McConnell To Introduce The Fifth Coronavirus Relief Bill In A Few Weeks
On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that he believes there will be a fifth coronavirus relief bill, as the country sees an uptick in the number of cases.
“We will be taking a look at — in the Senate in a couple of weeks — another package based on the conditions that we confront today,” McConnell said in Louisville, Ky.
McConnell added on the potential for a fifth coronavirus bill that “I believe there will be one.”
McConnell previously predicted in early April that there would be another coronavirus bill, but, since then, Republicans hit pause on talk of another relief package, saying that they wanted to see how the nearly $3 trillion already appropriated by Congress was being spent.
Republicans are expected to make a final decision on a fifth coronavirus bill once they return to Washington from a two-week break on July 20. But McConnell said on Monday that he was “likely” to introduce a bill in a few weeks.
“If you’re looking for what I think the theme of what a next package that I’m likely to roll out here in a few weeks would focus on: liability reform, kids in school, jobs and health care, that’s where the focus, it seems to me, ought to be,” McConnell said.
Once the Senate returns, the chamber’s Republicans would have only a matter of weeks to unveil a coronavirus proposal and try to negotiate an agreement with Democrats. The House passed a nearly $3 trillion bill largely along party lines in May, but that bill has been declared dead on arrival in the GOP-controlled Senate.
The House is scheduled to be in town for two weeks before leaving Washington until September, while the Senate is scheduled to be in session for three weeks. There are deep divisions on a myriad of issues including more help for states and local governments, whether a second round of stimulus checks should be sent to households and whether to bolster unemployment insurance.
Asked if funding for individuals like the stimulus checks included in a March package would be in the next piece of legislation, which would be the fifth in response to COVID-19, McConnell said they “could well” be.
“I think the people that have been hit the hardest are people who make about $40,000 or less. Many of them work in the hospitality industry. …. That could well be a part of it,” McConnell said.
Congress included a $1,200 one-time payment for individuals making up to $75,000 per year in the $2.2 trillion March coronavirus stimulus package. The amount a person could receive then decreased until it hit a salary ceiling of $99,000 per year, where the direct payment was phased out altogether.
McConnell’s comments, made during a stop in Kentucky, suggest that Republicans could be looking at a lower ceiling for a potential second round of direct assistance.
The Trump administration has pushed for a second round of the direct payments to be included in the next coronavirus relief package taken up by Congress. House Democrats passed a nearly $3 trillion bill in May that included a $1,200 check for individuals, similar to the March bill, but that legislation is not expected to be taken up by the GOP-controlled Senate.
President Trump said late last month that he supports another round of stimulus checks.
But Republican lawmakers have been wary, believing that the payments don’t directly stimulate the economy and went to individuals who have not been impacted financially by the spread of the coronavirus. After at first embracing big spending, Republicans appear increasingly concerned about the country’s growing debt.
Talk of doing a second round of stimulus checks comes as Congress is expected to begin formally negotiating the fifth coronavirus bill later this month, when lawmakers return to Washington on July 20.
McConnell said Monday that he believed a fifth bill would be necessary and that he would introduce legislation in a few weeks.
“I’ll be unveiling something, which will be a starting place, in a few weeks, and we’ll then be dealing with the administration and the Democrats and all the rest. … I think we will do something again. I think the country needs one last boost,” he said.
The bill is expected to include a second round of Paycheck Protection Program funding, with a key group of senators currently debating including a revenue-loss test as part of tighter requirements to qualify for more assistance.
McConnell also said on Monday that Republicans were looking at a shield from lawsuits for businesses, hospitals and schools that would be retroactive back to December 2019 and run through 2024.
“If you’re looking for what I think the theme of what a next package that I’m likely to roll out here in a few weeks would focus on: liability reform, kids in school, jobs and health care, that’s where the focus, it seems to me, ought to be,” McConnell said.