Mnuchin Pitches $916 Billion Relief Plan Including State Aid

Mnuchin Pitches $916 Billion Relief Plan Including State Aid

Mnuchin Stimulus Plan

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“Leader McConnell has refused to be part of the bipartisan negotiations and now he’s sabotaging good-faith bipartisan negotiations because his partisan ideological effort is not getting a good reception,” Schumer said. He had previously sent more positive signals that state and local fiscal relief would likely have to be an element of a COVID-19 relief agreement given Democratic control of the House. “What I recommend is we set aside liability and set aside state and local, and pass those things that we can agree on, knowing full well we’ll be back at this after the first of the year,” McConnell told reporters. Senator Dick Durbin, the Number 2 Senate Democrat, said senators were hearing from the White House that Trump would support sending a new round of $1,200 stimulus checks to individuals. Legislators enacted $3 trillion in COVID-19 aid earlier this year but have not been able to agree on fresh relief since April. House Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, hope to attach long-awaited COVID-19 relief to a broad $1.4 trillion omnibus spending bill that legislators are also trying to pass this month.

  • Another $140 billion is left from the Paycheck Protection Program of small-business aid.
  • Lawmakers have for months struggled to pass additional economic stimulus with little signs of nearing the finish line.
  • “State and local funding is bipartisan, unlike the extreme corporate liability proposal Leader McConnell made, which has no Democratic support,” Schumer told reporters on Tuesday, adding that McConnell was trying to “pull the rug out from beneath” the bipartisan group of negotiators.
  • He accused McConnell of “pulling the rug out” from under the bipartisan group of lawmakers working on the $908 billion plan.
  • Bert Salke, the head of the company’s Touchstone Television studio, is leaving the company, having taken a producing deal.

Any negotiated deal, however, will have to pass through the Republican-controlled Senate, where members have expressed hesitancy at spending trillions of dollars on COVID-19 relief. The White House’s latest offer is still smaller than the $2.2 trillion Democrats most recently offeredand which Trump rejected on Tuesday. Trump seemed to undercut his administration’s negotiation Friday afternoon, telling Rush Limbaugh in an interview, “I would like to see a bigger stimulus package frankly than either the Democrats or the Republicans are offering.” “People in need can’t wait until February. ($)1.8 trillion is significant & more than twice Obama stimulus,” California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna wrote on Twitter. Pelosi has stuck with a $2.2 trillion bill, and the two sides remain far apart on several issues of policy as well, including how to deploy health care aid and apportion tax credits and assistance to state and local governments.

Mnuchin Says He Learned Of Pelosi’s Letter To Him About Stimulus Talks ‘in The Press’

“This proposal includes money for state and local governments and robust liability protections for businesses, schools and universities,” Mnuchin said in his statement. Those issues have been the two key roadblocks in bipartisan talks on a $908 billion proposal put forth last week. WASHINGTON — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin appeared to be nearing a deal Tuesday on a roughly $2 trillion stimulus package to help American workers and businesses survive the coronavirus pandemic. The problem solvers are continuing to hash out their own $908 billion proposal; they’re reportedly working up actual legislative language. The emergency aid package is expected to get voted on as an attachment to the omnibus-spending bill needed to avoid a government shutdown on December 11. On that note, lawmakers are reportedly readying a measure that would fund the government for another week, pushing off the stimulus negotiations until later.

Members of the House and Senate have been engaged in good-faith negotiations and continue to make progress. The bipartisan talks are the best hope for a bipartisan solution,” Pelosi and Schumer said in the joint statement. Pelosi has faced pressure from across her caucus to deliver a deal quickly, with tens of millions of Americans out of work and businesses shuttered. But top Democrats have also been firm that they will not agree to a deal that does not offer expansive relief — rather than the more targeted packages that Republicans have been proposing.

Mnuchin Makes $916 Billion Offer To Pelosi For Covid Relief Bill

They will speak again on Thursday and staff would continue to “exchange paper,” Hammill said. Drew Hammill, deputy chief of staff for Pelosi, described the talks on Wednesday as productive, but added that the Trump administration’s lack of a national strategic testing plan remained a “major area of disagreement.” WASHINGTON — A new White House coronavirus aid offer got bad reviews from both ends of the political spectrum on Saturday. A Feeding Americaanalysissuggests some 54 million people could go hungry this year alone, which is up from its estimate of 37 million before the pandemic started. Luis Guardia, president of the Food Research and Action Center, says the pain for people experiencing hunger right now is real. As winter moves in over the next few months, food advocates fear hunger needs during the COVID-19 pandemic could only worsen and urge swift passage of a relief bill in Congress. In an MSNBC interview, Pelosi emphasized the need for aid for state and local governments to help pay salaries for police, healthcare workers and other first responders.

