07/16/2020

Congress to Open Talks on Next COVID-19 Relief Bill

It's unclear what the relief parameters will be

Congress is set to return to Washington, D.C. next week to hammer out a deal on the next COVID-19 (coronavirus) relief package before the August recess and House and Senate leaders are reportedly still far apart on the major provisions of the bill. Privately, lawmakers believe an agreement will be reached.

However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) this week outlined very different priorities for the fifth and probably final COVID stimulus measure. Senate Republicans will introduce a roughly $1 trillion bill next week that is likely to include liability protections for employers and financial incentives for schools to reopen.

“I expect to begin to lay out to my colleagues in the Senate a proposal,” McConnell said. In addition to protecting employers that reopen from lawsuits, “kids in school, jobs and healthcare are likely to be the focus of the bill.”

The Senate bill will be much smaller in scope than the $3 trillion-plus Heroes Act that Pelosi ushered through the House two months ago. Pelosi has spent weeks criticizing McConnell and the Senate GOP for not moving sooner on the next COVID package and said this week that McConnell is still thinking too small relative to the need for additional stimulus.

“There’s a recognition that there’s going to be a bill,” Pelosi said. “They went from zero to now $1.3 [trillion]. That’s not enough; we need more. But we see the public evolution of their thinking.”

Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) are looking for more aid for state and local governments and renewal of expiring unemployment benefits, among other provisions, in the next package.

OSAE, ASAE and numerous other associations are still actively urging congressional offices to support specific relief through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for associations impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. All Section 501(c) organizations, except 501(c)(3) entities, were left out of the PPP when Congress passed the CARES Act in March. ASAE has set up a grassroots portal for members to contact their legislators and urge them to include association-specific relief in the next COVID stimulus package.

This article was provided to OSAE by the Power of A and ASAE's Inroads.