House Democrats Propose $3T Coronavirus Relief Bill

Washington, D.C.—House Democrats unveiled a new $3 trillion coronavirus relief bill Tuesday afternoon that includes aid for state and local governments and additional funds for small businesses.

The House may vote as soon as Friday, but Senate Republicans are not expected to take up the bill until after Memorial Day.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told reporters Monday, “We have not yet felt the urgency of acting immediately.”

President Donald Trump expressed similar sentiments last week, stating he was in “no rush” to pass another stimulus bill.

The 1,800-page bill, titled the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act, or HEROES Act, includes about $1 trillion in relief funds for state, local, and tribal governments with a focus on suburban and rural areas.

Individuals could receive another round of $1,200 stimulus checks with households receiving up to $6,000.

In addition, the bill calls for the extra $600 per week in unemployment benefits to be extended through January. It is currently set to expire after July.

Essential workers facing health risks would be eligible for $200 billion in hazard pay. The bill would also allocate $175 billion in rent, mortgage, and utility assistance.

An additional $10 billion would go to the emergency Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) program, which provides emergency disaster assistance loans for small businesses administered by the Small Business Administration.

No additional funds would go to the Paycheck Protection Program, which was replenished in the previous bill, but the new bill would give companies until the end of the year to rehire workers and still qualify for loan forgiveness.

There would be a change to the way forgiven PPP loans are treated that could translate to billions in tax savings, according to Bloomberg.

The change would allow businesses to deduct payroll, rent, and other costs covered by PPP loans. The IRS had said those expenses are not deductible if the loan is forgiven.

The proposed bill also would extend the loans to more nonprofits, including trade associations and professional organizations, as well as to local tourism bureaus and chambers of commerce.

Following a rocky rollout of the PPP, which included big businesses taking millions in loans, the bill also focuses on getting funding to smaller businesses.

It would set aside 25 percent of the remaining funds for businesses with 10 or fewer employees, as well as allocate any returned or cancelled loan amounts to those businesses. Another 25 percent of the remaining funds would go to nonprofits.

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