Link.
House Democrats announced a sweeping new Covid-19 stimulus bill on Tuesday with a price tag expected to be more than $3 trillion -- an amount that would stand as the largest relief package in history.
The legislation, which allocates more funding for state and local governments, coronavirus testing, and a new round of direct payments to Americans, sets up an immediate clash with the Republican-controlled Senate, where leaders have said another round of emergency funding is not yet needed.
Pelosi took aim at congressional Republicans who have argued that it would be better to first evaluate how already-enacted aid is implemented before moving ahead with another relief bill.
"For the families who are suffering though, hunger doesn't take a pause, rent doesn't take a pause, bills don't take a pause, the hardship of losing a job or tragically losing a loved one doesn't take a pause," Pelosi said, describing the crisis as "a historic challenge" and "momentous opportunity for us to meet the needs of the American people, to save their lives, their livelihoods and our democracy."
The package is expected to cost more than $3 trillion, according to a senior House Democratic aide. Three other aides also told CNN the price tag would be in the $3 trillion range. That would dwarf the stimulus measure enacted in March, which was more than $2 trillion and at the time amounted to the largest emergency aid package in American history.
The bill, which Democrats are calling the Heroes Act, would provide nearly $1 trillion for state and local governments, a $200 billion fund for essential worker hazard pay, an additional $75 billion for Covid-19 testing, tracing and isolation efforts, and a new round of direct payments to Americans of up to $6,000 per household, according to a fact sheet released by the House Appropriations Committee.
While congressional Republicans dismissed the bill as a liberal wish list on Tuesday, the legislation does not include some provisions that progressive Democrats wanted -- a result that some progressive are now expressing frustration over.
Prominent House progressives, including the so-called "squad" of freshman Democrats Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Ayanna Pressley, signed onto a letter to congressional leadership in both parties on Monday calling for recurring monthly payments as part of a new coronavirus bill.
Another progressive priority prompted pushback during a private call among House Democrats on Monday when Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington state took issue with the bill because it was not expected to include the Paycheck Guarantee Act, a plan the Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chairwoman had pushed to cover 100% of workers' wages up to $90,000 per year, according to three sources on the call.
Without some Republican support, the House bill cannot pass in the Senate. But unveiling legislation now gives Democrats an opportunity to showcase their priorities and outline their legislative vision for how to help a country in dire straits as a result of the devastating pandemic.
Republican Sen. John Cornyn reiterated Tuesday that he believes there is no "urgency" on passing another coronavirus relief bill when asked if the Senate will likely wait until after Memorial Day recess to take up phase four legislation.
"I don't think there's a sense of urgency to do it now because a lot of the money we've already appropriated hasn't been even gone out the door yet," the Texas Republican told reporters. "So, we're taking one day at a time."
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said the bill is "dead on arrival" in the Senate.
On phase four, Graham also said "Oh, God, no, no way" about whether the Senate will pass another coronavirus relief bill before the Memorial Day recess. But he added he's "sympathetic" to the idea that the economy will need additional help to recover.
