Senate Republicans will introduce a “skinny” bill of coronavirus economic measures within 24 hours which will include $10 billion for the U.S. Postal Service and $300 a week in supplemental unemployment compensation, Politico reported Monday citing anonymous sources.
The proposal will include elements of the offer the GOP put forth in July in negotiations with House Democrats, who passed a $3.5 trillion package in May, and could be attached to a continuing resolution to fund the government past Sept. 30, Politico said citing two unidentified Republican sources.
The GOP and Democrats have been at odds after differences in their two proposals could not be reconciled. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has called her chamber back by Saturday to vote on a $25 billion bill for the Postal Service. The Senate is not due to return until after Labor Day.
The Republican Senate proposal would match President Donald Trump’s executive order to authorize $300 a week in unemployment compensation, an action that was being funded and administered through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The additional benefit would be available through Dec. 27.
It also would include funding for the Payroll Protection Program, essentially loans to small businesses to enable them to keep workers employed during the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said at an event in his home state on Monday that while he hoped the “impasse would end soon,” he couldn’t “tell you with certainty we’re going to reach an agreement.”
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