STIMULUS BILL UNLIKELY BEFORE ELECTION DAY
WASHINGTON UPDATE
The House is in recess. The Senate is back in session. There is a CR until December 11. Stimulus Negotiations
On Saturday, October 17, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (KY) said the Senate will hold two votes this week on a half-trillion dollar coronavirus relief package, even though the chances of a bill getting through Congress before election day remains unlikely. On Tuesday, October 20, the Senate will vote on additional money for the Paycheck Protection Program, whose lending authority expired on August 8th with about $134 billion unspent.
On Wednesday, October 21, the Senate will vote on the rest of the package. Democrats have already dismissed this move as inadequate, and are not expected to support the proposals. The legislation, which is nearly identical to the one Republicans attempted to pass in September, includes $300 billion in boosted federal weekly unemployment benefits through the end of December, as well money for testing and reopening schools.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (CA) and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin continue to discuss a broader relief package. Last week, Mnuchin said he would accept the Speaker’s COVID testing and tracing language but the White House still has issues with her request for state and local funding. Senate Republicans who are up for re-election in close races have repeatedly called for Congress to reach an agreement.
President Trump has encouraged Senate Republicans to “Go big or go home!!!” on a stimulus package and suggested that he could persuade the GOP to get on board. McConnell, however, has made it clear his caucus will not support anything close to the $1.8 trillion in relief the White House is proposing. The likelihood of a deal before election day is slim.
House Budget Committee On Wednesday, October 14, Congressman Bill Johnson (OH) announced that he is running to be the top Republican on the House Budget Committee - a panel that could see major action next year if Democrats win the White House and Senate and try to use “budget reconciliation” to pass legislation with a simple majority in the upper chamber. Johnson could have some competition for the position, however, as Congressman Jason Smith (MO), who is next in seniority after Johnson, isn’t ruling out a bid.
National Disability Employment Awareness Month: An Opportunity to Reflect and Reimagine Pamela Nabors, CEO of CareerSource Central Florida (CSCF) and WDC First Vice President, has written an article for the WDC website to celebrate National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) this October, which includes information on how WDC members can participate in NDEAM celebrations and get involved with the WDC Disability Employment Working Group.
Click here to read the full article.
Initial Jobless Claims
In the week ending October 10, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 898,000, an increase of 53,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 5,000 from 840,000 to 845,000. The 4-week moving average was 866,250, an increase of 8,000 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 1,250 from 857,000 to 858,250. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 6.8 percent for the week ending October 3, a decrease of 0.9 percentage point from the previous week's revised rate.
Click here to read the full report.
Click here to read the entire October 19 weekly legislative update.