Pelosi Unveils $2.5 Trillion Stimulus Plan

News March 24, 2020 at 10:08 AM
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaks outside of her office on Capitol Hill. (Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP Photo/Bloomberg)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi introduced late Monday evening a $2.5 trillion legislative counteroffer to the coronavirus stimulus package currently being negotiated in the Senate.

The Senate failed a second time to pass a stimulus package Monday afternoon after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the plan needed to pass that day.

Senators fell short of the 60 votes needed to advance the bill. The first vote failed on Sunday.

Pelosi's legislation is being billed as a "wish list" with few provisions likely to pass, Ed Mills, policy analyst for Raymond James, said in his Tuesday morning briefing.

"We view the [Pelosi] bill as establishing a Democrat marker," Mills said. "We continue to believe the more important negotiation is going on in the Senate (where Democratic leader [Chuck] Schumer is constantly in contact with Speaker Pelosi)."

As of Tuesday morning, Mills said, "there have been conflicting, but generally positive signs of progress towards negotiations" in the Senate. "We continue to believe the largest-ever fiscal stimulus package will pass, but the timeline is threatening to slip."

Mills told ThinkAdvisor that he expects that the House bill "is more of a negotiation tool," and that "the bill that will move is the bill that the Senate is working on," though Pelosi's proposal "adds to some of Schumer's leverage."

Schumer tweeted Monday: "From the beginning, Democrats have insisted on more money for our hospitals, our medical system, and our medical workers[.] From the beginning, Democrats have insisted that there be no bailouts without strict conditions that put people and workers first[.] These changes must be made."

Some key provisions in Pelosi's bill include direct payment to each American of $1,500, up to a total of $7,500 per family of four, based on income, similar to the Senate bill.

Creditors would be forced to provide consumers with relief from payments on credit cards, car loans and mortgages under the bill, Mills said, with foreclosures and evictions banned.

Temporary Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation would provide workers with a $600 weekly payment if they are laid off due to COVID-19, Mills added.

And $500 billion to $600 billion would be offered in small-business loans and other support, Mills added, including $300 billion in forgivable loans and $100 billion in grants.

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