World News | Close but Not Yet: Deal Near on COVID-19 Economic Aid Bill

Washington, Dec 17 (AP) Congressional negotiators closed in on Wednesday on an USD 900 billion COVID-19 economic relief package that would deliver additional help to businesses, USD 300 per week jobless checks, and USD 600 stimulus payments to most Americans. But there was no deal quite yet.

The long-delayed measure was coming together as Capitol Hill combatants finally fashioned difficult compromises, often at the expense of more ambitious Democratic wishes for the legislation, to complete the second major relief package of the pandemic.

Also Read | New Zealand Recovers Sharply From COVID-19 Induced Recession With Record Growth of 14% in July-September Quarter.

A hoped-for announcement Wednesday failed to materialize as lawmakers across the spectrum hammered out details of the sprawling legislation and top negotiators continued to trade offers. But lawmakers briefed on the outlines of the aid bill freely shared them.

It's the first significant legislative response to the pandemic since the landmark CARES Act in March, which delivered USD 1.8 trillion in aid and more generous jobless benefits and direct payments to individuals.

Also Read | Kenyan Man Cholo Abdi Abdullah Charged With Plotting 9/11-Style Terror Attack on US on Behalf of Al-Shabab.

Since then, Democrats have repeatedly called for ambitious further federal steps to provide relief and battle the pandemic, while Republicans have sought to more fully reopen the economy and to avoid padding the government's $27 trillion debt.

President-elect Joe Biden is eager for an aid package to prop up the economy and deliver direct aid to the jobless and hungry, even though the package falls short of what Democrats want. He called the emerging version "an important down payment" and promised more help next year.

Republicans, too, are anxious to approve some aid before going home for the year.

"We're still close and we're gonna get there," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky told reporters on Wednesday evening as he left the Capitol. And during a Senate GOP lunchtime call a day earlier, party leaders stressed the importance of reaching an agreement before the upcoming Georgia Senate runoff election.

The details were still being worked out, but lawmakers in both parties said leaders had agreed on a top-line total of about USD 900 billion, with direct payments of perhaps USD 600 to most Americans and a USD 300-per-week bonus federal unemployment benefit to partially replace a USD 600-per-week benefit that expired this summer.

It also includes the renewal of extra weeks of state unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless. More than USD 300 billion in subsidies for business, including a second round of "paycheck protection" payments to especially hard-hit businesses, are locked in, as is USD 25 billion to help struggling renters with their payments and provide food aid and farm subsidies, and a USD 10 billion bailout for the Postal Service.

Democrats acknowledged that the removal of a USD 160 billion-or-so aid package for state and local governments whose budgets have been thrown out of balance by the pandemic was a bitter loss.

"It's heartbreaking for us," said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, whose state has big fiscal problems.

The emerging package was serving as a magnet for adding on other items, and the two sides continued to swap offers. It was apparent that another temporary spending bill would be needed to prevent a government shutdown at midnight on Friday. That was likely to easily pass.

House lawmakers returned to Washington on Wednesday in hopes of a vote soon on the broader package, which would combine the COVID-19 relief with a USD 1.4 trillion government-wide funding bill and a host of other remaining congressional business, including extending expiring tax breaks and passing other unfinished legislation.

Negotiations intensified on Tuesday after months of futility.

Before the election, with Democrats riding high in the polls, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took a hard line for more aid. Now, McConnell is playing a strong hand after a better-than-expected performance in the elections limited GOP losses in Senate races.

The frightening, record surge in COVID caseloads and deaths, combined with troubling economic indicators, however, is mandating an agreement, though the emerging package contains less economic stimulus than the March aid bill.

"The case for fiscal policy right now is very, very strong," Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday. "I think that is widely understood now. It's a very positive thing that we may finally be getting that."

McConnell successfully pushed to get Democrats to drop their much-sought USD 160 billion state and local government aid package while giving up a key priority of his own — a liability shield for businesses and other institutions like universities fearing COVID-19 lawsuits.

The addition of the USD 600 direct payments came after recent endorsements from both President Donald Trump and progressives including Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who remains dissatisfied about the overall package.

"Everything that is in that package is vitally needed," Sanders said Wednesday on MSNBC. "The problem is that it is a much smaller package than the country needs in this moment of economic desperation."

A poisonous dynamic has long infected the negotiations, but the mood was businesslike in two meetings in Pelosi's Capitol suite Tuesday that resulted in a burst of progress.

Pressure for a deal is intense. Unemployment benefits run out on December 26 for more than 10 million people. Many businesses are barely hanging on after nine months of the pandemic. And money is needed to distribute new vaccines that are finally offering hope for returning the country to a semblance of normalcy. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)