By Joshua Jamerson, Andrew Duehren and Natalie Andrews
WASHINGTON -- Congress readied to pass an estimated $2 trillion
stimulus package aimed at combating the economic consequences of
the coronavirus pandemic, hours after legislative leaders and the
Trump administration struck a deal.
The Senate plans to vote on the mammoth bill on Wednesday,
though full text hasn't been released. The legislation will provide
direct financial checks to many Americans, drastically expand
unemployment insurance, offer hundreds in billions in loans to both
small and large businesses, refill drained state coffers and extend
additional resources to health-care providers.
"This is a wartime level of investment into our nation," said
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) in the early hours
of Wednesday after the two sides had reached a deal. "The men and
women of the greatest country on Earth are going to defeat this
coronavirus and reclaim our future."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) told reporters Wednesday
that she is "optimistic" about the legislation, and said no
decision had been made about when the House would try to take up
the legislation if it clears the Senate as expected.
The House is expected then to attempt quickly to pass the bill
by unanimous consent, a procedure that enables the chamber to
approve the legislation without lawmakers being present to vote. An
objection from even a single member could slow the process. House
lawmakers are currently on recess and scattered across the
country.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who has led negotiations on
behalf of the White House, said he had spoken to President Trump
about the agreement and that Mr. Trump would absolutely sign it as
it is currently written.
The legislation will provide for one-time checks worth $1,200 to
many individual Americans and $2,400 to married couples, with $500
extra for each child, with the assistance capped above certain
income levels, according to lawmakers.
Those payments would be in addition to a broad expansion in
unemployment benefits, which would be extended to nontraditional
employees, including gig workers and freelancers, that Senate
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) had pushed for, according
to a Democratic aide familiar with the negotiations. The agreement
is also set to increase current unemployment assistance by $600 a
week for four months.
As congressional officials completed the final text of the
agreement, a group of Senate Republicans said they would block
fast-tracking the legislation unless what they said was a "massive
drafting error" was fixed in the unemployment portion of the
bill.
The Senate is also poised to approve more than $350 billion in
loans to small businesses in an effort to keep Americans on
payrolls as economic activity across the country comes to a
standstill.
A major challenge in the negotiations was $500 billion in
corporate aid, much of which will go toward backstopping Federal
Reserve loans. The Treasury Secretary will have the authority to
directly lend a slice of those funds, and Democrats had sought to
place controls on the money. The agreement will create a new
inspector general and oversight board to monitor the aid.
The corporate aid portion also includes $17 billion for
assistance to companies deemed to be crucial to national security,
which could include firms such as Boeing Co. and General Electric
Co.
""You can imagine there's an awful lot of companies that can
qualify for that," Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.) said about that
national-security fund, adding it should not be thought of as
specifically for Boeing. A draft of the bill text doesn't name any
specific companies.
Boeing has been seeking at least $60 billion in public and
private aid for itself, its suppliers and the broader aerospace
industry.
The legislation will also create a new grant program to send
$100 billion to health-care providers, already straining to respond
to the rising number of infections across the country. An
additional $16 billion will go toward building a stockpile of
medical equipment, including personal protective gear that has
become scarce.
Democrats said that the bill includes $150 billion to go
directly to state and local governments saddled with costs related
to the virus.
In a heated call with House lawmakers from his home state, New
York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that the state would get only $4
billion in direct aid as part of a package giving $150 billion to
states, according to a person familiar with the call. He argued
that state funding should be higher and that a separate pool of
money in addition to direct state aid should be available for
cities, given that deaths in New York City alone account for about
a quarter of the country's total. Under the bill, any money sought
by an individual city would reduce the amount available to the rest
of the state.
Mr. Cuomo said in his daily briefing: "$3.8 billion sounds like
a lot of money ... but we're looking at a revenue shortfall of $9,
$10, $15 billion" in the state's budget, on top of emergency
response costs of $1 billion so far.
Mr. Schumer said the legislation included a ban on stock
buybacks for any company receiving a government loan from the
stimulus package. The ban lasts the term of the government
assistance plus one year.
Democrats also secured a provision in the agreement that bans
businesses controlled by President Trump, the vice president,
members of Congress and heads of executive departments from
receiving loans or other funds from the stimulus bill. Children and
spouses of those people are also banned, according to a senior
Democratic aid.
Republican senators appear to be on board with the changes.
"The bill will be very similar to what we proposed a few days
ago, but with some more money that is regrettably going to be
necessary to respond to this crisis and help keep our people safe.
And ultimately get our economy back on its feet," Sen. Tom Cotton
(R., Ark.) said on Fox News on Wednesday.
Once the bill passes the Senate, as expected, it will then go to
the House, where Mrs. Pelosi has said that she wants to pass
without having to recall members back to Washington from their
districts for a floor vote.
Many lawmakers are wary about traveling and being exposed to
coronavirus, and several are in self-quarantine and won't be able
to travel. Two House lawmakers and one senator have tested positive
for the virus.
House Democrats must still review the bill, and some House
Republicans are wary about the bill's increase in the federal
budget deficit and the rushed process by which it was drafted.
"It's amazing that we're talking potentially $2 trillion dollars
and none of us have even seen it," said Rep. Jody Hice (R., Ga.).
He opposed the last coronavirus bill that Congress passed because
of the rushed process.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) said in a
statement Wednesday that Congress should move quickly to approve
the bill.
Swift passage of the $2 trillion package would be the third time
a deeply divided Congress had acted to pass legislation responding
to the coronavirus pandemic in recent weeks. Lawmakers also quickly
passed an $8.3 billion bill funding vaccine development efforts,
among other issues, and a bill expanding paid-leave measures that
was estimated to cost more than $100 billion.
Richard Rubin and Siobhan Hughes contributed to this
article.
Write to Joshua Jamerson at joshua.jamerson@wsj.com, Andrew
Duehren at andrew.duehren@wsj.com and Natalie Andrews at
Natalie.Andrews@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 25, 2020 14:25 ET (18:25 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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