The Senate returned last Monday after weeks of speculation about what could be in the next stimulus bill, we have our first concrete signs of what Senate Leader Mitch McConnell (K-KY) is calling CARES 2.
To set the stage, remember that the Democrats in the House of Representatives passed the Heroes Act in May. It was largely seen as too expensive, costing over $3 trillion. The bill to be presented by Senator McConnell is expected to be around $1 trillion.
That’s a big gap they need to cross during a short window for negotiations. Early in the negotiation process, there was dissent between even the White House and Senate Republicans over many aspects of the bill.
For example, President Trump had been very supportive of a payroll tax cut and a second stimulus check. Senate Republicans concerned about the price tag of the bill have insisted that including both a payroll tax cut and a second stimulus check would be too high.
But in the first week of negotiations, it appears that an agreement has been reached in principle including financial assistance to schools, funding towards testing and tracing, and favoring a stimulus check over a payroll tax cut.
This, however, does not include the support of the Senate or House Democrats... yet.
No comments:
Post a Comment