Crunch time for stalemated Congress
Congress’ inaction on the coronavirusstricken economy is growing older but not wiser. Nearly five months after lawmakers passed the last of four stimulus measures, unemployed Californians have seen the end of the supplemental aid they provided and are at or near the end of the stopgap measure ordered by President Trump. Nearly a third of respondents to a federal survey last month reported struggling to cover basic expenses. And the demand for food assistance has tripled in parts of the Bay Area.
The House returned from a summer recess this week, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi reportedly told colleagues Tuesday that they aren’t leaving until they provide more economic relief. Amid loose talk of letting the issue lie until after the election, it’s a welcome pledge.
An expansive bill passed by the House in May would have more than doubled the $3 trillion in stimulus measures enacted over the previous two months, including $1 trillion in sorely needed aid to states and cities. But the Republicancontrolled Senate and the Trump administration showed no interest in further action for months. Negotiations between the administration and Democratic congressional leaders resumed in July but to no avail.
That allowed nearly $600 a week in supplemental unemployment payments included in the flagship stimulus to expire at the end of that month. Disaster funds redirected by the president allowed states to provide half as much for another five weeks, but California has paid out those benefits and expects to provide one more week’s worth at most.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and most of his fellow Republicans at long last backed a response to the House bill last week. With about $300 billion in new spending, including funding for $300 in weekly supplemental unemployment payments, it was less than a tenth of the funding passed by the House four months ago. Drawing no Democratic support, it failed to emerge from the upper chamber.
Partisan hobbyhorses naturally found their way into both bills: The Senate Republicans included corporate liability protections and tax credits for private schools, while House Democrats floated a restoration of the federal deduction for state and local taxes, which primarily benefits taxpayers in California and other Democraticleaning states.
That being said, the Senate bill is impossibly inadequate, leaving out aid to states and cities entirely and even measures favored by the administration. Its stinginess reflects some Republican lawmakers’ absurd insistence that people are out of work because of generous federal benefits and not the mass closures and layoffs stemming from the pandemic and the president’s botched response.
Given the scope of the crisis and the federal government’s unmatched ability to prop up the economy, Pelosi’s position is far closer to correct. But as members of her own caucus are arguing, being of some help to their constituents will ultimately prove more important than being right.