White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on Friday that a further round of economic impact payments to Americans should focus on those who no longer have a job to return to, saying the next coronavirus relief bill should be “tighter” than previous efforts, Reuters reported. “The key now is helping folks get back to work,” Kudlow added. “We’ll have some unemployment reforms. We’ll have some re-employment bonuses. We will have some additional economic impact assistance in a targeted way.” “I think it’s going to be a tighter bill. We can’t keep posting $3, $4 trillion every three months or every two months,” he said. The Trump administration and lawmakers are expected to soon re-engage in negotiations aimed at producing a bill for President Donald Trump to sign by the end of the month. Read more.
In related news, Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said yesterday that she believes U.S. lawmakers can find a compromise on extending jobless benefits and unemployment insurance for Americans struggling amid coronavirus pandemic shutdowns, Reuters reported. “We have to find a compromise because we must extend it,” Pelosi said. The top Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives has said it would not be productive to extend the extra unemployment benefits that were included in coronavirus relief legislation earlier this year. The benefits expire on July 31. Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and other Republicans point to statistics showing many Americans receive more money from the extended unemployment benefits than they earned when they were at work. Republicans and Democrats have been debating how to help the country recover from the economic effects of the novel coronavirus, which led to business closures that have thrown tens of millions of Americans out of work. The loss of the safety net of $600 per week payments to laid off workers looms well before a sustained recovery is likely to take hold from the sudden and deep recession brought by the coronavirus, which has infected nearly 3 million Americans. Read more.
