McConnell has finally made an official proposal out of the "skinny" bill he was drafting during the recess. He is calling for a vote on it this week. Not much has changed. It has grown in page length, but not in assistance.
It is now 285 pages. STILL only 2 of those pages are "Assistance for American Families" and all they do is cut the FPUC to $300 and extend it until December 27, retroactive to when the $600 expired.
Democrats have already called this bill a joke and no one thinks it is likely to pass, probably not even McConnell himself. Here is the statement from Pelosi and Schumer. It seems to be more of a political stunt than a real bill, so those that are up for reelection can say they are "trying so hard" to help the American people.
The most dangerous thing about this bill is that McConnell is telling everyone it is a bill to offer relief to American families and Democrats are blocking it. He is lying for votes.
This is NOT a bill For The People. It is largely a bill for business liability, creating protections for corporations and businesses against lawsuits from their employees due to COVID exposure.
Here is a copy of the bill.
It contains: -Business liability protections
-Healthcare provider liability protections
-Second PPP loans for significantly impacted businesses
-Funding for schools, but 2/3 of it is dedicated only to schools who reopen.
-Some funding for the USPS (10 billion compared to the Houses's emergency proposal of $25 billion)
-$300 FPUC until December 27.
No extension or expansion of PUA, no hazard pay, no healthcare relief, no rent relief, no stimulus payments, no funding for state governments, and the $600 that we need and that was propping up the economy is cut in half.
Speaking of funding for state and local governments...
This is a hot topic and one of the major sticking points between the parties. Republicans say they "are not going to bail out blue states" which is cruel and turns American PEOPLE into parties based on the political party of their state leaders. Why is state funding important in the next relief bill? Without a large swath of their usual tax revenue, they need support to:
-continue to pay their employees. No funding for the states will cause more layoffs and job loss.
-improve their UI systems so they can get through the backlogged claims and get them paid out. There are 1.1 million backlogged claims in CA alone, 1.7 million in FL.
-bolster much needed social service programs during a pandemic including food assistance and rent relief programs.
Here's a further break down of what is in McConnell's bill. We think the "What's Missing" section is considerably longer than what they've included here, but it will give you a good idea of what is in it.