Economic relief bill unveiled

A bipartisan group of lawmakers released a $908 billion proposal to help struggling workers, families, and businesses with the economic pressure of the pandemic. The package would allot funds to extend additional unemployment benefits of $300 per week for another 16 weeks but does not include direct payments to households. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., noted many of the people who would receive those payments don’t really need them, but millions of Americans could lose their COVID-19 unemployment pay the day after Christmas if Congress doesn’t extend it.

Will the bill pass? Lawmakers separated provisions for legal immunity for businesses and aid to state and local governments into a different bill in hopes the contentious issues wouldn’t keep coronavirus relief—and the overall spending measure it is part of—from passing. The next step is for congressional leadership to file a bill to fund the government for the rest of the fiscal year. The government is set to shut down at the end of Friday if Congress and the White House don’t enact a budget.

Dig deeper: Read Harvest Prude’s report in The Stew about the ongoing funding battle in Washington.