 a.m.

Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg is pledging to reduce police use of deadly force and lower recidivism rates as part of his criminal justice plan.

Bloomberg released the additional details Tuesday. Some parts would require congressional action, such as his commitment to sign a bill ensuring that deadly force is only used by federal agents to prevent serious injury or death, or his promise to sign the Violence Against Women Act.

Much of it outlines new administration policies and investments in criminal justice reform with the goal of cutting the incarceration rate in half by 2030. The proposal includes $22.5 billion to launch a Justice Department program to evaluate and fund criminal justice reform programs in the states, and $2.5 billion over 10 years on public defense.

Bloomberg also proposes increased funding for "family justice centers," which would provide treatments for survivors of domestic violence, and funding for the creation of “restorative justice centers” at historically black colleges and universities, which would serve as hubs for research and policymaking surrounding policing.

The new details expand upon a plan he first released in December. Bloomberg launched his campaign by apologizing for his past support of "stop-and-frisk" policing practices, which have been found to disproportionately target minorities.