McConnell proposes ‘ targeted’ virus aid, Dems say not enough
WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday the Senate would vote on a trimmed- down Republican coronavirus relief package, though it has a slim chance of passage in the face of Democrats’ insistence for more sweeping aid.
The Kentucky Republican released the approximately $ 500 billion measure as senators returned to Washington for an abbreviated pre- election session, as hopes are dimming for another coronavirus relief bill.
Republicans struggling to retain their Senate majority this fall have been divided, with some senators in close races anxious to respond further to the pandemic, even as conservatives are tiring of all the spending and passing legislation in concert with liberal House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Mr. McConnell called the package “a targeted proposal that focuses on several of the most urgent aspects of this crisis, the issues where bipartisanship should be especially possible.” They included school aid, new money for vaccines and testing and a second round of the popular Paycheck Protection Program for smaller businesses.
Democrats are demanding a far larger bill, including hundreds of billions of dollars for state and local governments, more generous jobless benefits and help for renters and homeowners, along with other provisions in the House Democrats’ $ 3.5 billion relief bill that passed in May.
Republican senators such as Susan Collins, of Maine, are eager to show constituents they are continuing to work to ease the pandemic’s disastrous impact on jobs, businesses and health. But many Senate Republicans are resisting more spending and the scaled- back bill is roughly half the size of a measure Mr. McConnell unveiled earlier this summer.
Mr. McConnell’s move Tuesday would clear the way for a Thursday test vote in which Democrats are sure to block the legislation. Ms. Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN. Y., said the bill “doesn’t come close to addressing the problems and is headed nowhere.”
Mr. McConnell’s bill would provide $ 105 billion to help schools reopen, enact a shield against lawsuits for businesses that are powering ahead to reopen, create a scaled- back $ 300- per- week supplemental jobless benefit and write off $ 10 billion in earlier debt at the U. S. Postal Service. There’s $ 31 billion for a coronavirus vaccine, $ 16 billion for virus testing and $ 15 billion to help child care providers reopen. There is additionally $ 20 billion for farmers.
The package will also include a school choice initiative sought by Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz and others that would provide a tax break, for two years, for people who donate to nonprofit organizations offering private school scholarships.
It would also provide for a $ 258 billion second round of paycheck protection subsidies. But it won’t contain another round of $ 1,200 direct payments going out under President Donald Trump’s name. Ms. Pelosi, D- Calif., continues to demand a package totaling $ 2.2 trillion, and while Mr. Trump’s negotiators have signaled a willingness to inch further in her direction, a significant gap remains.