The talks between the parties are not over. The Democratic majority in the House of Representatives yesterday passed new reduced stimulus legislation without Republican endorsement.
This means that one more economic proposal to address the crisis unleashed by the coronavirus is accumulating on the list of measures that lie in Congress to that end without any certainty of what will happen to its provisions.
The $2.2 trillion legislation passed with 214 votes in favor and 207 against, some from Democrats who crossed party lines.
The Democratic majority in the House of Representatives yesterday passed new stimulus-reduction legislation without the support of the Republicans.
This means that one more economic proposal to deal with the crisis unleashed by the coronavirus is accumulating on the list of measures in Congress to that end without any certainty of what will happen to its provisions.
The $2.2 trillion legislation passed with 214 votes in favor and 207 against, some of them from Democrats who crossed party lines.
The leader also indicated that the panorama will be clearer once she reviews the documents that Mnuchin sent her.
Both officials spoke on the phone yesterday. In a subsequent tweet from Pelosi’s chief of staff, Drew Hammill, the spokesman said that “the two discussed further clarification on numbers and language, but the gap in some areas remains.
Prior to the Democrats’ passage of the new law, Pelosi had been “very pessimistic” in a call with other members of her party, predicting, according to the Politico media report, that lawmakers would return to their districts to campaign without having given way to a bipartisan economic rescue bill.
The Democratic leader lamented in the call that the Republicans do not “share the values” that the Democrats defend.
What they don’t agree on
The Trump Administration is proposing a $1.6 billion package that includes an extra $400 weekly unemployment extension and new direct payments for individuals and families.
The package that passed the House yesterday, in addition to new stimulus checks of $1,200 minimum, provides for additional payments of $600 through January 2021 for program recipients, as was provided for in the previous law passed by Democrats in that body, the HEROES Act; so this issue remains a divisive one.
Another discussion on which politicians disagree is that related to funding for state and local governments as well as provisions to protect businesses and schools from lawsuits related to coronavirus management.
In the case of state funding, Republicans consider $250 billion to be sufficient.
However, Democrats are aiming for a larger allocation – approximately $436 billion.