Second Stimulus Check Bill Weekend Update - What’s The Holdup?
There were high hopes for a quick resolution to the next stimulus bill when the Senate returned to session from their summer break. By all accounts, leadership in both the Republican-led Senate and Democrat-led House were ready to strike a deal to bring much-needed relief to Americans.
Both sides
openly supported another round of stimulus checks, extended unemployment benefits, small business relief, and other measures to support the economy. However, they disagreed about the levels of support needed for each of these measures, and they disagreed on other topics, such as providing extensive financial aid to state and local governments.
President Trump took matters into his own hands last weekend and
signed three presidential memorandums and an executive order that would provide a $400 unemployment insurance benefit, a payroll tax holiday, student loan relief, and an eviction moratorium. It is yet to be known exactly how these Presidential memorandums and the executive order will be implemented or how they will impact the negotiations on the next stimulus bill.
Now here where are, several weeks after negotiations resumed, with no deal and both houses of Congress breaking until after Labor Day.
What Went Wrong, and Where Will They Go from Here?
There are several points of contention between the Senate and House. The overall cost of the proposal is one of the biggest sticking points. But there are also disagreements on where the money should go and what should be included in the next bill.
Let’s look at each of these in turn.
Cost – The Biggest Sticking Point
The biggest hurdle between the two parties is the amount of money each is willing to spend on the next stimulus bill. The Democrat-led House proposed the $3 trillion HEROES Act in May, while the Republican-led Senate wants to keep the total cost of the bill to “around $1 trillion.”
The Senate rejected the $3 trillion HEROES Act, with Senate Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) calling it a “wish list.”
The Senate waited until this latest session to make a proposal when they introduced the
HEALS Act, a $1 trillion proposal that was introduced in multiple parts by several different committees within the Senate. The Democrats have insisted the next bill be proposed as a complete package and not be introduced “piecemeal”.
Since then, the two parties have been locked in a stalemate.
The Democrats have offered to decrease the total cost of their proposal by $1 trillion, meeting somewhere near the middle, but the Trump administration
rejected this offer, with Treasury Secretary Mnuchin calling it a “
non-starter.”
Stimulus talks have stalled. What went wrong?
www.forbes.com
