Opening doors for the long-awaited release of the stimulus package proposal, negotiators from the White House and key senators have revealed that they have reached a pact on an important piece of the COVID-19 relief package.
According to Richard Shelby, Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, additional billions in funds for COVID-19 testing and a $105 billion fund for schools have been agreed on the "fundamental agreement" for the GOP plan.
In addition, CNN reported that Tennessee Republican and Senate Health Chairmen Lamar Alexander said that he believes that the agreement reflects what are the government's key priorities at the moment, which are getting people back to work, children back to school and the economy going again.
The said agreement signals progress in a discussion that previously had both sides not wanting to bend. This is due to the fact that there have been differences in the views of the White House and Republican Senators, and even among the Republicans themselves.
In what was considered as a step forward towards the passing of a relief bill that would benefit many, the funding levels have been finally agreed on. However, it is only part of the $1 trillion proposals for the stimulus package.
The proposal also includes liability protection, funding for schools, the second round of forgivable Paycheck Protection Program loans, incentives for companies to make them hire workers and create jobs, and most especially direct payments for individuals and families.
In a statement, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stated that the plan to unveil details of the package is to do it in pieces depending on jurisdiction and not as a single bill. The recent decision also marks the start of negotiations with the House Democrats, CNBC reported.
It can be recalled that back in May, the Democrats have already passed a proposal for the stimulus relief bill which was worth $3 trillion and that they have only been waiting for the proposal of the White House Republicans and the White House.
The discussion about the relief aid has become urgent since the $600 unemployment benefit is set to expire soon, while many Americans are still out of jobs. Meanwhile, the white house has already stated on Wednesday that there is a possibility that this could be extended in order to give time to further check the new agreement. However, this was rejected by the Senate GOP.
In addition, the latest agreement has included funds for testing. This has been a major issue between the GOP and White House negotiators, but they ultimately decided on. It was stated that up to $25 billion will be allocated for testing, $16 billion of which will come from new funds while the $9 billion will be designated by the administration from the leftover budget.
The final agreement has become some sort of compromise between the two parties since initially, the GOP Senators were pushing that the $25 billion funds for testing be taken from the new funds. There are still a few things that are needed to be discussed for the stimulus bill, however, it was assured that full appropriations may be released soon.
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