THIS is how you do it.
Nancy Pelosi has released her House bill (Part 3), a stimulus bill labelled the “ Take Responsibility for Workers and Families Act”, to address the economic fallout of the Coronavirus crisis.
Here are some of the highlights:
How the House Democrats' stimulus plan compares to the Senate's
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to unveil her bill on Monday night.
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UPDATED with some additional details.
Pelosi unveils $2.5 trillion counterproposal to GOP coronavirus stimulus
1. Bigger cash payments to almost all Americans
Democrats are proposing $1,500 per person, and up to $7,500 for a family of five, instead of the $1,200 on the table under the Senate bill. Higher earners would have to pay back part or all of the assistance over three years if their taxable income is $75,000 or more for a single filer or $150,000 or more for couples filing jointly. The money would be available to anyone with a tax ID number, and to retirees and people who are unemployed, rather than just to people who file taxes for 2019 or get Social Security.
2. Expanding unemployment, paid sick leave
The unemployed would get an extra $600 per week on top of state or federal benefits in order to replace 100 percent of lost wages. Self-employed workers, Americans whose contracts were canceled, and new entrants to the job market would also be eligible.The measure would also extend paid sick leave benefits to cover individuals, such as health care workers and first responders, who were cut out of Congress’ second coronavirus response.
3. Expand health insurance tax credits, beef up EITC, Child Tax Credit and Dependent Care Credit
The Democratic plan would expand health insurance premium tax credits under the Affordable Care Act and beef up the Earned Income Tax Credit, the Child Tax Credit and the Dependent Care Credit.
Taxpayers could make early withdrawals from their retirement funds without having to pay the usual 10 percent penalty during the coronavirus crisis, and required minimum withdrawals would be suspended for 2020. Health insurance premium tax credits under the Affordable Care Act would be expanded.
4. More help to hospitals
Health care providers and community health centers would receive about $150 billion, while hospitals would get an additional $80 billion in low-interest loans. The proposal is more in line with industry requests, compared to the $75 billion Senate Republicans have offered. The House bill would also waive treatment costs, abandon certain barriers to accessing medicines and provide safety protections for health workers.
5. Extra aid for small businesses
Democrats are pitching $500 billion in grants and interest-free loans to small businesses, including $300 billion in forgivable loans to cover short-term payroll costs. That compares to $300 billion in loans for small businesses in the Senate bill.
6. Business tax relief
Companies would get credits against payroll taxes for giving employees any kind of sick or family medical leave, not just for coronavirus-related reasons.
Businesses would get to deduct losses from this year, last year and 2018 from their taxes for any of the last five years.
7. Doubling up on education cash
Democrats are calling for $60 billion in emergency assistance to go out for education initiatives, about three times the amount the Senate bill contains. That total includes $30 billion to help K-12 schools, as well as $10 billion for colleges and universities.
8. Emergency funding for federal agencies
House Democrats want to go much bigger in sending emergency money to federal agencies, proposing hundreds of billions more than the $242 billion Senate Republicans have pitched, according to a Democratic aide. The White House, meanwhile, has made a narrowly tailored request for $46 billion.
9. Aid for airlines