House Democrats revealed their latest coronavirus relief proposal Tuesday which includes more than $3 trillion in new spending, amounting to the biggest and most expensive aid package yet to deal with the global pandemic, Fox News informed.
Of the more than $3 trillion package, about $1 trillion would go to state, local and tribal governments, according to three sources briefed on the proposal.
Another round of $1,200 stimulus payments also would go out to most Americans under the plan, with a maximum of $6,000 per household.
Then a flurry of cash would be allocated to struggling Americans, extending the $600 extra in weekly unemployment insurance through January and a new $175 billion benefit that would subsidize rent and mortgage payments for Americans.
House Democrats called the legislation the HEROES Act. The draft of the sprawling plan was circulated Tuesday. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is set to announce the plan at 3 p.m. ET.
The plan seeks for a new $200 billion Heroes’ Fund to ensure essential workers who have put their health and safety on the line receive hazard pay during the pandemic. The bill also directs the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to create new worker safety standards for employers.
But the price tag shows that Democrats have gone big — rather, huge — for the fifth round of coronavirus legislation. And it’s a figure sure to face deep skepticism from cost-conscious lawmakers growing uncomfortable with the historic pace of massive spending legislation. The U.S. Treasury already had to borrow $3 trillion to fund the first four coronavirus spending packages that passed with bipartisan support.
Although Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he’s comfortable borrowing that much money because of historically low interest rates, some Republicans are now cool to more spending — especially another $3 trillion worth.
“I don’t think we have yet felt the urgency of acting immediately, but that time could develop, but I don’t think it has yet,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Monday.
House Republicans are deeply skeptical of the bill, in a sign Democrats may have to go it alone on this round of legislation — and that it faces long odds in the GOP-led Senate. House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., blasted Pelosi for trying to draft another bill while Congress is still on recess.
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