Parties clash over timelines for more aid 

Republicans and Democrats can't agree on how quickly another coronavirus relief package is needed, much less what it should contain. 

House Democrats are barreling ahead on a new aid package that could rival the $2 trillion measure passed last month (PL 116-136). 

They have talked about spending nearly $1 trillion just on state and local government aid alone, while pushing plans for extending unemployment insurance, offering more cash payments to families, providing rent and mortgage relief and more. 

House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., said Tuesday that a bill could come to the floor as early as next week. And he made clear Democrats might push a bill through the chamber even if it lacks bipartisan support and has little chance of becoming law. 

"We hope it's a bipartisan bill," Hoyer told reporters. "If it's not, our responsibility is to respond to this crisis and we will do that." 

But Republicans, both in Congress and the White House, are attempting to pump the brakes. They said time is needed to assess how aid programs are working, while some have begun raising concerns over mounting red ink. 

"I know many people are asking for additional legislation," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters at this weekly news conference. "We're not ruling that out, but we think we can take a pause here and do a good job of evaluating what we've already done." 

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, meanwhile, said it's already clear that a small-business loan program needs another revamp. The California Democrat said House members have plans to extend loan forgiveness and write new requirements to more effectively set aside money for small businesses, among other things, as Lindsey McPherson and Jim Saksa report here. 

McConnell also stepped up his campaign to include liability protection for employers who reopen their businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. "If there's any red line, it's on litigation," he said. "The litigation epidemic has already begun." 

President Donald Trump set his own red line over the weekend, saying the next package must include a payroll tax cut. Democrats and even some Republicans have questioned the effectiveness of that proposal at a time of mass unemployment. "I think we're divided," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, when asked Tuesday about GOP support for the Trump proposal. 

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., warned Republicans against setting red lines before negotiations even begin. "It's not productive and it's not going to work," he told reporters. 

The bottom line: No agreement on a timeline makes it harder to decide what aid is needed. 

Oversight watchdog chief selection coming ‘soon’ 

The new Congressional Oversight Commission designed to monitor $500 billion in federal lending to struggling industries could be facing a weekend deadline to issue its first report to Congress. 

The only problem is the panel still doesn't have a leader. Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she and McConnell are in talks to name the chairperson of the five-member panel created last month (PL 116-136). But they had no agreement yet on who should head the commission, a decision they must make jointly. 

And the pressure is on to act quickly. One of the four already appointed panel members, Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., pointed out in a column for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that the commission's first deadline, a report to Congress on the lending programs, is coming up as early as this weekend. 

The $2 trillion economic rescue package enacted last month, which created the oversight panel, set a deadline of 30 days after the first use by Treasury and the Fed of its new authorities under the law to submit the first report. 

Hill calculates that date as May 9, or a month after the establishment of several new credit programs and Treasury pumping in initial funds to leverage up to 10 times that amount of financing for businesses, states and municipalities. Treasury said Monday that $215 billion in equity funds to support the lending has been committed so far, out of a total $454 billion authorized under the March rescue package. 

Former Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chairwoman Sheila Bair has been in the running to lead the new oversight panel, Vice News reported last week. 

Bair is a Republican who has served in administrations headed by both parties. She oversaw the FDIC during the height of the financial crisis. Doug Sword has the full story here. 

Once locked out of some SBA loans, agriculture now has edge 

The U.S. Travel Association is crying foul after the Small Business Administration decided for now to take applications just from farmers and agricultural businesses for the $50 billion Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. 

“Excluding major segments of the economy from emergency relief funding not only hurts small businesses and workers, but jeopardizes the strength of the broader economic recovery,” Tori Emerson Barnes, the association’s public affairs and policy executive vice president, said in a written statement Tuesday. 

Barnes said opening the SBA application portal to only agriculture-related businesses would undermine recovery efforts from COVID-19 in the broader economy. The Economic Injury Disaster Loan program provides up to $2 million in low-interest loans and $10,000 in grants. The interest on a loan for up to 30 years is 3.75 percent for small businesses and 2.75 percent for nonprofits. 

“Non-profit entities — such as destination marketing organizations and arts and culture groups — are essential for driving consumer demand to their regions, and therefore will be major engines of the recovery,” she said. 

SBA’s action is a reversal of fortune for many segments of agriculture that were ineligible for the program when Congress appropriated COVID-19 emergency funds for the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program in a March economic relief bill. Aquaculture or fish farming, plant nurseries and agricultural cooperatives qualified under the narrow definition on the books at the time. 

Farm groups pushed for a broader definition of agriculture to apply to any new Economic Injury Disaster Loans and grants. The broader definition was included in the most recent relief bill, but there is no language in the law giving a preference to agriculture. Congress replenished the loan fund with $50 billion and increased the grant money from $10 billion to $20 billion. 

Read the full story on RollCall.com. 

Democrats pushing postal bailout with coronavirus relief 

House Democratic leaders have resolved to seek $25 billion for the U.S. Postal Service in the next coronavirus relief bill, Oversight Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney said Tuesday. 

"I do have a commitment ... of $25 billion to keep the postal office running, which is under the jurisdiction of the Oversight Committee," the New York Democrat said. "So I'm thrilled that that is in the package." 

The Postal Service is expected to run out of money by the end of September without a new congressional appropriation because it's losing so much revenue during the pandemic, Maloney said. 

Trump said last month he wants companies that use the Postal Service for shipping to pay more rather than have taxpayers continue to foot the bill. He has also said that raising the price of shipping for companies like Amazon would be a condition of him supporting any Postal Service funding. Lindsey McPherson has the full story here.