Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) instructed Democrats to send ideas about what they’d like to see in the legislation to her office as House and Senate negotiators begin working in earnest on the next bill.
The House left town early Saturday morning after clearing a multibillion dollar stimulus package — its second bill aimed at stemming the outbreak — though it’s currently stalled in the Senate as negotiators hammer out a slew of technical tweaks.
Even so, Democrats and Republicans have been quick to focus their attention on the third legislative response to the outbreak — a measure that is expected to be the biggest so far, with members already comparing its size and scope with the bailouts approved amid the 2008 financial collapse.
Congressional leaders, as well as rank-and-file members of both parties, have already begun floating dramatic plans, such as cash handouts similar to the idea of universal basic income, popularized in the 2020 race by presidential candidate Andrew Yang.
Several Democrats asked questions on the call about the possibility of a universal basic income policy — which Pelosi herself had initially been skeptical of, when it was floated at a recent Democratic meeting, though support has been gradually ticking up on both sides.
Pelosi told members on Monday that the priority was to keep people healthy and put money in people’s pockets, specifically mentioning refundable tax credits or some other mechanism, according to people familiar with the call.
Top Democrats also discussed the possibility of expanding Medicaid, creating additional price-gouging protections and shoring up local transit and Amtrak.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Monday pitched a massive $750 billion proposal that includes direct cash payments as well as substantial support for small businesses and hospitals.
House leaders are also working to balance efforts to prop up the economy with anxiety among their own members, who waited around the Capitol for days while Pelosi negotiated a package of coronavirus response measures with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Members privately worried that they were being forced into packed meetings and hallways crowded with reporters and staff, despite increasingly pitched warnings from experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to avoid those precise situations.
The CDC has now recommended that all gatherings of more than 50 people be canceled for the next eight weeks, complicating plans for the 435-member House and its thousands of staffers.
Many Capitol Hill offices have already implemented teleworking strategies for aides, and some lawmakers have either self-quarantined or gotten tested for coronavirus after brushes with people who later tested positive. So far, no member of Congress has reported testing positive for the illness.
House leaders revealed Monday that they would be taking steps to prevent too many members from being on the floor even during votes, the rare occasion when most lawmakers congregate at the same time. Leadership offices in both parties have discussed ideas such as keeping votes open longer, to limit physical contact among members
„[P]lans are being developed to coordinate votes in order to limit the number of Members voting on the Floor at any one time,“ Hoyer’s office wrote in a schedule update.
Pelosi told lawmakers they may vote according to state or some other procedure when they do come back to limit the number of lawmakers being on the floor at the same time.
On Sunday, Pelosi wrote a letter to House members responding to their growing concerns and encouraging new steps to promote “social distancing” — measures to prevent close contact between people in an effort to stem the spread of coronavirus.
“This may entail more than half of your Washington staff teleworking from home,” Pelosi wrote. “As this public health emergency develops, the House will continue to take strong, strategic and science-based action to keep the American people safe and ensure the continuity of Congressional operations.”
Source: politico.com
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