Senate GOP releases coronavirus relief plan with up to $1,200 in cash payments to individuals

Senate Republicans released their proposal for a third coronavirus relief package Thursday as Washington moves swiftly to try to head off economic disaster. 

The 247-page legislation introduced by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, expected to cost at least $1 trillion, includes cash payments to Americans. The measure — the final form of which will be subject to talks with Democrats and the White House — also includes relief for small businesses and major industries hammered by the global pandemic. 

“We’re here, and we are ready to act as soon as an agreement with our colleagues across the aisle can be reached,” the Kentucky Republican said in releasing the plan that aims to avert calamity as the outbreak grinds American life to a halt. 

An aid for the Democratic House Appropriations Committee said the committee is disappointed in the lack of supplemental funding for federal state and local response.

“The Appropriations Committee is working on robust funding for a strong federal, state, and local coronavirus response to include in the phase three bill. Supplemental appropriations are an essential part of a whole-of-government strategy to address this pandemic and it is irresponsible for Senate Republican leadership to omit these needed resources from its proposal,” he said in a statement. 

McConnell said the bill includes four major components: “direct financial help” for Americans, “rapid relief” for small businesses, “significant steps to stabilize our economy” and “more support” for health-care professionals and patients.

Here are some of the details of the plan, according to Senate Republicans: 

• Cash payments of up to $1,200 would go to individuals, with up to $2,400 for couples. The sum would increase by $500 for every child. The check totals would start to phase out above $75,000 in adjusted gross income based on 2018 tax returns. People with no federal tax liability would get only $600. 
• Extend the tax filing deadline to July 15 from April 15. 
• Corporations could delay estimated tax payments until Oct. 15. Employers and self-employed people could delay payroll taxes. 
• Up to  $50 billion for airlines, $8 billion for cargo air carriers, and $150 billion for other severely distressed businesses. The government has the right to “participate in the gains” of any business it lends money to.
• For two years, no executive at a company receiving a business loan may make more than $425,000 in total compensation. Executives whose salary has already been determined through collective bargaining agreements may be exempt from that restriction.
• Any company with less than 500 employees is entitled to a small business loan. The cap of that loan is either $10 million or the average of monthly payments. Businesses use the loan to pay for payroll including paid sick leave, salaries, mortgages, rent, utilities or other debt obligations. 
• All private health plans must cover testing without cost-sharing and increase funding for community health centers. It also aims to spur the hiring of more health care professionals to fight the pandemic.
• The plan gives the Education Department authority to suspend federal student loan payments for up to three months.

The Senate has been under immense pressure to get a deal done with the House and Trump administration as quickly as possible. The ailing U.S. airline industry, which is expecting financial relief from the package, has rung the alarm of the catastrophic impact the halt in travel has on business. It is unclear how much longer companies can stay afloat without federal relief. 

Workers have lost jobs at shuttered restaurants and bars. Lawmakers have expressed particular concern about how the global pandemic will hit American small businesses. 

Adding to the urgency, two congressmen have tested positive for the coronavirus, while others are in self-quarantine. 

Still, the latest package may get caught up in political wrangling.

Some Democrats, and some Republicans, have expressed previous concerns that sending checks to Americans may not be enough. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told reporters Thursday that “it makes no sense now to me.” 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer put down their marker for what their party would support, shortly after the Republicans released their plan. They called for a “Marshall Plan to rebuild our health care infrastructure” along with provisions to boost workers.

“To earn Democratic support in the Congress, any economic stimulus proposal must include new, strong and strict provisions that prioritize and protect workers, such as banning the recipient companies from buying back stock, rewarding executives, and laying off workers,” the Democratic leaders said in a joint statement Thursday.

While the Republicans’ plan does cap the salary of executives who work at companies accepting federal aid, it does not ban buy-backs or forbid worker layoffs. 

Once the Senate strikes an agreement and passes a relief package, it will head to the House, which is on a temporary recess. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told members Thursday that the chamber would not return until it is “in a position to vote on the third piece of emergency legislation to respond to the economic impact of this crisis.”

Meantime, McConnell indicated that even this next legislative package, likely to top $1 trillion, may not be enough to offer sufficient government relief as business across the U.S. economy grinds to a halt. 

“This may not be the last piece of economic legislation we pursue,” he said. 

Graham acknowledged the importance of getting the third proposal done quickly — by early next week.

“If we don’t, we’re going get our ass kicked,” he said Thursday. “So that’s why I think we have to do it. I’ll be the first to kick myself.”