Year Ends Nearly Over, but Negotiations for Second Stimulus Check Continue. Regarding the latest negotiations for a new relief package, a bipartisan group of legislators is known to have been working for weeks to pass a $908 billion relief package for the coronavirus, much of which has been agreed to by legislators.
However, Senate Republican leaders said they would not accept any proposals from the bipartisan group on two issues in particular: funding for state and local assistance, and the type of legal protections to provide to businesses, schools and other entities operating during the pandemic.
This probably means that Democrats will have to decide whether to accept a lesser relief package, i.e. without those provisions.
It should be noted that the bipartisan group’s proposal includes an allowance for the unemployed, but does not include funds for a second stimulus check.
The initial round of stimulus check payments was estimated to cost $292 billion through 2021, but the White House has pressured Republicans to seek a new round of checks, and the Trump administration made its own offer last Tuesday that included stimulus checks of $600 per person.
So far, a second stimulus check may be approved before the end of the year, as Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Friday that one option would be to pass a relief package that would have a second stimulus check, but would not include liability and state and local funding protections.
In addition, he suggested that, to keep the cost of the relief package low, the stimulus checks could be less money than the first ones given. That is, less than $1,200.
The good and bad news
Two proposals on the table and one more week…
With almost two weeks to go until 2020, even lawmakers in the U.S. Congress have not been able to reach an agreement that would allow for the approval of new financial aid for the millions of people affected by the pandemic.
This week marks another deadline without the Democrats and Republicans having reached a happy ending in the negotiations that would facilitate the distribution of new incentives to alleviate the economic effects of the health crisis.
Legislative work was completed Thursday without giving way to rescue legislation amid the upward trend in the number of infections and deaths as a result of the pandemic in several states.
If a settlement is not reached soon, at least 12 million people who have lost their jobs will not be eligible for the additional unemployment benefits as of December 26 and as many will not be able to take advantage of the federal moratorium that helps them fight their eviction cases for rent debts before the courts.
The Good News
In the midst of the impasse in negotiations, the good news is that both the House of Representatives and the Senate agreed on a short-term spending bill to keep federal agencies open until December 18.
As part of that extension, lawmakers now have more time to discuss a new stimulus plan.
Currently, two drafts are competing in Congress to become law.
The first contains the bipartisan proposal presented by senators valued at $908 billion.
The plan includes an extension of unemployment benefits to $300 a week through March plus no stimulus checks.
This offer has the preliminary endorsement of top Democratic leaders. The second proposal announced by the White House and favored by Republicans provides for $600 in stimulus checks.
The estimated $916 billion measure was deemed “unacceptable” by members of the Democratic delegation, including Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen.