As Democrats and Republicans in Congress continue to negotiate another coronavirus relief package, Gov. Phil Scott said Tuesday the legislation does not have to be perfect, but stressed it must include additional unemployment benefits.
Scott, a Republican, told reporters Tuesday that if Congress has to choose between including another round of $1,200 direct payments to Americans or more money for unemployment benefits, he would prefer to make sure checks keep rolling out to people who have lost their jobs during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Unemployment from my perspective,” Scott said of his preference Tuesday. “Direct payments are equally important but we need to solve this problem for us and many other states right now.”
Scott has said he is deeply concerned about the nearly 20,000 Vermonters who will lose unemployment benefits when the federal money from the CARES Act runs out on Dec. 26.
“You can always do a second package later in January or whenever to accommodate all the other things that we need, but take care of the highest priority first,” Scott said.
“It sounds as though they’re making some ground,” he added.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has repeatedly called for $1,200 direct payments to Americans to be included in any federal Covid-19 aid package. The Vermont independent has also hinted that he could force a vote on the issue.
On Tuesday, the bipartisan group of lawmakers tasked with drafting the coronavirus relief package, announced a $748 billion proposal which includes $300 billion for help to small businesses, $180 billion for additional unemployment insurance, $45 billion for the transportation sector and $82 billion for schools.
Other provisions include $25 billion for housing assistance, $16 billion for vaccine distribution and testing, as well as $25 billion for emergency housing and an extension of the moratorium on evictions until Jan. 31.
The unemployment benefit in the proposal is enough for $300 per week, down from the $600 passed earlier this year in the multi-trillion dollar CARES Act.
While Sanders has been primarily focused on making sure stimulus checks go out to all Americans, he has also been pushing Congress to put more money into the unemployment benefit program.
“What kind of negotiation is it when you go from $3.4 trillion to $188 billion in new money? That is not a negotiation. That is a collapse,” Sanders told Politico Monday. “We cannot go home until there [are] strong unemployment benefits plus $1,200 per adult, $500 per kid for every working person and family in this country.”
The bipartisan group also set up a second proposal worth $160 billion, which is the vehicle for the two measures Democrats and Republicans cannot agree on: money for state and local governments and protection from Covid-19 related lawsuits for businesses.
Congressional leaders held closed door negotiations Tuesday afternoon to discuss the proposals as well as the $1.4 trillion government spending bill that must pass by Friday.
Ahead of the negotiations, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters that senators will not be leaving the capitol without agreeing on a coronavirus relief bill. However, he added that concessions would have to be made on both sides and that they should move what both Republicans and Democrats agree on.
“We all know the new administration is going to be asking for yet another package,” McConnell said, referencing President-elect Joe Biden’s approaching tenure in the White House.
“It’s not like we won’t have another opportunity to debate the merits of liability reform and of state and local government in the very near future,” he added.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., refused to talk about what he would or would not be pushing for in the meeting, but did say that he supports making sure Americans receive another round of $1,200 payments.
Sanders said Monday that he had spoken with Schumer about the bipartisan proposal and had urged the leader of the Democratic caucus to reject the measure if it did not include direct payments.
“I’m not going to get into negotiations in the room, but $1,200 in additional money for people is something many in our caucus — including me — support,” Schumer said.
