Deal reached on $900B COVID-19 relief package

Both the House and Senate were expected to vote on the measure as early as Monday to get relief to Americans grappling with the pandemic and the economic fallout that has left millions out of work.

The package would include $600 relief checks to individuals, enhance unemployment insurance by $300 per week and include $284 billion for small businesses, which have been ravaged by restrictions and closures this year.

“We can finally report what our nation has needed to hear for a very long time,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in announcing the deal on the Senate floor. “More help is on the way.”

The package is included in a $1.4 trillion spending bill to fund government agencies. The spending bill was delayed as Republicans and Democrats haggled over terms of the relief package.

Nevada’s congressional delegation has fought for federal assistance. Democratic Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, in separate recent interviews with the Review-Journal, argued the need for more aid for a state crippled economically by the pandemic.

The spike in coronavirus cases and deaths in Nevada prompted the senators, and House lawmakers, to seek additional millions of dollars for testing and health care needs. There have been more than 203,000 reported cases of COVID-19 in Nevada and 2,781 deaths, according to state data.

In addition, the state’s reliance on the tourism and hospitality industry has left cities like Las Vegas and Reno struggling.

“Our economy has been devastated by this pandemic,” Cortez Masto said.

‘Down payment’

Speaking before the final deal was reached, Cortez Masto said that regardless of what is passed, it will merely be “a down payment” on more federal assistance that Congress and the new Biden administration must cobble together early next year.

Rosen said more aid is needed to expand broadband, especially for rural states like Nevada where infrastructure does not exist for everyone to access telehealth and educational programs. Negotiators agreed to $7 billion in the bill to expand broadband access.

Rosen also said there is a real need for aid for small businesses, which has been included in every relief package passed by Congress.

“Ninety percent of businesses in Nevada are small businesses,” Rosen noted.

Lawmakers in both parties sought funding for small businesses through popular and forgivable Paycheck Protection Program loans through the Small Business Administration.

As members of the moderate Problem Solvers Caucus, both Rep. Mark Amodei, R-Nev., and Rep. Susie Lee, D-Nev., were part of early talks to reach compromise legislation after the House passed a nearly $3 trillion relief bill this year and GOP senators countered with a $900 billion package.

“We have a bipartisan deal to fund direct checks to families, aid to hospitals and frontline workers, extended unemployment, vaccine distribution, food programs and more. This can’t be the last of the relief,” Lee said. “But this is our emergency chute, and it’s good we’re pulling it.”

Moderate lawmakers sought a compromise as additional federal unemployment assistance expired and small businesses faced increased hurdles as the pandemic forced states and local governments to implement new restrictions.

The unemployment rate in Nevada was 10.1 percent in November, above the national rate of 6.7 percent, according to the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation.

Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., inserted an amendment to spending legislation that would require the Department of Labor to fund the creation of apprenticeships in the hospitality and tourism industry, the largest industry in Las Vegas.

“At a time when so many in Las Vegas are struggling, my proposal will offer new pathways to the middle class,” Titus, co-chair of the Congressional Travel and Tourism Caucus, said in unveiling her bipartisan language last month.

Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., joined with colleagues in the House and Senate in seeking an extension of a federal moratorium on evictions and other housing assistance included in the final compromise bill.

There is more than $25 billion in the bill for housing needs.

‘Not adequate’

Details of the bill were released late Sunday, and House and Senate lawmakers were reading the bill to determine what was contained or eliminated for their states and communities.

The largest sticking point in negotiations was overcome late Saturday in talks between Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa.

Toomey wanted language in the bill to limit the Fed’s lending authority, which was placed into the CARES Act passed this year and allowed loan programs to cities and businesses.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin ended those programs, effective Dec. 31, with more than $400 billion remaining in accounts and returned to the Treasury. Democrats saw the Toomey amendment as an effort to limit the ability of the incoming Biden administration to provide emergency loans.

Republicans saw the programs as a possible end-around to funnel money to cities after direct aid to cities was dropped from the bill.

Democrats dropped the direct aid for cities in exchange for the GOP abandoning insistence on COVID-19 liability protections for corporations and businesses from plaintiff lawsuits.

Schumer said cities and states would still see targeted funding in the form of payments for health care and other specific initiatives.

Not everyone was pleased with the outcome, which was forced by public pressure to produce legislation to provide assistance following months of inaction by Congress while benefits of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act funding and supplemental unemployment insurance ran out.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., wanted $1,200 direct assistance checks, the same amount in the CARES Act, but negotiators settled on $600 per individual.

The overall amount of federal aid in this bill was also far less than that proposed by the House.

“At the end of the day, the amount of money in total is not adequate to address the enormous economic crisis facing this country,” Sanders said.

The bill, however, would provide money to distribute vaccines, help schools open and provide assistance to transit systems in larger cities where rail and bus operations have had revenue losses through diminished ridership.

Contact Gary Martin at gmartin@reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7390. Follow @garymartindc on Twitter.