EMERGENCY RELIEF
Democrats must compromise
Although it’s infuriating that the White House and Republicans in the Senate waited until the final moments to begin negotiating extended emergency coronavirus relief for Americans, the onus of compromise now falls on House Democrats who must be willing to pass a relief bill in smaller, more manageable chunks.
Democrats for the most part have been the adults in the Capitol since the day President Donald Trump was sworn into office, and just like in December 2018 when Trump shuttered the government to demand $5 billion for his border wall, this impasse over coronavirus funding will only be solved by Democrats leading the way.
Reports from The Washington Post indicate that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is holding out for a large package deal. On Friday, however, it was reported that the White House rejected a $2 trillion package offered by Pelosi, which is significantly less than the $3.4 trillion HEROES Act the House passed in May.
We can understand Pelosi’s frustration that between the bill getting sent to the Senate and Aug. 1 when the $600 unemployment stipend expired, Republicans did little to advance the debate and didn’t even pass their $1.1 trillion HEALS Act.
The HEROES Act has been criticized for containing pork (unrelated spending for questionable projects) and a few poison pills (measures designed to ensure Republicans would be forced to cast votes opposing relief for Americans). In reality, the scale of the economic crisis before us warrants an aggressive response and some of those pork and poison pills could have been removed by Senate Republicans had they actually been interested in passing a bill.
For example, possibly the most pork-like item in the bill is the measure proposing to allow people to once again deduct from their taxable federal income what they pay in state and local taxes. Republicans took away the ability to deduct those property and income tax expenses in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Insisting that we revert back to bad tax police as a condition of stimulus funds is almost as ridiculous as the president’s insistence that any measure includes a reduction in payroll taxes.
Both would help those who really don’t need help during this time: people earning enough money to itemize their taxes instead of taking the extremely generous new standard deduction and folks who are employed during a time of unprecedented unemployment.
Trump and Democrats must both set aside those demands and focus on what should get passed immediately.
First and foremost, an extension of the unemployment stipend is essential, and will keep food on the table, bill collectors away and small businesses open as Americans continue to spend.
Second, the Payroll Protection Program must be extended to keep folks from ending up on unemployment to begin with. These Small Business Administration loans will keep the workforce employed.
Third, the federal government needs to pump more money into Medicaid to help health care providers and keep states from slashing benefits at a time when families may need health care more than ever.
Finally, ensure that there is adequate money — the Democrats want $75 billion — for coronavirus testing and contact tracing.
Assistance to state and local governments is essential, but it is also something that can wait. Most governments have rainy day funds that can hold them over until another deal is made later to help stanch the bleeding induced by rapid reductions in payroll and sales taxes. The president has been adamantly opposed to a “bailout” for California and Illinois (two states that run big deficits annually). However, he forgets that fiscally responsible states like Colorado may actually be hurt the most because things have already been cut to the bone.
Members of The Denver Post’s editorial board are Megan Schrader, editor of the editorial pages; Lee Ann Colacioppo, editor; Justin Mock, CFO; Bill Reynolds, general manager/ senior vp circulation and production; Bob Kinney, vice president of information technology; and TJ Hutchinson, systems editor.