House Democrats unveiled a pared-down coronavirus aid package that is about $800 billion less costly than an earlier measure but is still likely far too expensive to win Republican support.
Among the provisions Republicans are likely to oppose is the restoration of $600 in weekly extra federal unemployment insurance benefits and nearly $436 billion for state, local, and tribal governments.
It also leaves out lawsuit liability protections Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said must be included in any measure he brings to the Senate floor.
The $2.2 trillion package is likely to serve as a messaging bill for Democrats heading out of Washington this week to begin campaigning ahead of the Nov. 3 election.
At best, it could serve to jump-start negotiations on a compromise deal between Democrats and Republicans that has stalled for weeks.
Democrats said the bill “protects lives, livelihoods, and the life of our democracy” and said the cost covers “needs that have arisen” since the House passed the $3 trillion measure in May.
The bill cuts out provisions from the May spending bill and adds new ones.
For example, there is no more “hazard pay” for workers on the job and dealing with the public during the coronavirus, and the state and local funding is cut in half.
Instead, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi added funds for extending a payroll support program to keep workers paid in the struggling airline industry, $225 billion for education and child care, and new money pumped into the Paycheck Protection Program, which provides loans to small businesses hurt due to the coronavirus and subsequent economic slowdown. The measure includes $75 billion for coronavirus testing, treatments, and vaccine development.
The measure adds more than $10 billion for food stamps and other nutritional assistance programs.
The bill spreads funding across the government, including the U.S. Capitol. The Architect of the Capitol, for example, would receive $181.5 million “for bulk purchasing and distribution of face coverings for Members, and on-site staff, as well as gloves and thermometers.” The funding would also support “enhanced cleaning of the Capitol and adjacent buildings.”
The measure includes $309 million for rental assistance in rural areas and provides $2.9 billion for the National Science Foundation and $3.7 billion for “workforce training and worker protection activities related to coronavirus.”
The measure is more than double a $1 trillion bill Republicans introduced in July and more than 4 times the cost of the $500 billion legislation that won nearly unanimous Senate GOP support last month.
Democratic leaders have been unable to reach a compromise deal with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who is negotiating on behalf of the president. The two sides abandoned talks this summer, prompting President Trump to act unilaterally to extend expired federal unemployment benefits by about $300 per month.
Republicans and Mnuchin said they won’t consider a $2 trillion measure, but a compromise between $1.5 trillion and $2 trillion could likely win enough support to pass the GOP-led Senate if Democrats agreed to it.
Pelosi has indicated anything under $2 trillion is not enough to meet the needs created by the coronavirus.
