The framework for bipartisan COVID relief
Yahoo Finance's political reporter Jessica Smith joins the Yahoo Finance Live panel to discuss the latest news on the push for updated stimulus relief.
Video Transcript
- Welcome back to Yahoo Finance Live. Bipartisan lawmakers unveiling a coronavirus stimulus package today in the amount of $908 billion, hoping that this could end a months-long stalemate. Jessica Smith has been following this story for us out of Washington. And Jess, I'm looking through the numbers here. You've got a little of everything-- the Paycheck Protection Program, potentially, additional money for that, vaccine distribution as well. What is the likelihood of this getting passed?
JESSICA SMITH: Well, we'll see what the likelihood is as we start to hear from congressional leadership about this plan, but these lawmakers are hoping that this serves as a framework for an actual bill, an actual piece of legislation that the leaders could put on the floor for a vote. The group that unveiled this plan today said it is unacceptable for lawmakers to go home for the holidays without getting something done.
So some of the provisions [AUDIO OUT] $108 billion package include $160 billion for state and local funding. That has been a huge sticking point throughout negotiations. It also has short-term liability protections for coronavirus-related lawsuits. That's something that Republicans have called a red line and Democrats have rejected repeatedly.
It also has $300 a week in extra unemployment benefits. You'll remember that $600 weekly boost expired earlier this year. So now they're proposing bringing that back at half of what it once was. It also has $208 billion for small businesses in several different programs, including the Paycheck Protection Program, and then money for vaccines, student loans, rental assistance, and several other provisions. They say that this nearly $1 trillion package would provide relief through the first quarter of 2021. Here's Senator Bill Cassidy, a Republican, talking about this legislation.
BILL CASSIDY: Republicans and Democrats, neither of us got everything we wanted. Both of us got much of what we wanted. And I think that combination reflects what Congress is supposed to do, reconciling different priorities but ultimately doing something good for the American people.
JESSICA SMITH: The lawmakers said that they could put together an actual bill quickly, and they hope that the congressional leaders would put this up for a vote. It's not clear if the White House would support this plan yet. Separately on Capitol Hill today, more than 30 Democrats are urging congressional leaders to extend two unemployment programs that are set to expire at the end of the year. That's the program that gives gig workers access to benefits and the one that gets 13 extra weeks of unemployment benefits. They are telling Senate leaders that that needs to be extended before millions of people lose their benefits.
And just in the past few minutes, three Democrats have released legislation that would do that. It would extend those programs until the National unemployment rate drops below a certain level. That legislation would also bring back the $600 weekly boost, so that will likely be a tougher sell in the Republican Senate.
