The attempt to draw up a pandemic relief package hit another roadblock yesterday as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s top lieutenants said key portions of a compromise proposal from a bipartisan group of lawmakers aren’t likely to get backing from a majority of Republicans, Bloomberg News reported. Senator John Thune, the chamber’s No. 2 Republican, said the group of GOP and Democratic senators trying to forge a compromise likely cannot produce a solution to limiting the liability of employers in connection with COVID-19 infections that will satisfy Republicans. Democrats probably won’t like the result either, he added. The bipartisan group yesterday removed one of the last remaining hurdles to a complete stimulus framework when they agreed on a needs-based formula to distribute $160 billion in state and local aid, according to two congressional aides. But they are still haggling over the liability shield for employers that Republicans have demanded as part of the package. The group is discussing an enhanced pause in COVID-19 lawsuits, combined with a process for developing a future liability standard along with a standard that would apply now. Read more.
In related news, a second round of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans that lawmakers hope to include in the next COVID-19 relief package would expand eligibility and provide more flexibility for businesses, a top GOP lawmaker said yesterday, The Hill reported. Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio), the ranking member on the House Small Business Committee, said that components of a $908 billion bipartisan coronavirus relief proposal circulated this week would accommodate businesses with very few employees, create new eligibility requirements for a second loan and simplify the loan forgiveness process. “We’re close to having a second round of PPP loans available, and there would be a set-aside there for microbusinesses, those that have 10 or fewer employees,” Chabot said. “A lot of them weren’t sophisticated enough to get in the first round. We want to make sure that those who didn’t get one in the first round or businesses who maybe did get one but really need a second loan, that they’re both eligible.” Read more.
