HEROES passed the House in May and was never put to a vote in the Senate by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. More information on that bill here.
HEROES 2.0, a trimmed down version of the HEROES Act, was proposed this week and passed in the House tonight, October 1, just before 830pm. More information about that bill in the previous post.
Secretary Mnuchin (representing the White House administration) and Speaker Pelosi have been back in closed door negotiations for several days trying to reach a pandemic relief deal. Mnuchin made a counter proposal to HEROES 2.0. We’ve taken a quick look at that proposal to see how it measures up.
First, know this deal is not done; negotiations are still ongoing.
White House Oct 1 Proposal:
Overall price tag = $1.62 Trillion (HEROES 2.0 = $2.2 trillion)
FPUC: $400/wk (HEROES: $600/wk)
Retroactive to September 12 (HEROES is retroactive to September 6)
Note: This is a $100 increase from previous WH proposal
We do not know how this proposal will calculate weeks and whether it will extend PEUC or PUA.
State and local gov’ts: $250 billion (HEROES $436 billion)
This is 100 billion more than the White House initially offered.
Stimulus Checks: $1,200 per person and $500 per dependent
Additional numbers (provided by Jeff Stein, Washington Post):
$300B - Stimulus Check Total
$300B - Unemployment @ $400/week Allocation
$250B - State & local funding
$160B - Industry Assistance, airlines & restaurants
$150B - Education
$75B - COVID testing
$60B - Rental Assistance
$50B - Health providers
$50B - Vaccines
$25B - Childcare
$15B - Rural broadband
$13B - Paid leave
In Short:
It is clear that pressure is helping move the needle to some middle ground, though the clock continues to tick loudly for the millions of Americans caught in the cracks of a rapidly disintegrating COVID response from the US Government. The need for compromise is now more clear than ever, and these numbers show that there is a solution to be had.
Sources close to McConnell described his response to Mnuchin’s proposal as “begrudging acquiescence,” stating that McConnell would, in fact, pass the WH language were Speaker Pelosi and Secretary Mnuchin to agree on it. Pelosi seems to be hopeful an agreement can be reached as well.
In talks with their offices this week, ExtendPUA.org is learning that all Democratic and several Republican Senators will undoubtedly support an extension of the full $600 if it is brought to the Senate floor. With that being the case, and a growing number of Republicans joining the Democrats in vocalizing the need for comprehensive relief, it seems likely that, were a deal to be presented to Leader McConnell, it would likely garner the support it needs to pass.
We remain hopeful that our elected officials in Washington will come to an agreement soon. Keep up the pressure. This is all thanks to you.