Is another $1,200 stimulus check in the works? GOP senator offers bill with COVID aid
Sen. Josh Hawley introduced legislation Thursday that would provide another round of $1,200 stimulus checks during the coronavirus pandemic as lawmakers continue to struggle to agree on a broader coronavirus package.
Hawley, a Missouri Republican, previously said that he wouldn’t agree to a deal unless it included a second round of direct payments to Americans, The Hill reported.
“It’s what every single senator has already supported, so there should be no fiddling about ‘oh I don’t know this is different.’ It’s exactly what every senator has voted for once,” Hawley said. “If the negotiators can’t reach some sort of compromise I will go to the floor next week and I’ll ask for an up or down vote on that.”
His standalone bill is similar to a provision included in the CARES Act, which was passed in March and provided $1,200 payments for individuals who made up to $75,000. The legislation introduced by Hawley would give $1,200 to individuals and $2,400 to joint filers making up to $150,000 a year, plus $500 per qualifying child.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin presented the White House’s $916 billion proposal this week to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California. The plan includes funding for local and state governments and liability protections for businesses. It also would provide a round of $600 stimulus payments to Americans plus an additional $600 per child, according to House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, who reviewed the proposal, Bloomberg News reported.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers previously introduced a $908 billion package that includes state and local aid, unemployment benefits and small business loans but doesn’t include stimulus checks.
The White House offer would get rid of the weekly $300 unemployment aid included in the bipartisan plan, The Associated Press reported.
Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a joint statement that cutting the unemployment benefits was “unacceptable.”
“While it is progress that Leader McConnell has signed off on a $916 billion offer that is based off of the bipartisan framework, the president’s proposal must not be allowed to obstruct the bipartisan Congressional talks that are underway,” the statement said.
“Members of the House and Senate have been engaged in good-faith negotiations and continue to make progress,” the statement says. “The bipartisan talks are the best hope for a bipartisan solution.”
NEGOTIATIONS ON A RELIEF PACKAGE SO FAR
Democrats, Republicans and the White House have tried but failed to negotiate a follow-up package to the CARES Act.
President-elect Joe Biden’s advisers are preparing for the chances of a recession next year and are pushing for lawmakers to agree on a stimulus package, even if it doesn’t live up to the deal that Democrats were hoping to pass, The New York Times reported.
Earlier, Biden had said he would support legislation similar to the HEROES Act, a $3 trillion coronavirus aid bill passed by House Democrats in May that never received a vote in the Senate, according to CNBC. A $2.2 trillion updated version of the aid package was unveiled in September.
Meanwhile, Senate Republicans introduced their own version of a $1 trillion second stimulus package, called the Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection and Schools (HEALS) Act, in July.
After talks between lawmakers hit another impasse, Pelosi and Schumer sent Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell a letter in November, asking him to “join us at the negotiating table,” The Hill reported.
“We write to request that you join us at the negotiating table this week so that we can work towards a bipartisan, bicameral COVID-19 relief agreement to crush the virus and save American lives,” Schumer and Pelosi wrote in the letter.
McConnell said on Nov. 30 there’s “no reason” why Congress can’t pass another package by the end of the year and this week suggested Democrats drop funding for local and state governments in exchange for Republicans setting aside liability protections for businesses, both of which being the most contentious parts of the various proposals.
Democrats balked at the idea as governments have suffered hundreds of billions in losses during the pandemic, The New York Times reported. Schumer accused McConnell of “sabotaging good-faith bipartisan negotiations.”
This story was originally published December 10, 2020 at 2:51 PM with the headline "Is another $1,200 stimulus check in the works? GOP senator offers bill with COVID aid."