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Congress is out of town for at least a week or so and the GOP majority has confirmed that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s $3 trillion wish list of coronavirus spending that includes hundreds of billions for many of the left’s social causes is dead on arrival.
But more and more leaders in Washington now have begun expressing their belief that more relief might yet be needed to push the nation’s economic in the direction of recovery after some 39 million jobs were lost and hundreds of billions of dollars in economic activity were lost to the pandemic that started in Wuhan, China.
The Washington Examiner reported Friday that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the likelihood that Congress will pass another significant fiscal measure is “high.”
And Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin is on record with, “There is a strong likelihood we will need another bill.”
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Congress already has spent well in excess of $2 trillion on programs such as forgivable loans to small businesses to keep them alive, those $1,200 direct payments to American adults below a certain income level, and more.
The last bill approved was the March CARES Act that direct $2.2 trillion into the economy through various channels and it includes the Paycheck Protection Plan for small businesses.
One suggestion has been for Congress to extend that effort, since it is scheduled to hit a deadline on June 30. Congress also could renew, extend or otherwise modify its boost to unemployment insurance, which now is providing an additional $600 per week for those out of jobs because of the pandemic. One idea has been to alter that benefit so that it also would encourage workers to return to their jobs when they open up.
Negotiations over additional $1,200 payments to American families are being sought, since Democrats in their $3 trillion relief package adopted in the House want that, among many other spending programs.
But other components of that Democrat plan have been rejected outright by senators, such as payments to illegal aliens.
Other changes that have been considered include extending the time for businesses to repay loans and relaxing the requirement they use 75% of the funds on payroll.
Officials in almost every state have made significant progress toward reopening their economies, a move that is necessary for the millions of jobs to be restored.
Even those states with the most severe restrictions, such as Michigan, under the direction of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, are moving that direction with retail businesses and auto dealerships on track to reopen by appointment.
Employers also have been making changes. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said about half of his company’s workers now will be able to continue working from home.
Yahoo reported just this week that Walmart officials said they noticed a surge in sales when the first round of stimulus checks was delivered to consumers.
“Definitely we do see a positive impact from the checks,” said John Furner, CEO of the company.
Walmart told investors on its earnings call this week that same-store sales surged 9.5% in part because of the early flood of stimulus checks, the report said.
