After months of negotiations, a bipartisan group of centrist senators is preparing to unveil its COVID-19 stimulus proposal on Monday. The group is set to split its proposal into two bills: a $748 billion package containing universally popular measures, and a $160 billion bill that is more controversial, The Washington Post reports.
The bigger package would renew unemployment benefits that are set to expire at the end of the year, extend a new round of small business aid, and boost funding for vaccine distribution, transportation, and education. The smaller one includes state and local aid, as well as a so-called "liability shield" for employers that every Democrat except Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) has opposed. The shield would protect businesses from being sued over coronavirus-related medical problems.
But whatever they come up with, another, much smaller group of bipartisan senators might prove problematic. Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) are demanding the bill include another round of stimulus checks. Sanders told Politico he'll urge House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to reject the bipartisan bill over its failure to do so, pointing out that Democrats had pushed for $3.4 trillion in new relief funding, but the bipartisan bill includes just $188 billion in new spending. It largely repurposes unused funding from previous bills.
Sanders' progressive allies have refused to vote for a bill without stimulus payments, and Hawley has pushed the White House to adopt them as well.
This is what Democrats and Republicans did unanimously in March through the CARES Act. This is what we have to do today.