mnuchin stimulus plan

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Monday failed again to close major differences on a fresh stimulus for a U.S. economy facing a renewed surge in Covid-19 cases. House leadership has told lawmakers they will have 24-hour notice before having to return to the Capitol for votes. A 2-page document the Treasury Department circulated on Wednesday calls for $500 billion in direct payments, which would go out in two installments, one in early April and a second in mid-May. Mnuchin earlier in the week indicated the administration would be interested in means-testing the payments, though it is not yet known what the income threshold to receive the money would be. President-elect Joe Biden has urged Congress to come together on a stimulus effort in 2020 rather than waiting for him to take office Jan. 20. Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will meet in person Nov. 20 with Pelosi and Schumer. Spokesmen for McConnell and McCarthy had no immediate comment on the pending discussions with Mnuchin over stimulus.

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In this interview, House Ag Committee member Austin Scott, R-Ga., reacts to those provisions as well as other farm and climate policy concerns. Republican President Donald Trump, who initially withdrew from the negotiations this week only to regain interest in forging a bipartisan accord, said he was open to a larger deal. WASHINGTON – The White House offered Democrats a $1.8 trillion COVID-19 stimulus package as President Donald Trump reverses course on stimulus negotiations, saying he wants to “Go Big.” “State and local funding is bipartisan, unlike the extreme corporate liability proposal Leader McConnell made, which has no Democratic support,” Schumer told reporters on Tuesday, adding that McConnell was trying to “pull the rug out from beneath” the bipartisan group of negotiators. Congressional Democrats had earlier on Tuesday rejected McConnell’s offer on a coronavirus relief bill, after he suggested that the most controversial items be left out of the next proposal and picked up for continuing negotiations next year. Pelosi has come under increasing fire for failing to reach a deal with the GOP after Democrats spurned smaller, targeted bills with unemployment assistance and relief for small businesses.

The administration’s new approach also has $160 billion for aid to state and local authorities, according to a person familiar with the matter. Before those talks, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that the Senate will vote on Republican proposals for a roughly $500 billion economic recovery bill and additional funding to aid small businesses, starting Tuesday. It should be noted that even if it were to miraculously happen, $1,200 stimulus payments and additional unemployment benefits wouldn’t reach the pockets of needy Americans until weeks after the election. The new offer totals about $1.8 trillion, aides familiar with it said, with a key state and local fiscal relief component moving from $250 billion to at least $300 billion. The aides were not authorized to publicly discuss private negotiations and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Pelosi And Schumer Back Bipartisan Stimulus Plan As Basis For Reviving Talks

Longer-term prospects will grow even worse if Washington fails to pass another stimulus package. Another dip in the economy would damage unemployed Americans far beyond what we’ve seen so far. Current polling shows Trump is trailing challenger Joe Biden in the polls, including in states like Arizona and Wisconsin. Given the prevailing winds, he seems likely to support another round of stimulus that includes a check with his signature on it. Odds Are New York Will Allow Mobile Sports Betting In Time For NFL Season, Experts SayThe expectation in Albany is to wrap a deal in the next few weeks and have mobile sports betting in New York by September. “In response to proposals sent over the weekend, the two spent time seeking clarification on language, which was productive,” Hammill said on Twitter.

mnuchin stimulus plan

Instead, it would include another, smaller round of direct payments to Americans, amounting to $600 per person. Democrats have argued for more robust spending to not only extend unemployment benefits and the PPP, but to also help support state and local governments that have seen steep budgetary deficits due to the coronavirus’s impact on business. Congress passed a historic $2 trillion bill in March known as the CARES Act that included funding for the Paycheck Protection Program, enhanced unemployment benefits and $1,200 direct payments to most U.S. workers. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Friday that he and senior GOP lawmakers will attempt to draft a targeted stimulus package with Democrats in the coming weeks. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin says that he will attempt to draft a targeted stimulus package with Democrats in the coming weeks. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said removing unemployment benefits to pay for stimulus checks for people with jobs makes little sense.

Mnuchin, Mcconnell Want To Tap Unused Fed Funds For Stimulus

As the cases of Covid-19 soar, states and local governments are reinstating restrictions, curbing in-person businesses of all stripes. The continued economic toll is forcing some employers to once-again furlough staffers or lay them off–and without additional unemployment insurance assistance, these folks are sure to face extreme hardship, as they can now only rely on sparsely funded state programs. The chances for a badly neededstimulus bill getting passed as early as next week have improved for the first time since the election.

mnuchin stimulus plan

But Democrats quickly rejected the suggestion, with some indicating that both parties could reach a deal by including both. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell offered to set aside so they can be addressed early next year in another assistance package. The Kentucky Republican previously referred to a liability shield as a “red line” that must be passed in any relief legislation.

