A proposed COVID-19 relief bill is expected to get backing from US President Donald Trump and US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, but it would not include US$1,200 in direct payments to most Americans, a Republican senator involved in the bipartisan talks said.
“President Trump has indicated that he would sign a US$908 billion package — there’s only one US$908 billion package out there and it’s ours,” US Senator Bill Cassidy said on Sunday. “The pain of the American people is driving this, and I’m optimistic that both those leaders will come on board.”
With time running out, lawmakers from both parties were closing in on the final language that would provide about US$300 in extra federal weekly unemployment benefits, leaving the issue of cash payments for US president-elect Joe Biden to wrestle over with a new Congress next year.
Photo: Reuters
The package to be released yesterday would be attached to a larger year-end spending bill needed to avert a government shutdown this coming weekend.
The direct payments were popular when they were first distributed after the pandemic hit, and Biden on Friday had expressed hope that a second wave might come after weekend negotiations.
However, senators involved in the talks said the checks would not be included as part of the compromise.
US Senator Dick Durbin said that excluding the checks while assuring small-business aid and renters’ assistance was the only way to reach agreement with Republicans who are putting firm limits on the bill’s final price tag.
“The US$1,200 check, it cost we believe nationally US$300 billion, to give you an idea,” he said. “The Democrats have always wanted a larger number, but we were told we couldn’t get anything through the Republicans, except this US$900 billion level.”
The plan being worked on by a group of Republican and Democratic senators is less than half of the Democrats’ push of US$2.2 trillion and nearly double the US$500 billion “targeted” package proposed by McConnell.
Cassidy agreed that a new round of direct checks “may be a go” at some point.
“This is not a stimulus bill, it’s a relief bill,” he said. “And it’s something for the next three to four months to help those in greatest need.”
The proposal is expected to include the US$300 per week in bonus federal unemployment payments, providing relief just as emergency aid payments at regular benefit levels are set to expire at year’s end.
It would extend a freeze on evictions for people who cannot pay their rent and reauthorize the Paycheck Protection Program to give a second round of subsidies to businesses struggling through the pandemic.
Still, potential sticking points remain. Sanders and US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez last week said that they would not support the US$908 billion proposal if it did not include checks for families, and were joined by US Senator Josh Hawley.
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