Washington Update Special Edition – March 27

by Raul Santa | Mar 27, 2020 | DC Updates

Washington Update
Special Edition
March 27

The House on Friday passed a historic $2 trillion coronavirus relief package, overcoming
11th-hour hurdles erected by a GOP lawmaker that sent furious lawmakers across the country
racing back to Washington to move the emergency legislation to President Trump ‘s desk.

The enormous package, approved by the Senate late Wednesday night, provides hundreds of
billions of dollars for the industries, small businesses, unemployed workers and health care
providers hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic, which has devastated economies around the
world.

Trump has said he’ll sign the bill immediately. House Democratic leaders were able to move the
package by voice vote, a rarely used procedure allowing a few members to air their objections
without forcing the entire chamber to reconvene. But it didn’t happen without a good dose of
last-minute drama on the chamber floor.

To pass the bill, leaders in both parties had to unite to foil an attempted blockade by Rep.
Thomas Massie , a Kentucky Republican who had driven to Washington for the vote and
requested a recorded tally, which requires the participation of at least half of all sitting House
members.

Lawmakers in both parties thwarted Massie’s effort with a procedural gambit of their own: An
insufficient number rose in support of his roll-call request, allowing the speedier voice vote to
stand.

Still, Massie’s threat of a recorded vote sent leaders in both parties scrambling Thursday night to
bring enough lawmakers back to the Capitol to approve the massive relief package. And many
were furious that they were forced to defy the recommendations of the congressional physician
and other public health experts, who have warned against such gatherings.

GOP leaders declined to allow Massie to speak on the floor prior to the vote, prompting him to
accuse his own party brass of being “afraid of the truth.”

“The fix is in,” he tweeted from the floor. “If this bill is so great for America, why not allow a
vote on it?”

The highly unusual proceedings created some light-hearted moments on the floor, despite the
underlying tensions. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the last to speak before the vote, took the
extraordinary step of using the podium to call lawmakers from their offices to the chamber,
where some went to the third-floor galleries overlooking the chamber to avoid overcrowding on
the floor.

“The sooner you come, the shorter my remarks will be,” she said to laughter.

The House had a remarkably low turnout within the 432-member chamber, reflecting the rising
apprehensions of lawmakers to board planes and gather in crowds as the cases of the highly
contagious virus have jumped in recent days above 85,000 in the United States alone.
Still, those that did make the trek wasted no time lashing at Massie, with some accusing the
five-term Kentuckian of jeopardizing their well-being for forcing them back to Washington.

“It’s an act of vanity and selfishness that goes beyond comprehension,” Rep. Dan Kildee
(D-Mich.) said Friday.

Trump joined the chorus of critics shortly after the floor debate began, calling for Kentucky
voters to “throw Massie out of the Republican Party!”

Massie, for his part, has defended his attempted blockade, saying the Senate’s legislation defied
the constitutional requirement that federal spending bills originate in the House.

“The senate did some voodoo just like with Obamacare,” he tweeted Thursday. “It’s the House’s
job to reject the process.”

Publicity stunt or not, Massie’s effort didn’t work. The willingness of both sides to accept the
voice vote reflected the heavy pressure facing Congress to move quickly and aggressively to
counter the devastating effects — both health-related and economic — of the deadly outbreak,
which has killed more than 1,300 Americans, tanked markets, shuttered business and sparked
massive layoffs across the country.

The Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless claims hit almost 3.3 million last week
alone — a massive spike over the roughly 200,000 applications filed just a few weeks ago.
Heightening the pressure on the House to move quickly, the Senate passed the massive relief bill
without a single vote of dissent.

Among the major provisions, the $2 trillion package provides cash payments up to $1,200 for
individual Americans; offers $367 billion in low-cost loans to affected small businesses; expands
unemployment insurance by $250 billion, while extending existing benefits by 13 weeks; and
furnishes $500 billion to backstop loans for the hardest-hit industries, including airline and hotel
companies.

“Today we’ve all acknowledged our nation faces an economic and health emergency of historic
proportions due to the coronavirus pandemic — the worst pandemic in over 100 years,” Pelosi
said.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) delivered a similarly urgent message.
“We didn’t invite it. We didn’t ask for it. We didn’t choose it,” he said. “But we will fight it
together — until we win, together.”

For leaders of both parties, selling the package was no simple task.
Many liberals have hammered the bill as a corporate giveaway, citing the absence of provisions
to expand paid leave and strengthen worker-safety protections, particularly for the medical
workers on the front lines of diagnosing and treating the coronavirus.

Democrats had also pressed to include more funding for pensions, food stamps and medical care
for those who contract the virus. All of those provisions, Pelosi told her caucus on a Thursday
call, will be a part of the next, fourth round of coronavirus relief in the weeks ahead.
Conservatives, meanwhile, have grumbled about the sheer size of the spending package — none
of it paid for — and provisions they deem extraneous to the immediate crisis, like $25 million for
the Kennedy Center in Washington.

In the end, however, the urgency of the moment was enough to Trump all of the objections,
sending the package to the president’s desk.

When the next phase of relief might arrive is anyone’s guess.

The Senate left Washington after Wednesday’s vote, and is not expected to return before April
20. And the House is also expected to take an extended recess following Friday’s vote.
Pelosi has warned, however, that both chambers should be prepared to return at any time, as
dictated by conditions on the ground.

“Everybody has to be on call for what we need when we need it,” she said Thursday. “We don’t
know what that might be. But whatever it is, we’ll be ready.”

Washington Update Special Edition – March 26

by Raul Santa | Mar 27, 2020 | DC Updates

Washington Update Special Edition — March 26

Last night, the Senate unanimously approved the CARES Act, 96-0, after five days of grueling
negotiations. An updated version of the text is attached in the email accompanying this update,
along with several fact sheets on specific components of the bill that we have not previously
shared.