Senate Coronavirus Relief Negotiations Stall

Mnuchin made no mention of new stimulus checks, but the package includes $600 payments, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told Bloomberg. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday that shared a $916 billion stimulus proposal with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. With her promotion, Ms. Levene is taking a job that was held for six years by Tom Harty, the company’s chief executive officer and chairman.

After McConnell publicized his plan Tuesday, Trump tweeted that Congress should “go big or go home.” The inability to bring months of negotiations to conclusion has sparked increasing tensions, with each camp seeing internal strains rise as it becomes clear there won’t be a spending bill to take to the public. Investors are increasingly taking note; the S&P 500 Index headed for a second day of declines on Wednesday, down nearly 0.7 percent as of 4 p.m New York time. Mnuchin agreed in response to a question that “part of the reality” is Democrats are holding back out of optimism they’ll win a Senate majority on Nov. 3 and don’t want to give President Donald Trump something to tout now in his campaign.

Schumer in his earlier comments said that leaving out state and local aid would hurt essential workers across the nation, including police officers and firefighters, who face job losses. He accused McConnell of “pulling the rug out” from under the bipartisan group of lawmakers working on the $908 billion plan. Pelosi and Schumer said in a joint statement that getting McConnell to go along with a $916 billion proposal was progress, but that the focal point should be the talks still going on in Congress on the bipartisan plan. The proposal would provide an additional $600 per week above what a person’s state already provides, which is expected to replace 100 percent of most people’s salaries, according to a Democratic aide. But Democrats and Republicans still remain at least $1 trillion apart on a stimulus package that’s bounced back and forth between the U.S. The Democratic-led House of Representatives approved a $3 trillion package in May, and two months later, Republicans in the Senate proposed a $1 trillion plan.

Mnuchin, meanwhile, has argued that Senate Republicans would get behind an accord if Trump himself backed the deal. But that prospect is still uncertain in a GOP-controlled Senate on edge ahead of an election where the majority is up for grabs. “What I’m telling you is that if such a deal were to clear the House, obviously with the presidential signature promised, we would put it on the floor of the Senate and let the Senate consider it,” McConnell told reporters following a Republican policy lunch. “The two bookends of our differences right now… one is state and local and the other is liability,” Pelosi said on Bloomberg TV. Pelosi’s spokesman said Tuesday that committee chairs have been tasked with resolving differences “about funding levels and language” before the two negotiators speak again on Wednesday. The chairs had already been tapped to reach out to the top Republicans on their panels to begin hammering out some of the finer details of a broader deal.

He noted that while significant unemployment has hurt workers across the country, it did not reach levels of 30 million to 40 million that some projected amid the fallout from the virus. In the most recent week for which stats are available, 898,000 people filed for unemployment benefitsfor the first time, the highest level of new jobless claims in two months. Another 373,000 more who don’t qualify for traditional unemployment requested Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. The considerable distance between what the Senate is proposing and what the House and the White House are negotiating makes a second stimulus that much more unlikely.

The bill is expected to pass the two chambers of Congress on Monday, although delays are possible. For the bill to become law, it has to be sent to the president for a signature, which could take additional days after Congress passes it. McConnell backed Mnuchin’s proposal to use $580 billion that was allocated for Fed loan guarantees, small business help and other coronavirus-relief programs that remains unspent.

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Some lawmakers have suggested that virus relief could be added to that bill as time runs out before the congressional Christmas holiday. Congress returns to work from its Thanksgiving break on Nov. 30 and is expected to adjourn no later than Dec. 18. McConnell has repeatedly said the starting point for talks should be the $500 billion measure backed by Senate Republicans, which would not provide direct $1,200 stimulus payments to individuals or aid to state and local governments. The window is closing for Congress to step in and prevent the expiration of numerous federal aid programs. About 12 million people could lose all their jobless aid the day after Christmas if lawmakers fail to pass a package renewing federal unemployment programs. A moratorium on evictions and federal paid sick, medical and family leave programs will also expire without congressional action. “State and local funding is bipartisan unlike the extreme corporate liability proposal Leader McConnell made which has no Democratic support,” Schumer said at a press conference on Tuesday.

“I’m not going to resign. I was not elected by the politicians. I was elected by the people. “The people of this state have known me for 40 years.” The new deal builds on the $748 billion stimulus bill introduced by lawmakers from both parties last Monday and includes provisions both sides support.

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