The U.S. Senate will begin debate next week on a fifth coronavirus-response bill, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said yesterday, as he forecast tough negotiations with Democrats who are seeking broader aid than Republicans, Reuters reported. McConnell added the legislation, which has not yet been unveiled, will likely be more contentious than the previous four coronavirus aid bills. Those pumped more than $3 trillion into the hobbled economy with a combination of business loans, expanded unemployment benefits for workers and direct payments to families. “I do think we’ll get there and do something that needs to be done” before Congress begins an August recess, the Republican senator predicted. But there are also divisions among Republicans — in the White House and in Congress — over the precise direction of the upcoming bill, including whether there should be another round of direct payments to individuals and families. McConnell has talked about a bill costing no more than $1 trillion, while Democrats in the House of Representatives passed a $3 trillion measure in mid-May that McConnell has so far ignored. McConnell wants to focus on liability protections for business, schools and other entities as they reopen their operations even as coronavirus cases surge in many parts of the U.S., including Kentucky.
