Negotiators report progress on long-delayed COVID aid bill

WASHINGTON » Top Capitol Hill Republicans labored Tuesday to keep the price tag for a long-delayed COVID-19 aid package in check, seeking to prevail in a battle over help for state and local governments, while capping the cost of bonus jobless benefits and direct payments sought by Democrats.

Negotiations on COVID-19 relief intensified Tuesday after months of futility. The top four leaders of Congress met twice in hopes of finally cementing an agreement that would revive subsidies for businesses hit hard by the pandemic, help distribute new coronavirus vaccines, fund schools and renew soon-to-expire jobless benefits.

Exiting a post-dinner meeting in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Capitol suite, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the talks were continuing and a further meeting Tuesday night was likely. Schumer and Pelosi are pressing for more generous steps to help individuals struggling in the COVID-19 economy.

The uptick in activity could be a sign that an agreement is near, though COVID-19 relief talks have been notoriously difficult and Pelosi, D-Calif., continues to press for help for states and local governments whose budgets have been thrown out of balance by the pandemic. GOP leaders oppose the idea and say it’s the biggest sticking point from their perspective.

A top GOP negotiator said the leaders had essentially agreed to agree.

“We are still talking to each other and there is agreement that we are not going to leave here without the omni and the COVID package,” said McConnell, R-Ky., using Capitol Hill’s shorthand for a catchall, omnibus spending bill that would be joined with the COVID relief measure and a variety of other end-of-session items.