News & Media
Coronavirus April 21 Update: Sen. Schumer Says Aid Deal Will Pass Senate Today, Rep. Meeks on How SBA Loans are Missing Minority Communities, and a New Europe-focused Resource Center
Coronavirus aid deal to pass Senate Tuesday, Schumer says
Democrats and the White House “came to an agreement on just about every issue” during late-night negotiations, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer said Tuesday morning, predicting that the Senate would pass the measure later in the day.
“I think we will be able to pass this today,” Schumer said on CNN. The nearly $500 billion coronavirus relief package features an injection of funds into a new and heavily oversubscribed small-business loan fund that ran out of cash last week, as well as funding for hospitals and a national COVID-19 testing program.
Schumer said the new small-business loan funds would include $125 billion set aside for the “unbanked,” which he described as largely minority- and women-owned businesses and rural businesses that don’t have strong relationships with traditional lenders.
The New York Democrat also said hospitals would get $65 billion in the deal and that the legislation would include $30 billion for a national testing program. Those figures are slightly different from what negotiators had been saying for the past few days, when the money for hospitals had been cited as $75 billion, with $25 billion for testing.
While there wouldn't be a new injection of direct aid to state and local governments, Schumer said the emerging legislation would include language to allow more flexibility for an earlier funding round. The $2 trillion package enacted last month contained $150 billion in state and local aid, but with a stipulation that the money could only be used to cover specific coronavirus-related expenses.
Schumer said the new package would let states and localities dip into those earlier funds to cover budget shortfalls. "We did get a commitment from the White House that they would be able to use those funds for lost revenues," he said.
The agreement was reached in negotiations between Schumer, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. The latter two were in contact with President Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on the details, Schumer said.
“Staff was up all night writing,” Schumer said. “There’s still i’s to dot and t’s to cross, but we have a deal,” said Schumer, adding that he expects the measure would come to a vote in the Senate during a 4 p.m. pro forma session Tuesday.
Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer said late Monday that the earliest that chamber would vote on the package is Thursday. Democratic leaders plan to call members back to Washington for a recorded vote due to likely objections to passing the measure by unanimous consent.
Medicare Chief targets early May to release COVID-19 racial disparity data
Highly anticipated statistics breaking down racial and ethnic disparities in the COVID-19 pandemic are slowly beginning to surface, although the picture is far from complete.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma is eyeing early May to release an initial batch of demographic data related to coronavirus cases, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began releasing their own preliminary statistics last week.
CDC data show that African Americans account for 30 percent of confirmed cases, although race and ethnicity is only specified in around one-third of the department's reported cases. Black people make up around 13 percent of the U.S. population. Hispanics and Latinos account for 23 percent of cases, while making up 17 percent of the population.
Medicare claims data will help fill in the CDC's gaps. Verma told reporters Monday the department will release a full month's worth of COVID-19 claims next month, after she said the department decided that more preliminary data could be "misleading."
Truckers took a pass in first recovery bill, but not this time
As Congress worked last month to craft a federal response to the coronavirus pandemic, the asks came in fast and furious.
Airlines wanted $58 billion to offset the steep decline in demand. Transit wanted $25 billion. Amtrak asked for $1 billion.
The $800 billion trucking industry, meanwhile, didn’t ask for a dime, though advocates said they were hopeful members could have some access to the $350 billion in small business loans in the bill.
“We didn't have enough of a sense of the economic impact at that point, other than we probably at that moment didn’t need a handout,” said Bill Sullivan, executive vice president of advocacy for the American Trucking Associations.
That may change in the weeks ahead.
An initial overall surge in demand for freight has bifurcated, with demand for food and medical supplies delivery remaining strong as deliveries of other products — fuel to airports and miscellaneous retail products — plummet.
The American Trucking Associations said it will likely request low-interest loans to help an industry that has been unevenly impacted. They are also considering asking for relief from taxes such as the trucking excise tax, which adds a 12 percent tax onto the purchase of new trucks and trailers. That tax, he said, can add as much as $20,000 to the cost of a new unit.
“We believe something like a holiday through 2021 of the federal excise tax is a really good idea,” Sullivan said.
The Owner-Operators Independent Driver Association, meanwhile, is asking for more funding for small business loans, allowing trucking companies to account for additional business expenses when applying for a small business loan and increased COVID-19 testing and protective equipment at weigh stations and rest areas.
Truckers have received praise during the pandemic for keeping the supply chain moving, with President Donald Trump holding a White House ceremony to honor their efforts, handing drivers a ceremonial key and declaring, “Thank God for truckers.”
Read the full story on RollCall.com.
New aid for farmers
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue rolled out a $19 billion rescue plan Friday for farmers who could be forced out of business because of the ripple effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Perdue is likely to come under scrutiny over fairness in distributing billions of dollars in direct payments to a cross section of farmers and ranchers, just as he was regarding distribution of trade aid to compensate farmers for lost foreign markets during trade disputes.
However, few in agriculture are likely to question the need for help during the pandemic.
In a statement, the secretary said he is pulling together funding and authorities provided in two economic relief packages (PL 116-127, PL 116-136) and using $873 million of existing USDA funding for food purchases. The department's umbrella name for the aid package is the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program.
Of the $19 billion, $16 billion in direct payments to farmers and ranchers will be "based on actual losses for agricultural producers where prices and market supply chains have been impacted," Perdue said in the statement.
The department will use $3 billion to purchase a variety of agricultural and food products. Purchases are a standard tool the USDA uses to remove surplus products from the market to keep market prices from declining. Ellyn Ferguson has the full story here.