WASHINGTON – Senate Republicans on Tuesday unveiled a much smaller coronavirus aid plan than legislators on both sides of the aisle have been hearing for weeks. This is a bill that even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says is not perfect.
The proposal faces an uphill battle to become law as Democrats immediately pledge to help the so-called political conspiracy to help Republicans go extinct in November and meet the needs of American families and businesses.
The $ 300 billion proposal, which will be delivered to U.S. families, schools and small businesses law, includes unemployment benefits, funding for schools and liability protections for businesses and health care facilities.
What’s in it?
- Deducted from the $ 600 boost that ended in July – growing to $ 300 for weekly unemployment benefits – it runs until December 27. President Trump promised last month that the entire federal government would provide Americans who do not work on the executive order. .
- Responsible protections for businesses, hospitals, churches and schools against certain COVID-related personal injury claims.
- Second round loans under the Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses. Businesses should have less than 300 employees and show a gross revenue reduction of at least 35% compared to last year.
- The billion 10 billion loan given to the postal service will be forgiven and thus it will become a grant. The Postal Service is required to submit a report to Congress on how the virus has increased its costs, which is under consideration.
- Provides $ 105 billion through the Education Stabilization Fund for schools as students return to classes across the country. The bill also includes a two-year tax credit for private schools and other scholarship-granting institutions.
- $ 16 billion for coronavirus testing and $ 31 billion for vaccine and therapeutic development
- This includes $ 20 billion in relief for farmers and $ 500 million in federal aid for fishermen.
What does it leave out?
But the Democrats did not have many top priorities in this measure – a massive $ 3 trillion bill was passed in May. State and local governments, which have seen budget shortfalls, do not have much funding, some of which are planning to encourage workers. This measure does not include another round of stimulus checks for Americans.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kai, said an early vote on the move would take place on Thursday – after a month-long break in town back in the first week of Congress – members of both parties demanded that he admit the bill was incomplete and lacked policies.
“This is not a huge, multi-trillion-dollar plan to rebuild the entire country,” McConnell said of the bill on the Senate floor Tuesday afternoon. “Republicans, it’s not every single relief policy we think will help in the short term. I believe Democrats feel the same way, but it’s absolutely not necessary for the American people to argue what we need. In fact, we need to make a law.”
Why Democrats do not support the bill
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, de-Calif., And Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D.N.Y. Toxic Pills Democrats know they will never support Republicans. “
“While they are scrambling to fix this historic mistake, Senate Republicans appear to be dead on another bill that will not come close to resolving the issues and will not go anywhere,” the leaders said in a statement. “This emaciated bill is intended only to help vulnerable Republican senators by giving them a ‘check the box’ vote. Nickel does not want to spend the show that they are not being held hostage by their extreme moderation.”
The bill requires 51 Senate votes, meaning McConnell will lose some Republican votes if Democrats do not vote in favor. Republicans tried to draft a bill that would have enough support from their own party to spend part of the August break.
“It doesn’t have every idea that our party likes,” McConnell said of the bill. “Yet Republicans believe that the most serious differences between our two parties should not stand where we have to accept them and enact legislation that will help our country.”
But Schumer later said on the Senate floor, “If you want a bill that fails, this is it.”
“As the pain from this pandemic gets bigger and bigger, Republicans feel smaller and smaller,” he says.
Negotiations on relief for this stage
Pelosi and Schumer negotiated with the White House on another coronavirus stimulus package. But Negotiations were canceled after Congress went on a month-long break in August Both sides blamed each other as they watched millions of Americans extend unemployment benefits and halt the small-business loan program.
Trump signed four executive orders in August hoping to fill the void left by several programs, including better unemployment insurance and a temporary ban that would prevent tenants from being fired.
But questions remain over the legitimacy of the directives and some took weeks to implement Experts warn that it could be weeks Before most unemployed Americans see any additional benefits.
House Democrats approved tr 3 trillion COVID-19 measure in May Republicans rejected this outright. Throughout the negotiations, the Democrats agreed to reduce the total price on their bill to $ 1 trillion, but negotiations were canceled.
McConnell refused to bring the bill on the list of liberal aspirations. Instead, He unveiled the tr 1 trillion measure in July Not much support in his own conference. The bill did not reach the Senate floor for a vote.
Epidemic relief in election year
The stalemate has put legislators in key battlefield states and districts in a difficult position. House Democrats over 100 Pelosi and House Majority Leader wrote a letter to Steny Hoyer, D-Md., Urged leaders to schedule a vote to continue the $ 600 strengthened unemployment benefit that ended in late July.
Republicans, who face an increasingly tough battle to retain their Senate majority, also face political controversy over the stalemate. The bill was released Tuesday and will help Democratic opposition Republicans argue before November that Americans are fighting for more relief.
More Stories
Four escaped cows were caught
A simple administrative decision? | Press
Bernard Drainville, New Education commentator