STIMULUS LEGISLATION AND GOVERNMENT FUNDING
Since the summer recess, talks of passing another COVID-19 relief bill have been minimal. As you may recall, the Democratic House has passed the Heroes Act and the Republican’s introduced a HEALS Act. Both have stalled in Congress.
This week, Republican Senate leaders have introduced a GOP Skinny Bill (click to review the details of the entire proposed bill) which does not include an economic stimulus payment, but does include:
- A second round of Paycheck Protection Program funds for businesses that have demonstrated a revenue loss.·
- A provision to allow states to provide an additional $300/week in extra federally funded unemployment benefits through Dec. 27, 2020
The Senate will hold a vote on this bill today to find out the level of support behind the bill. It’s unlikely it will get the backing of 60 members to advance under the filibuster rules.
At this time, most government leaders don’t expect a stimulus bill to pass prior to the election. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters his focus is on passing legislation that is needed to keep the government funded past Sept. 30 to avoid another government shutdown.
Mnuchin and Speaker Nancy Pelosi have informally agreed to support a “clean” short-term stopgap measure. A “clean” continuing resolution means that it would be free of controversial policy riders that have prevented previous funding bills from passing.