Michigan lawmakers join bipartisan relief package
Problem Solvers Causus to introduce $908B emergency package
U. S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin ( DHolly) and three other Michigan congressional representatives joined with bipartisan members of the Problem Solvers Caucus to announce Tuesday the bicameral framework for a $908 billion emergency COVID relief package.
For months, the progress of negotiations between top congressional and White House officials about coming to terms on a second large-scale COVID-19 relief package have stalled. With Congress now back in session, the pressure to get a deal done before the end of the year has intensified as virus cases surge, millions of
Americans remain jobless, state and local governments see revenue shortfalls, and small business owners continue to voice concerns over having to shut their doors for good.
The relief proposal, which would last through April 1, has the support of over 60 Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate. The group is now urging House and Senate leadership to pass a relief deal before the winter holidays. Other members of the Problem Solvers Caucus include U.S. Reps. Debbie Dingell (DDearborn), Paul Mitchell (RDryden), and Fred Upton (RSt. Joseph).
The proposal includes $228 billion to extend and upgrade “paycheck protection” subsidies for businesses for a second round of relief to hard-hit businesses like restaurants. It would revive a special jobless benefit, but at a reduced level of $300 per week rather than the $600 benefit enacted in March. State and local governments
would receive $160 billion, and there is also money for vaccines. There is also additional funding included for state, local, and tribal governments ($160 billion), education ($82 billion); and healthcare providers ($35 billion).
Slotkin said there is no excuse for not passing a COVID relief package before the winter holidays.
“It is our fundamental responsibility as legislators,” she said. “Our group has been working diligently behind the scenes to get to this proposal...It’s not perfect. But it’s nearly a trillion dollars worth of relief for our small businesses in new PPP loans, vital aid to state and local governments, support for schools, food security, rental assistance, unemployment insurance, and broadband funding.”
The proposal also includes a temporary shield against COVID-related lawsuits against businesses and other organizations that have reopened despite the pandemic, which has been a priority for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
The centrist lawmakers,
both moderates and conservatives, billed the proposal as a temporary patch to hold things over until next year. It contains $45 billion for transportation, including aid to transit systems and Amtrak, funding for vaccines distribution, and money for food stamps, rental assistance, and the U.S. Postal Service.
Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., a member of the GOP leadership, gave a tentative thumbs up to the idea, though he said time is running out and working against it.
“I think $900 billion would do a lot more good right now than $2 trillion will do in March,” Blunt said. “This is an important time to step up if we can.”
It’s unclear at this point if Congress will extend existing and expiring COVID19-related programs or approve a new virus relief bill.
On Nov. 19, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Senate Democratic Leader Jim Ananich, and House Democratic Leader Christine Greig sent a letter to President Trump, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer,
and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy urging them to take swift action and pass a COVID relief bill.
To date, Congress has passed five emergency COVID-19 relief packages, with the largest being the CARES Act back in March that totaled $2 trillion. Michigan received around $3.8 billion of that funding.
Pelosi and Mnuchin talk COVID relief
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D- CA) spoke with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin Tuesday afternoon over the phone and discussed the status of talks on a $1.4 trillion omnibus appropriations bill, which needs to pass before Dec. 11 to avoid a government shutdown, and a new COVID relief package. It was their first conversation since Oct. 26.
“The Secretary and I spoke today on the omnibus and I laid out the bipartisan progress that Chairman Shelby and Chairwoman Lowey have made,” said Pelosi in a statement. “I relayed my hope that the Administration would support this bipartisan path.”
On COVID relief, the two acknowledged the recent positive developments on vaccine development and the belief that it is essential to significantly fund distribution efforts to get the country from vaccine to vaccination.
“Any COVID proposal must ensure that the vaccine is a free and accessible to everyone,” said Pelosi. “Additional COVID relief is long overdue and must be passed in this lame duck session.”
During that Tuesday phone conversation, Mnuchin told Pelosi that he would be reviewing the proposal that she and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) made to McConnell and McCarthy Monday night and the bipartisan $908 billion proposal unveiled Tuesday, according to Politico.
Earlier in the day, Mnuchin told reporters as he arrived at a Senate Banking Committee hearing to assess earlier COVID rescue efforts that he and Pelosi are focused primarily on the unfinished appropriations bills.
“Keeping the government running, that is the first priority,” Mnuchin told reporters. “And I’m sure we’ll also be mentioning COVID Relief.”
According to Politico, U.S. Sen. John Thune (RSD), the No. 2 Senate Republican, said that Democrats want “more money for state and local governments, and that’s a big non-starter with a lot of our members.” He added, “I think on PPP, vaccines, schools — there’s a lot of agreement, so I think there’s a path there.”
Biden urges Congress to act
President- Elect Joe Biden was asked Tuesday afternoon about the $908 billion COVID-19 relief proposal, but declined comment saying, “I just heard about it. I’ll take a look at it when I get back.”
“Right now, the full Congress should come together and pass a robust package for (COVID-19) relief,” he said in Delaware while introducing members of his economic policy team. “Any package passed in a lame duck Congress is likely to be at best just a start.”