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Editor’s Note: We will update this article daily to reflect Congressional discussions and negotiations on the upcoming federal stimulus package. Last update: July 27, 2020.
Congress is still working to find common ground on what should be included in the second stimulus package, but progress has been made.
Senate Republicans released their stimulus package proposal Monday: the Aid, Financial Aid, Liability Protection and Schools Act (HEALS). It would provide another round of direct stimulus payments to Americans, expand unemployment benefits, freeze Medicare premiums, offer more Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds, and expand liability shields for companies facing lawsuits. related to COVID-19.
The Chamber launched its own second stimulus proposal, the Omnibus Health Solutions and Economic Recovery Act (HEROES), in May. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell rejected the House proposal on Monday and called it a “socialist manifesto.” Congress will negotiate on the measures before voting on a bill and potentially sending it to President Donald Trump for signature.
When could the second stimulus happen?
While there is no deadline for Congress to pass a second stimulus bill, it is less than two weeks for Congress to suspend the one-month recess on August 7. Both Democrats and Republicans have said there is a sense of urgency to pass the second stimulus. invoice before the break.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows met with Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi on Monday night to discuss the details of the Republican proposal and begin the negotiations.
The full text of the HEALS Act has yet to be published, and it is unclear whether the Republican Party proposal will be a large bill or several smaller bills.
This is what we know so far.
Another round of stimulus checks
The HEALS Act includes another round of one-time payments, commonly known as stimulus checks. It proposes the same $ 1,200 payment as the CARES Act, identical to what Democrats have asked for in the HEROES Act, including the same income threshold. However, the HEALS Act proposes a payment of $ 500 per dependent to taxpayers with dependents of any age, not only to those under the age of 17, as mandated by the CARES Act.
The CARES Act provided one-time payments of $ 1,200 to people who earned up to $ 75,000 per year, and $ 2,400 to married couples who filed a joint return and made up to $ 150,000 per year, with an additional $ 500 per qualified dependent. Those with incomes above those thresholds fell into a “phasing out” range. Single taxpayers with incomes greater than $ 99,000 and married couples with incomes greater than $ 198,000 did not receive a payment.
Monday’s Republican stimulus verification proposal is a radical departure from what the Republican Party had been discussing previously. Republicans previously requested the next round of payments for low-income people earning $ 40,000 or less annually.
Weekly unemployment benefit could be reduced
The second stimulus package will likely extend the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), which was included in the CARES Act, but the final payments came out last weekend. This federally-funded unemployment aid provided an additional $ 600 per week in addition to the state-funded unemployment benefits.
The HEALS Act would provide weekly supplemental unemployment payments of $ 200 through September. Starting in October, the increase would be replaced with a payment that, when combined with state unemployment insurance payments, equals 70% of an individual’s lost wages. That means that as of October, the payments would be unique based on each individual’s previous earnings.
This could be difficult to implement quickly. The National Association of State Workforce Agencies says it would take up to 20 weeks for most states to implement the Republican wage replacement proposal, blaming outdated computer systems and already overwhelmed unemployment offices, according to a memorandum from the Asociation. The HEALS Act would provide $ 2 billion to help states improve their unemployment insurance systems to better prepare for the changes required by the bill.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Monday described the Republican Party’s proposal for the recalculation of unemployment benefits as a “nightmare.”
The FPUC reduction comes after weeks of debate in Washington, DC, about how useful, or useless, rising unemployment has been for Americans. Republican lawmakers have long argued that the boost gives Americans little incentive to return to work, as many were earning as much or more in unemployment with the boost than before they lost their jobs.
Democrats and prominent economists support an extension of the improved unemployment benefits, maintaining that it would keep the economy afloat and protect Americans without jobs, while cutting it would result in a “human and economic catastrophe.” Democrats have called for the $ 600 weekly federal benefit to be fully extended.
More funding from the paycheck protection program
More funds are likely to be available for the Paycheck Protection Program. The program provides loans to companies with fewer than 500 employees and has already gone through two rounds of funding in Congress totaling $ 650 billion.
The Republican proposal to obtain more PPP funds is included in a law entitled Continuing Small Business Recovery and Payroll Protection Act. The law would allow small businesses to receive a second PPP loan if they can demonstrate that they have lost at least 50% in gross income, and would also create a $ 60 billion long-term recovery loan program that targets communities in low income, minorities. own and seasonal companies.
School financing
McConnell said Monday that the Republican Party proposal will include additional funds for schools, with some of those funds reserved for schools that will physically reopen. He previously stated that $ 105 billion would be allocated for schools, but until Republicans publish the text of the bill, that number cannot be confirmed.
“This majority is preparing legislation that will send $ 105 billion so that educators have the resources they need to reopen safely,” said McConnell. “That’s more money than House Democrats set aside for a similar fund, by the way. And that adds to support for child care needs. “
Civil liability shield for companies
In a separate Republican proposal titled the SAFE TO WORK Act, companies and other entities would be protected from lawsuits related to coronavirus infections. That includes businesses, schools, hospitals, non-profit churches, universities, and government agencies. Entities would be protected from liability related to the coronavirus, unless they incurred gross negligence, knowingly in reckless disregard for the safety of their customers and employees.
Liability protection has been a priority for Republicans, especially McConnell.
“[The next stimulus package] must have, must, no bill will go into the Senate without liability protection for everyone related to the coronavirus, “McConnell said during a recent stoppage in Kentucky, The Hill reported.” No one should have to face an epidemic of lawsuits. immediately after the pandemic that we have already linked to the coronavirus. “
Frozen Medicare Premiums
The HEALS Act freezes Part B premiums and deductibles, preventing them from skyrocketing as a result of the economic conditions related to the COVID-19 crisis. The monthly Part B premium for 2021 would remain at $ 144.90, the standard premium, for 2021.