The legislative text needed to be updated as it was missing an agreed upon provision that would
require the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve to publish weekly the names of the
companies and others financed through the $500 billion loan program established in the
legislation.

The bill now moves to the House where Majority Leader Hoyer indicated the CARES Act will
be taken up at 9am on Friday. The House leadership hopes to pass the bill via voice vote. The
President has indicated that he will sign the bill.

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200325StimulusSmallBizEXPLAINER-FINAL

HELP CORONAVIRUS Section by Section 3-25-20 – 1pm FINAL

COVID 3 — UI and Tax Title Summary

Washington Update Special Edition – March 25

by Raul Santa | Mar 25, 2020 | DC Updates

Washington Update
Special Edition
March 25

After five days of intense negotiations, a bipartisan agreement has been reached on a $2 trillion,
bipartisan stimulus bill, a revised version of the CARES Act introduced a few days ago by
Majority Leader McConnell.

The final text is still under review, but the Senate will be back in session at 12pm with a final
vote on the bill likely later today. The bipartisan agreement has both the support of the
Administration and House Speaker Pelosi, who indicated yesterday she plans to bring the Senate
passed bill to the House floor by Unanimous Consent or voice vote to ensure that House
Members do not need to return to DC to vote on this measure.

Minority Leader Schumer circulated a Dear Colleague letter early this morning highlighting
changes Democrats negotiated to the original version of the bill. McConnell and Schumer also
sent out a statement early this morning on the Senate floor announcing a bipartisan agreement
had been reached. Both letters are attached for reference.

Key components of this compromise bill include the following:
● Direct stimulus of $1200 per adult and $500 per child for individuals up to $75,000 and
$150,000 per couple;
● $500 billion in loans and loan guarantees for impacted businesses with stronger oversight
of loans provided to large employers;
● Expanded Unemployment Insurance now providing four months (up from three months)
of federal pandemic UI at up to $600 per week above the compensation level claimants
would receive at the state level;
● $130 billion for hospitals, health care systems, and community health centers (increased
from $75 billion);
● $150 billion for a state and local coronavirus stabilization relief fund;
● $30 billion for Education, (an increase of $10 billion);
● $366 billion for forgivable small-business loans, with $17 billion set aside for businesses
in low-income areas and investment companies that provide venture capital to small
businesses;
● $10 billion for SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans emergency grants of up to $10,000
to provide immediate relief for small business operating costs;
● $30 billion for a Disaster Relief Fund to provide financial assistance to state, local, tribal,
and territorial governments, as well as private nonprofits providing critical and essential
services.

House leadership officials have indicated this will not be the last round of pandemic related
funding, they expect to have two more rounds of funding in the coming weeks or months, which
will both address ongoing needs and economic recovery efforts.

Washington Update Special Edition – March 23

by Raul Santa | Mar 24, 2020 | DC Updates

Washington Update Special Edition – March 23

In the email attachments you will find more detailed text on the House Democrats’ $2.5 trillion
stimulus proposal that was unveiled this afternoon. The Labor-H sections impacting education
and labor provisions remain unchanged. A section by section summary of the bill is also
attached.

The House bill would provide a direct payment up to $2,000/month for most adults and
$1000/month for each of their children for as long as the crisis and potential recession may last.
It also includes stronger paid and sick leave provisions for workers regardless of the size of the
employer for which they work, in contrast to the Senate bill which only applies to employers
with less than 500 employees with DOL discretion to eliminate such requirements for businesses
with less than 50 workers.

Like the Senate bill, it would create a Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation fund of
an additional $600 per week on top of a worker’s state UI allocation, for any worker affected by
the outbreak who is eligible for unemployment compensation benefits.

Self-employed workers, individuals whose job contracts were canceled due to the virus, and new
entrants to the job market would also be eligible for unemployment insurance.

For DOL programs, the bill provides an additional $1.4 billion:

• WIOA – $960 million
  • • Adult – $2212 million
    • Youth +$227 million
    • DW +261 million
    • NEG +100 million
• Employment Service +$150 million
• SCSEP +$120 million
• Strengthening Community College Grants +$150 million
• VETS +$15 million

It also includes a new title for expanded UI:

• Federally funded $600 weekly additional UI payment, including for Gig workers and those about to start work;
• Expanded work sharing to reduce the number of laid off employees;
• 13 weeks of EB;
• $300 per week for recent grads or new entrants to the workforce;
• Nonprofit or governmental groups who are “reimbursable employers:” would have 50% of their share of UI payments to laid off workers provided by the federal government.

Department of Education- $39.8 billion increase:

• $30 billion for a State Fiscal Stabilization Fund for grants to States to support statewide and local funding for elementary and secondary schools and public postsecondary institutions
• $8 billion for Institutional Aid for impacted institutions of higher education (IHE)

In addition, there is a new Education Relief program included which would:

• Require the Secretary of Education to waive the match requirement for IHE’s under the campus-based aid programs, including the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG) and the Federal-Work Study (FWS) program;
• Allow SEOG funding to be utilized for emergency grants to students;
• IHE’s could continue to make FWS payments to affected work-study students for up to one academic year to students who cannot fulfill their FWS job due to coronavirus;
• Provide significantly more flexibility with student loans:
  • • Require ED to make payments on behalf of FFEL, Perkins and direct loans borrowers for each month during the national emergency;
    • Every borrower would receive at least $10,000 in benefits.

To read the entire update, please click the links below.

Special Edition Washington Update-3-23-20

House Draft Bill 032320 a.m.

FY 20 – House supp 3 summary – introduced version – updated 3-23-20