Deal Reached on COVID-19 Bill

Posted on April 21, 2020

As noted this morning, negotiators had been working to reach an agreement on the next COVID-19-related bill, scheduling a Senate session for this afternoon. A deal has officially been reached on the legislation.

The $484-billion measure includes, among other provisions:

$320 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program, which ran out of money next week
$75 billion for hospitals and other health care facilities
$25 billion for expanded COVID-19 testing as well as the development of a national strategy
$50 billion for SBA Economic Disaster Loans
$10 billion for SBA Economic Injury Grants

The bill does not include any additional funds for states and localities.

Senate Democrats are calling this package an “interim” measure, fully expecting to take up a “Phase 4” bill later this spring.

The Senate is scheduled to meet at 4 PM EDT with the hopes of passing the bill by unanimous consent.

Read more about the agreement here, here, and here.

House to Take Up Emergency Bill on Friday

Posted on March 26, 2020March 26, 2020

As noted earlier this morning, the Senate passed the $2-trillion relief package last night by a vote of 96 to 0. Before the vote on final passage, there was plenty of last-minute drama that had to be addressed.

One of the late issues was raised by a group of conservative Senators who raised objections to provisions in the bill that would both extend the length of eligibility for unemployment benefits as well as the size of the unemployment checks. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) countered by asserting that he would hold up progress on the legislation if those provisions were changed. Ultimately, the group of conservatives was allowed to offer an amendment that would have decreased the benefits, which was defeated. Following that, the Senate approved the bill 96 to 0.

Even as the Senate was debating the package, questions swirled about how the House would take it up, as most Members are currently back in their districts and face difficult choices about whether and how to return to Washington to vote. At this point, the House is scheduled to bring up the bill on Friday and will seek to pass it by voice vote rather than take a roll call vote.

Read more about the behind the scenes debates and conversations in:

Text and Section-by-Section Summaries of “Phase 3” Now Available

Posted on March 20, 2020

The text of the Senate Republican stimulus bill, “Phase 3,” has been released and is available here.

In addition, several chairmen of the committees that would have jurisdiction over different parts of the bill have released summaries of the parts of the bill that they would oversee. The section-by-section summaries of parts of the bill that are most relevant to UW and other universities are provided below:

As noted previously, this is the initial proposal from the Senate Republican and it will need to be modified along the way as they begin to negotiate with Congressional Democrats, who will also have their own priorities.

Administration Seeks to Add $45.8 Billion in Emergency Spending to FY2020 Bills

Posted on March 18, 2020

To add to the many moving pieces in response to COVID-19, the Administration yesterday sent an emergency spending request to Congress to add another $45.8 billion to the FY2020 appropriations bills.

The request was officially made by the White House Office of Management and Budget yesterday. The request includes $50 million for the National Science Foundation to “support near real-time research at molecular, cellular, physiological and ecological levels to better understand coronavirus characteristics such as genetics, modes of action, transmission, virulence and population dynamics.” Funds would be distributed through NSF’s Rapid Response Research mechanism to “rapidly fund quick-response research related to
COVID-19.”

House Passes 2nd COVID-19 Appropriations Package, Next Senate

Posted on March 17, 2020March 17, 2020

Despite earlier push back, the House passed fixes to its financial relief package Monday night by Unanimous Consent. Conservative Senate Republicans also voiced concerns, specifically about the small business leave provisions. Those requirements for paid leave were apparently tweaked by tightening eligibility in some areas. It restricts paid family leave to $200 per day or $10,000 total. It also provides more generous tax credits to employers for providing paid leave than the initial bill.

The package, which still has no official cost estimate, would extend unemployment insurance, increase federal Medicaid spending, offer nearly $1 billion in additional food aid, provide free coverage for coronavirus testing, and more.

The measure now moves to the Senate which is expected to take up the measure (HR 6201) today to cushion the economic blow of the COVID-19 pandemic.