WASHINGTON, DC – AUGUST 13: US President Donald Trump speaks at a White House briefing … [+]
There were high hopes for a speedy resolution after the next incentive bill when the First Chamber returned to session from its summer break. By all accounts, leadership in both the Republican-led Senate and Democratic-led House was ready to strike a deal to bring much-needed change to Americans.
Both sides openly supported another round of stimulus controls, expanded unemployment benefits, relief for small businesses and other measures to support the economy. However, they disagreed on the levels of support needed for each of these measures, and they disagreed on other issues, such as providing comprehensive financial assistance to state and local governments.
President Trump took matters into his own hands last weekend and signed three presidential memoranda and an executive order that would provide a benefit of $ 400 unemployment, a vacation for tax evasion, relief for student loans, and an eviction moratorium. It remains to be seen exactly how these presidential memoranda and the executive order will be implemented or how they will affect the negotiations on the next incentive bill.
Now here, where are, several weeks after negotiations were resumed, without deal and both houses of Congress broke down until after Labor Day.
What went wrong, and where will they go from here?
There are several points of controversy between the House and the House. The total cost of the proposal is one of the biggest sticking points. But there are also agreements on where the money should go and what should be included in the next bill.
Let’s take a look at each of these.
Cost – The largest place to place
The biggest obstacle between the two parties is the amount of money each is willing to spend on the following incentive bills. The Democratic-led House proposed the $ 3 trillion HEROES Act in May, while the Republican-led Senate wants to keep the total cost of the bill “up to $ 1 trillion.”
The Senate rejected the $ 3 trillion HEROES Act, with Senate Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) calling it a “wish list”.
The Senate waited until this last session to make a proposal when they introduced the HEALS Act, a $ 1 trillion proposal that was introduced in multiple parts by several different committees in the House. The Democrats have indicated that the next bill will be proposed as a complete package and not be introduced “piecemeal”.
Since then, both parties have been locked up in a disturbance.
Democrats have offered to reduce the total cost of their proposal by $ 1 trillion, somewhere in the middle, but the Trump administration refused this offer, with Treasury Secretary Mnuchin calling it a ‘non-starter. ‘
Distributions on benefits for extended unemployment and state and local funding
Several key provisions of the CARES law expired at the end of July, including the eviction moratorium and the federal $ 600 weekly unemployment benefit. Democrats want to extend the $ 600 weekly unemployment benefit because it was included in the CARES law. Republicans, however, want to reduce the amount of unemployment benefits, arguing that many unemployed workers earn more from unemployment than they were while working toward combining the federal benefit with benefits from state unemployment.
There was discussion about a possible temporary extension of the federal benefit for unemployment, but those talks did not last long. President Trump also deals with unemployment benefits in his executive order, however, it is at a much reduced rate of $ 300 per week with an optional contribution of $ 100 by state. There is also a question of where the funding would come from and how long it would last.
State and local funding is the other area in which the two parties strongly disagree. The HEROES Act included $ 1 trillion in state funding. Democrats believe this is important to help states make up for lost tax revenue, pay for extra Covid-19 tests, and maintain operations. Without additional funding, many states will have to lay off or lay off thousands of workers.
Republicans, on the other hand, see this as a bailout for state and local governments that have already mismanaged their money.
Any ground created between these two issues will help to smooth the passing of the next bill.
Important dates:
Here are the dates you need to know:
- September 8: First Chamber returns to session.
- September 14: Second Chamber returns to session.
- September 30: End of fiscal year.
It is possible that the next bill may be passed before one of the two houses returns to session, however, it is highly unlikely. Most legislators have returned to their home states or are otherwise engaged in other activities the other weeks. Voting on another bill would require these legislators to be recalled to Washington DC to vote.
When will we see the next Stimulus bill?
At this point, the earliest likely time frame is sometimes mid to late September. Again, it is possible for then to see some progress, but it is unlikely that both houses of government will agree and pass the next bill if they are not in session.
It is also quite possible that negotiations may continue into October or later.
Will the next incentive bill include another incentive scheme?
Most likely. Both parties have agreed to the general terms and conditions on another round of incentive checks and the Trump administration is also on board. The following amounts and incentive rules for incentive controls would follow roughly the same conditions as the incentive controls under the CARES Act. However, there were some provisions that would allow a larger number of people to qualify for a check.
When could we see the next stimulus control?
The government already has the infrastructure in place to send out the controls, so they would be able to relocate once stimulating controls are approved. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin said checks could come “very, very quickly”. At a recent press conference, Secretary Mnuchin said the government should review checks within a week.
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