Dems' $3T new virus bill boosts state aid, essential workers

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled a more than $3 trillion coronavirus aid package Tuesday, providing nearly $1 trillion for states and cities, “hazard pay” for essential workers and a new round of cash payments to individuals.

News 12 Staff

May 12, 2020, 7:42 PM

Updated 1,536 days ago

Share:

WASHINGTON - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled a more than $3 trillion coronavirus aid package Tuesday, providing nearly $1 trillion for states and cities, “hazard pay” for essential workers and a new round of cash payments to individuals.
The House is expected to vote on the package as soon as Friday, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said there is no “urgency.” The Senate will wait until after Memorial Day to act.
The so-called Heroes Act is built around nearly $1 trillion for states, cities and tribal governments to avert layoffs, focused chiefly on $375 billion for smaller suburban and rural municipalities largely left out of earlier rounds of aid.
It will offer a fresh round of $1,200 direct cash aid to individuals, increased to up to $6,000 per household, and launches a $175 billion housing assistance fund to help pay rents and mortgages. There is $75 billion more for virus testing.
It would continue, through January, the $600-per-week boost to unemployment benefits. It adds a 15% increase for food stamps and new help for paying employer-backed health coverage. For businesses, there’s an employee retention tax credit.
There’s $200 billion in “hazard pay” for essential workers on the front lines of the crisis.
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said the bill “will be ready” to call lawmakers back to Washington for the vote.
But the 1,800-page package is heading straight into a Senate roadblock. Senate Republicans are not planning to vote on any new relief until June, after a Memorial Day recess.
President Donald Trump has already signed into law nearly $3 trillion in aid approved by Congress.
The new package extends some provisions from previous aid packages, and adds new ones.
There are other new resources, including $25 billion for the U.S. Postal Service. There is help for the 2020 Census and the November election. The bill also provides $3.6 billion to help local officials prepare for the challenges of holding elections during the pandemic.
The popular Payroll Protection Program, which has been boosted in past bills, would see another $10 billion to ensure under-served businesses and nonprofit organizations have access to grants through a disaster loan program.
For hospitals and other health care providers, there’s another $100 billion infusion to help cover costs and additional help for hospitals serving low-income communities.
There’s another $600 million in funding to tackle the issue of rapid spread of the virus in state and federal prisons, along with $600 million in help to local police departments for salaries and equipment
As states weigh the health risks of re-opening, McConnell said the nation needs to “regroup and find a more sustainable middle ground between total lockdown and total normalcy.”
The Republican leader on Tuesday called the emerging Democratic bill a “big laundry list of pet priorities.”
“To those who would suggest a pause, I would say the hunger doesn’t take a pause, the rent doesn’t take a pause,” Pelosi said late Monday on MSNBC. “We have a big need. It’s monumental.”
But Senate Republicans are in no rush to spend what could be trillions more on aid. 
“I don’t think we have yet felt the urgency of acting immediately," McConnell told reporters Monday at the Capitol.
McConnell said he has been in close contact with the White House, assessing the aid Congress has already approved in response to the virus outbreak and next steps.
Trump is expected to meet Tuesday with a group of Senate Republicans. “If we decide to go forward, we’ll go forward together,” McConnell said. His priority is to ensure any new package includes liability protections for health care providers and businesses that are reopening.
Senate Republicans are not expected to act on any further aid until after the Memorial Day recess, according to a senior Republican aide unauthorized to discuss the planning and granted anonymity.
The Senate is set to recess at the end of next week for a previously scheduled break, with senators scheduled to return June 1.
The Senate recently reopened its side of the Capitol while the House remains largely shuttered due the the health concerns.
Senators have been in session since last week, voting on Trump's nominees for judicial and executive branch positions and other issues. The Senate majority, the 53-member Senate Republican conference, is meeting for its regular luncheons most days, spread out three to a table for social distance. Democrats are convening by phone. Many senators, but not all, are wearing masks.
At least a dozen Capitol police officers and other staff have tested positive for the virus, and at least one senator, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, is in isolation at home after exposure from a staff member who tested positive. Other lawmakers have cycled in and out of quarantine.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer warned that if Trump and congressional Republicans “slow walk” more aid they will be repeating President Herbert Hoover’s “tepid” response to the Great Depression.
 
By LISA MASCARO and ANDREW TAYLOR
Associated Press
 
Associated Press writers Alan Fram and Matthew Daly in Washington, and Nick Riccardi in Denver, Colo., contributed to this report.
 
Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
 


More from News 12
1:40
Lithium-ion battery fire blamed for closure of Newburgh tailor shop

Lithium-ion battery fire blamed for closure of Newburgh tailor shop

1:56
Sun skies and warm temps for Saturday in the Hudson Valley

Sun skies and warm temps for Saturday in the Hudson Valley

0:38
Multimillion-dollar transformation on the way for sections of Hudson Valley

Multimillion-dollar transformation on the way for sections of Hudson Valley

0:32
Veteran firefighter who suffered stroke receives warm welcome home

Veteran firefighter who suffered stroke receives warm welcome home

0:17
Yorktown police sergeant celebrates final walkout following 2 decades of service

Yorktown police sergeant celebrates final walkout following 2 decades of service

0:52
Slate Hill family of 5 loses home in afternoon blaze

Slate Hill family of 5 loses home in afternoon blaze

0:37
2 people charged in Middletown narcotics; firearms bust

2 people charged in Middletown narcotics; firearms bust

1:30
Motorcycle, van crash in Greenburgh causes serious injuries

Motorcycle, van crash in Greenburgh causes serious injuries

0:56
News 12 probes mystery cloud traced to Orange County & seen throughout tri-state area

News 12 probes mystery cloud traced to Orange County & seen throughout tri-state area

1:02
Hillcrest Fire Department receives 2,000 cans of drinking water, courtesy of Anheuser-Busch

Hillcrest Fire Department receives 2,000 cans of drinking water, courtesy of Anheuser-Busch

1:37
Storm Watch Team Meteorologist Skyler Harman strikes down lightning myths

Storm Watch Team Meteorologist Skyler Harman strikes down lightning myths

2:33
Can swimming become dangerous due to extremely high water surface temperatures?

Can swimming become dangerous due to extremely high water surface temperatures?

0:32
NYC officials: Westchester caseworker’s death ruled a homicide

NYC officials: Westchester caseworker’s death ruled a homicide

0:40
State, federal lawmakers introduce legislation to shorten funding gap for World Trade Center Health Program

State, federal lawmakers introduce legislation to shorten funding gap for World Trade Center Health Program

0:34
Ex Frito-Lay employee files defamation lawsuit against PepsiCo claiming he invented ‘Flamin’ Hot Cheetos

Ex Frito-Lay employee files defamation lawsuit against PepsiCo claiming he invented ‘Flamin’ Hot Cheetos

0:40
Executive orders still in place preventing Rockland County and Orange County hotels from converting into migrant shelters

Executive orders still in place preventing Rockland County and Orange County hotels from converting into migrant shelters

0:54
Headlines: Drug ring prison sentence, Newburgh felony charge, uptick in car thefts in Briarcliff Manor

Headlines: Drug ring prison sentence, Newburgh felony charge, uptick in car thefts in Briarcliff Manor

0:20
Man sentence to 10 years in prison for running Orange County drug ring

Man sentence to 10 years in prison for running Orange County drug ring

1:18
Town of Wallkill propose noise ordinances at Orange County fairgrounds

Town of Wallkill propose noise ordinances at Orange County fairgrounds

0:34
Finger in salad lawsuit against Chop’t discontinued

Finger in salad lawsuit against Chop’t discontinued