TOPLINE
White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin laid out their expectations for the next stimulus bill during Sunday television appearances, as the race for Congress to pass the latest rescue package heats up amid the ongoing economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
President Trump with National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow (L) and Treasury Secretary … [+] Steven Mnuchin.
Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images
KEY FACTS
Mnuchin said during his Fox News Sunday appearance that the deal could be done in pieces, with more contentious issues being addressed in future rescue packages: “We could look at doing an entire deal, we could look at doing parts.”
Mnuchin told Fox that for this latest bill, high-priority items include the expired enhanced unemployment benefits and protecting reopening schools and workplaces from liability.
Kudlow, in a CNN appearance, said that in addition to capping additional unemployment payments, the stimulus package will include a reemployment bonus and retention tax credit bonus for people going back to work.
“The trick here is going back to work,” Kudlow said, insisting that “the economy is improving by leaps and bounds,” despite CNN anchor Jake Tapper pointing out that total employment in the U.S. is decreasing over time.
Mnuchin previously told Capitol Hill reporters Saturday that Republicans will unveil their proposal Monday.
“We’re prepared to move quickly,” Mnuchin said, but knocked the $600 enhanced weekly unemployment benefits that expired over the weekend, calling the extra money “ridiculous” and a disincentive for people to return to work.
Crucial quote
“It just wouldn’t be fair to use taxpayer dollars to pay more people to sit home than they would working and get a job,” Mnuchin told Fox News Today. Tapper said on CNN that one in five small businesses had employees decline job offers, instead opting to remain unemployed.
Chief critic
“Some people are not going back to work because they know it’s not safe,” Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif, told CNN’s State of the Union Sunday. “And some people don’t have the jobs to go back to. The economy is not going to get better until we have control over this virus. Why would you let people suffer like this? Republicans have had the HEROES Act [that the House passed in May] for two months, and they’re fighting between themselves.”
Big number
20 weeks, or 5 months. That’s how long a new round of weekly unemployment payments could be delayed by, according to a Saturday NPR report. Republicans want to tie a new weekly payment to about 70% of a worker’s lost wages, which is harder for states to calculate as opposed to a flat rate. Transitioning to that sliding scale could take anywhere from eight weeks to 20 weeks.
Key background
The upcoming stimulus package will be the fifth Congressional rescue package since the coronavirus pandemic arrived in the U.S. earlier this year. Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Saturday that he hopes the GOP proposal will be sent to the House for a vote within two or three weeks. The previous rescue package passed in March included the $600 weekly unemployment benefit, which workers received on top of unemployment payments doled out by states. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American worker makes around $900 per week. States pay around $300 per week in unemployment benefits, on average. So Congress settled on $600 by making up the difference, which rounds out to about $900.
Further reading
Unemployment Payments Could Be Delayed Up To 20 Weeks Under GOP Proposal (Forbes)
$600 Unemployment Check Likely To Be Slashed—But GOP Can’t Decide How Much (Forbes)
Unemployment Checks Could Drop Below $200 Under GOP Stimulus Plan (Forbes)
Here’s What Republicans Are Likely To Propose For The Next Stimulus Package (Forbes)
