Relief Measure Near Death; Spending Bill Agreement Nears
Senate Republicans tried to put some life into the Coronavirus Relief legislation by considering a “skinny” bill that was reduced from the original Republican proposal of $1.2 billion down to $500 billion. While Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell couldn’t get his Republican Caucus to support the larger measure, he was able to craft a bill that won the support of 52 of the 53 Senate Republicans by using his considerable negotiating skills.
The bill called for $300 of supplemental unemployment through the end of the year, a replenishment of the PPP small business program, money for schools and vaccines, and the Republican redline issue; liability protection. Ultimately, the measure was viewed as totally inadequate by Congressional Democrats who opposed the Senate measure, leaving the bill far short of the 60 votes needed for Senate passage.
At this point Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is holding firm in her demand that Democrats will not negotiate with the Administration or Congressional Republicans until they agree to an overall size of the relief package of at least $2.2 trillion. Democrats have insisted that in addition to unemployment, PPP and a stimulus check they also want money for housing, nutrition and state and local governments.
The House returns to Washington next week, and while there appears little hope for serious talks, there is a slight chance that Democrats in tight races might persuade the leadership to pass a bill that has the core programs the White House and Congress can agree on; but at this point the chance of a compromise emerging prior to the Election seems slim.
The other major bill that Congress must pass by October 1 is a budget bill to fund the US Government in the new fiscal year. Both sides have publicly stated that they would support a so-called “clean” bill with no controversial amendments. However, at this point there is no agreement on how long the temporary funding bill, or Continuing Resolution (CR), will last, One option is to pass a bill that carries the government past the election and expires in mid-December, and the other course of action would be to punt until next February and let the spending decisions be made by the winners of the 2020 elections. Failure to reach an agreement on timing of the CR has the potential to threaten a government shutdown.
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