Congress still hopeful for $1,200 stimulus checks as current bill without money heads to finish line
ANOTHER coronavirus relief bill from a bipartisan group of senators could be proposed as early as next week.
Republican Senator Bill Cassidy said the $908billion proposal would not include a second round of $1,200 – despite both parties having expressed support for more direct payments.
"There may be a stimulus check, but that would be part of a different piece of legislation," Cassidy said .
Cassidy, one of 10 senators working on drafting the proposed package, also said that the bill “is not a stimulus bill, it’s a relief bill.”
Stimulus checks are not expected to be added to the final version of the bill as the bipartisan group works to meet cost-cutting demands.
The proposal would represent a compromise between the rejected $2.2trillion plan from and a $550billion proposal from .
Democratic Senator Mark Warner, who is working on drafting the bill with Cassidy, that the legislation could be proposed as early as Monday.
CNN’s Jake Tapper said that told him he hopes the bill passes but and branded it as a “starting point” for further negotiations.
When asked by Tapper if Pelosi and Schumer were hindering his bipartisan efforts at another stimulus package, Warner called the efforts a “compromise.”
“Look Jake, this is a compromise. There has been a group of eight of us, that’s now 10, that have worked over the last two weeks every day except ,” Warner said.
“For those of us who are Democrats, we would have preferred a bigger plan. From my Republican colleagues, they would have liked a plan Mitch McConnell put out at about $500billion. This is a compromise.”
He added that “neither side is going to get the full amount” or exact legislation desired by their party.
A framework of the proposal includes a $300 per week in unemployment benefits, CNN reported.
The proposal would also include $288billion in aid for small businesses through the Paycheck Protection Program, $4billion for emergency student loan relief, $10billion for the United States Postal Service, and $25billion in emergency rental assistance, .
The bill proposal would set aside $160billion for state and local government, which McConnell has repeatedly shown he would not support.
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However, Warner told CNN that he has “pretty high assurance” the proposed legislation would pass through , which Cassidy echoed to Fox News.
Cassidy told the outlet he is “optimistic” that both and McConnell would accept the bipartisan compromise to the relief package.
"The pain of the American people is driving this, and I’m optimistic that both of those leaders will come on board," he said.