Senate Republicans unveiled a $1 trillion opening bid for the next stimulus package at the end of July, but within only a few days negotiations with Democrats became gridlocked over policy differences.
There's a lot at stake politically for lawmakers to pass a stimulus given that it may be the last rescue package Congress passes before the presidential election. Despite the high stakes, Congress missed end-of-July deadlines to extend a hold on evictions and a boost to unemployment benefits, instead allowing them to expire.
Each party blamed the other. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement that Republicans needed to "get serious" while Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell accused Democrats of "playing rope-a-dope with the health, welfare, and livelihoods of American families."
McConnell is urging Democrats to make recommendations to his proposal — dubbed the Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protections, and Schools Act, or HEALS Act — while Democrats say it falls far short of the $3 trillion HEROES Act the House passed in May.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the GOP plan "half-baked" and "half-hearted," and has rejected a plan to pass short-term extensions now so that other policies can be addressed later. He and Pelosi have been meeting with White House officials to try to hash out a deal.
Despite the clashes, the GOP plan gives a sense of what will be included in a final stimulus. On July 27, multiple committee chairs went to the Senate floor to unveil different portions of the GOP bill. Here are the highlights of the plan:
Reducing unemployment boost to $200 a week
Republicans want to adjust unemployment payments so they add up to 70% of wage replacement by October. The plan would reduce the $600-a-week boost to unemployment benefits that was established in March and that expired at the end of July.
Their proposal is to cut the payments to $200 a week through September with the goal of states transitioning to the wage-replacement structure by October.
Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa described it as "a much more responsible approach that we didn't have time to work out" in the stimulus President Donald Trump signed into law in March.
Disagreement over the benefits is one of the most contentious battles over the stimulus with Democrats, who want to extend the $600-a-week boost through the end of the year.
Another round of stimulus checks
Grassley said the GOP bill would provide another round of $1,200 checks for most Americans. Families with children would receive an additional $500 a child.
The provision is similar to an earlier round of relief, in which individuals who made up to $75,000 got $1,200 checks, with lower amounts going to people with higher incomes.
$105 billion for schools and more money for childcare
Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, seizing on a major priority for Trump, announced the GOP package would allocate $105 billion to help schools reopen safely. The money is supposed to help alleviate the expenses schools will face to clean facilities and keep students spread out.
Another $60 billion for small-business loans
Congress already allocated $670 billion for small businesses to get forgivable loans through a fund called the Paycheck Protection Program. The fund hasn't entirely been spent yet, but the GOP bill would add another $60 billion to it.
The provision, known as the Continuing Small Business Recovery and Paycheck Protection Program Act, would try to target the hardest-hit businesses by allowing them to get a second loan. It'd be set aside specifically for small businesses owned by people of color, for seasonal businesses, and for businesses situated in low-income communities.
The provision, introduced by Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Susan Collins of Maine, also would reimburse companies for costs related to making workplaces safe, such as helping them pay for protective equipment, testing, cleaning, and remodeling where needed.
Lawsuit protections for businesses
McConnell has long said liability protections are the priority for the next stimulus. Republicans are worried that employers and healthcare workers will face a round of lawsuits if people accuse a place of business of being the source of their infection.
Sen. John Cornyn of Texas unveiled the provision, called the Safe to Work Act, to protect businesses "operating in good faith" and who are following healthcare guidelines from being "sued out of existence." Even if businesses were to win the lawsuits, he said, they risk taking on considerable expenses to defend themselves.
More money for coronavirus vaccines, treatments, and cures
The proposal, McConnell said, would "dedicate even more resources to the fastest race for a new vaccine in human history." The money — $26 billion — would also pay for creating new treatments and cures.
It would set aside $16 billion for virus testing, particularly for states to conduct them in schools, workplaces, and childcare facilities, and would contain a $25 billion boost in funding for hospitals, clinics, and doctors.
Extending changes to telemedicine
Congress has allowed more people to see the doctor over phone and video during the pandemic, and it plans to allow it through the end of 2021.
Before the pandemic, older Americans covered by the government's Medicare program could use telemedicine only if they lived in rural areas and went to a government-designated facility to sign on to the technology. Now they can meet with doctors from their homes, including over the phone.
Higher deductions for business meals
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina introduced a provision to give businesses a 100% deduction for meals, up from 50%. The provision is aimed to help the restaurant industry, which has suffered financially during the pandemic.
Protect Medicare from insolvency
The legislation contains a bipartisan bill from Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah that would create congressional committees to develop legislation so the US doesn't run low on funding for Social Security and Medicare. Cuts will be triggered in the programs if Congress doesn't find a way to fund them.
Move more manufacturing of protective equipment to the US
Sen. Lindsey Graham unveiled the provision, saying it was "time to get serious about our reliance on China."
The provision includes a $7.5 billion tax credit to make protective equipment in the US, which doctors and nurses use against the virus.
This story has been updated with additional developments on negotiations in Congress.
