%1

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.

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. 

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said yesterday that the Trump administration is unwilling to extend a boost to unemployment benefits amid the coronavirus pandemic if it allows jobless workers to make more money than they did before losing their jobs, The Hill reported. Mnuchin said that any extension of enhanced unemployment insurance would cap benefits at “no more than 100 percent” of what the recipient made before becoming unemployed. The $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act signed by President Trump in March added $600 to unemployment insurance in every state. The boost, which expires on July 31, was intended to help workers in industries derailed by the pandemic support themselves and continue spending money amid the lockdowns imposed to slow the pandemic. The future of the increased benefit is one of the most contentious issues facing lawmakers as they craft another stimulus package. Economists credit the enhanced unemployment benefits, among other stimulus efforts, with preventing a deeper plunge in economic activity. But many Republicans have expressed regrets about the boost because it pushed unemployment benefits above the average wage in many states.