Stimulus Package: House Vote Reschedules to Thursday as Negotiations Continue

Stimulus package house vote will be held on Thursday, October 1, instead of Wednesday, September 30, in the hopes that a bipartisan deal will be reached to help Americans impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Monday night, the House Democrats unveiled a $2.2 trillion second stimulus package which they dubbed as the Heroes Act 2.0 as it is a scaled down version or $1.2 trillion less than the original legislation that they passed last spring.

Among its provisions are a second stimulus check of $1,200 and the resumption of the $600 unemployment monthly checks until January.

it also includes $25 billion to stave off thousands of layoffs at passenger airlines and another $3 billion for airline contractors.

Other inclusions are the following:

• $225 billion in education funding, with $182 billion for K-12 schools and about
• $39 billion for post-secondary education.
• $120 billion in grants for restaurants.
• $436 billion in assistance for state, local and tribal governments.
• $75 billion for COVID-19 testing, tracing and isolation measures.
• $15 billion in funding for the U.S. Postal Service.
• Increased food assistance benefits.

The postponement though is a good sign because it is done to allow House Speaker Nancy Pelosi more time to discuss with negotiators from the White House and reach a bipartisan deal.

Pelosi said that the vote would formalize their stimulus package proffer to the Republicans in negotiations.

Pelosi had her first in-person negotiations with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin Wednesday at the Capitol since August.

According to Mnuchin, they made a lot of progress over the last few days as before they met in person, he and Pelosi have been communicating.

However, Mnuchin said that they have not reached an agreement yet and that they have more work to do.

While the House Democrats have done their part in scaling down the total amount of the second stimulus package from its original amount of $3.4 trillion, the House Republicans had dubbed the Heroes Act 2.0 as a socialist wish list and said that they would oppose it.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) said that it would be outlandish to think that they would be on board with a bill that cost $2 trillion signifying that they would stick to their scaled-down $300 billion bill that was blocked in the Senate.

Mnuchin said that they are going to continue negotiating and do a little more work in answer to a query if he would be able to negotiate a deal over $1.5 trillion.

While both parties agree on sending out a second stimulus check, they largely disagree on the unemployment benefit.

While the Democrats are offering an unemployment benefit of $600, the Republicans are only offering $200 and $300 in other proposals. They argued that giving out more could disincentivize work.

Another sticking point in the negotiations is that both parties also refuse to budge on their proposed amount of aid to give to state and local governments.

Still, as negotiations are continuing unlike last month when it stalled, hope for that second stimulus check is still there.

Check these out:

Stimulus Payments, $600 Unemployment Monthly Checks Included in Newly Unveiled Democratic Package

IRS Schedules Second Stimulus Check by October 12 As Soon As Congress Approves

Second Stimulus Check Possible to Come Out Before Election