Republicans Push Scaled-Back Stimulus Plan as Impasse on Virus Aid Persists – The New York Times

Thanks! Share it with your friends!

Close

While House Democrats approved a $3.4 trillion measure in May, Ms. Pelosi in recent days has told Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, that Democrats would be willing to accept a package of $2.2 trillion. (Mr. Mnuchin, for his part, has signaled that the administration may be willing to accept up to a $1.5 trillion package.)

It is unclear, however, if Republicans will all unite behind the measure. Fiscal hawks are deeply reluctant to embrace more spending after an infusion of nearly $3 trillion this spring, and the Congressional Budget Office said on Wednesday that government debt had ballooned in the 2020 fiscal year and nearly outpaced the size of the economy.

The measure presented on Tuesday, crafted after weeks of daily conference calls with senators and top administration officials, would provide up to $700 billion, Republican aides said, although about half of that money would come from repurposing funding already approved by Congress in the stimulus law enacted in March.

That law provided funding for the Treasury Department to guarantee loans made by the Federal Reserve to distressed companies, hundreds of billions of dollars of which remains unspent.

The Republican-written legislation would provide a $300-per-week federal unemployment benefit, the same amount that President Trump diverted from existing disaster relief funds through executive action last month, and provide that relief through Dec. 27. Democrats have pushed to revive the full $600-per-week payment established in the March stimulus law, at least through January.

:not(:first-child){margin-left:5px;}.css-5gimkt{font-family:nyt-franklin,helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:0.8125rem;font-weight:700;-webkit-letter-spacing:0.03em;-moz-letter-spacing:0.03em;-ms-letter-spacing:0.03em;letter-spacing:0.03em;text-transform:uppercase;color:#333;}.css-5gimkt:after{content:’Collapse’;}.css-rdoyk0{-webkit-transition:all 0.5s ease;transition:all 0.5s ease;-webkit-transform:rotate(180deg);-ms-transform:rotate(180deg);transform:rotate(180deg);}.css-eb027h{max-height:5000px;-webkit-transition:max-height 0.5s ease;transition:max-height 0.5s ease;}.css-6mllg9{-webkit-transition:all 0.5s ease;transition:all 0.5s ease;position:relative;opacity:0;}.css-6mllg9:before{content:”;background-image:linear-gradient(180deg,transparent,#ffffff);background-image:-webkit-linear-gradient(270deg,rgba(255,255,255,0),#ffffff);height:80px;width:100%;position:absolute;bottom:0px;pointer-events:none;}#masthead-bar-one{display:none;}#masthead-bar-one{display:none;}.css-19mumt8{background-color:white;margin:30px 0;padding:0 20px;max-width:510px;}@media (min-width:740px){.css-19mumt8{margin:40px auto;}}.css-19mumt8:focus{outline:1px solid #e2e2e2;}.css-19mumt8 a{color:#326891;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;border-bottom:2px solid #ccd9e3;}.css-19mumt8 a:visited{color:#333;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;border-bottom:2px solid #ddd;}.css-19mumt8 a:hover{border-bottom:none;}.css-19mumt8[data-truncated] .css-rdoyk0{-webkit-transform:rotate(0deg);-ms-transform:rotate(0deg);transform:rotate(0deg);}.css-19mumt8[data-truncated] .css-eb027h{max-height:300px;overflow:hidden;-webkit-transition:none;transition:none;}.css-19mumt8[data-truncated] .css-5gimkt:after{content:’See more’;}.css-19mumt8[data-truncated] .css-6mllg9{opacity:1;}.css-a8d9oz{border-top:5px solid #121212;border-bottom:2px solid #121212;margin:0 auto;padding:5px 0 0;overflow:hidden;}]]>

The Republican plan would also include liability protections for hospitals, businesses and schools operating during the pandemic, and would forgive a $10 billion loan given to the Postal Service in previous relief legislation. It would revive the lapsed Paycheck Protection Program, a popular federal loan program for small businesses, and provide $20 billion for farmers, $105 billion for schools, $31 billion for the development and distribution of a coronavirus vaccine, and $16 billion for testing.

Republican leaders also agreed to include a tax credit championed by Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, to reimburse donations to scholarship funds that help pay for private school tuition and other expenses. With some bipartisan objection to the provision, the tax credit is not permanent, as Mr. Cruz had initially intended, but instead will last for two years.

Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/08/us/politics/congress-coronavirus-stimulus.html

Comments

Write a comment