Stimulus Negotiations Signal Unemployment Changes

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Mandatory Credit: Photo by Shutterstock (11088535s)United States Senator Mitt Romney (Republican of Utah) speaks at a Capitol Hill press conference in Washington, DC announcing a bipartisan $908 billion COVID emergency relief framework that is designed to break the partisan deadlock and bring economic relief to millions of Americans.
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Shutterstock (11088535s)United States Senator Mitt Romney (Republican of Utah) speaks at a Capitol Hill press conference in Washington, DC announcing a bipartisan $908 billion COVID emergency relief framework that is designed to break the partisan deadlock and bring economic relief to millions of Americans.

On Tuesday, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) wrote an op-ed piece for The Washington Post praising the bipartisan negotiating efforts that led to the proposed stimulus package. On Wednesday, The Washington Post reported that Sen. Manchin got into a “heated” discussion with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) over whether the stimulus should include one-time payments. Apparently, the deal is far from done, but there is still bipartisan activity. Sanders is working with Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) to push for taxpayer checks.

The biggest issue seems to be the tradeoff between increased unemployment benefits and stimulus payments that would go to a wider range of people. The bills announced on Monday and promoted on Tuesday included a $300-a-week increase in unemployment benefits and an extension through April 30, but no stimulus checks. A second bill would have included $160 billion in benefits to state, local and tribal governments. That bill seems to have been scrapped, with the funds allocated to checks.

See: Refusing to Wait for Congress, These Cities and States Are Handing Out COVID-19 Relief
Explore: 25 Companies Laying Off the Most People Thanks to Coronavirus

The $160 billion allocation would probably be enough to pay out $300 stimulus checks but not $600 ones, and it certainly would not be enough to cover the $1200 sent out in the spring of this year. Republicans in Congress have indicated that they do not want the stimulus to exceed $1 trillion.

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