Democrats Present New $3 Trillion Coronavirus Relief Package, Including $1 Trillion for the States

MARY CHASTAIN MAY 12, 2020 5:00 PM

I blogged this morning about Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi wanting to push through the next Wuhan coronavirus bill without many conversations.

Pelosi dropped the $3 trillion package this afternoon, which includes another round of payments to Americans and $1 trillion for the states.

From CNBC:

• Nearly $1 trillion in relief for state and local governments
• A second round of direct payments of $1,200 per person, and up to $6,000 for a household
• About $200 billion for hazard pay for essential workers who face heightened health risks during the crisis
• $75 billion for coronavirus testing and contact tracing — a key effort to restart businesses
• An extension of the $600 per week federal unemployment insurance benefit through January (the provision approved in March is set to expire after July)
  $175 billion in rent, mortgage and utility assistance
• Subsidies and a special Affordable Care Act enrollment period to people who lose their employer-sponsored health coverage
• More money for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, including a 15% increase in the maximum benefit
• Measures designed to buoy small businesses and help them keep employees on payroll, such as $10 billion in emergency disaster assistance grants and a strengthened employee retention tax credit
• Money for election safety during the pandemic and provisions to make voting by mail easier
• Relief for the U.S. Postal Service

The bill comes after the Western States Pact – California, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington – asked the federal government to throw them a $1 trillion.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the money would also go to local governments.

The governors requested the money to help “support basic operations and prevent layoffs in public sectors like health, safety and education, with jobs ranging from teachers to firefighters.”

From Denver Business Journal:

“It is now clear that Covid-19 will be with us for the foreseeable future and the worst of its economic impact is yet to come,” they wrote. “Our states are on the front line against the virus, while at the same time leading our states’ recovery. Each of us has seen first-hand how Covid-19 has caused a national recession that we are seeing play out in our states — resulting in a record number of lost wages and business failures, spiraling unemployment and substantial, unplanned Covid-19 driven costs.”They warn that without federal support, states and cities will be “forced to make impossible decisions — like whether to fund critical public health care that will help us recover or prevent layoffs of teachers, police officers, firefighters and other first responders.”

The letter comes after reports revealed California faces a $54 billion deficit due to the state-wide shutdown, which began in mid-March.

Since then, over four million people in the state have filed for unemployment with non-essential jobs and businesses closing down.

Newsom said California could recover if the federal government helps out the state, which would hit the spots mentioned in the letter:

But the revenue shortfall means the state’s constitutionally required funding level for public schools and community colleges will fall by $18.3 billion.State funding accounts for 80 percent of most school district budgets, which are mostly spent on teacher and staff salaries, said Troy Flint, spokesman for the California Association of School Boards. He said the shortfall will “have a devastating impact on school staffing levels and the amount of services and programs that K-12 schools can offer to families.”

However, chairman of the budget committee, claimed the state may not be able to cut enough spending in order to make ends meet. He said the state “may have to look at some additional revenue.”

ADDED: It’s stuffed with Pelosi political wish list items.

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