It's going to be a long day in the House as most members have returned to consider two bills: the CARES Act—the next coronavirus stimulus bill that has an uncertain path in the Senate—and a rules change to give them more flexibility in conducting House business during crisis. In order to keep members safe (and because Republicans refuse to take the health of their colleagues seriously), they've instituted procedures that will mean it takes hours to get through. They will take each vote in groups of six, with each group having 10 minutes to vote on each item. They also expect recesses through the day for the chamber to be cleaned since Republicans will be in there all day touching everything and spewing germs while being maskless, gloveless, and hanging out in groups.
The key vote today will be to pass the HEROES Act, a $3 trillion response to the coronavirus crisis, which the White House has already threatened to veto. The bill is a step back from the "Big Thinking" preview we got from Speaker Nancy Pelosi earlier in the week. It includes another $1,200 one-time payment to everyone, up to $6,000 per family, rather than the $2,000 monthly payments she initially endorsed, but it has key and critical components: $1 trillion in aid to state, local, territorial, and tribal governments to help offset revenue losses due to the pandemic shutdown and retrain public employees; $200 billion in hazard pay for the essential workers; a 15% increase in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits; another $75 billion for testing and contact tracing as well as free treatment for coronavirus; an extension of the $600 bump to weekly unemployment insurance payments through January; $175 billion in new money for rent, mortgage, and utility payments; $25 billion in emergency funding for the Postal Service; and $3.6 billion for states to run elections safely and securely during the pandemic.
The House released a manager's amendment that will comprise the final bill, with some tweaks and additions. It scales back the original provision to provide $10,000 in student loan forgiveness for all borrowers and a halt in student loan payments through September 30, 2021. Now it provides that $10,000 loan cancellation, only of already "economic distressed borrowers"—generally those who have defaulted or are at least 90 days past due in payments, or those who've already had their loans suspended for circumstances like unemployment or health reasons. The other changes in the manager's amendment include:
- $309 million for rural housing assistance
- National Science Foundation-led study on COVID-19 disinformation
- Clarifies that Washington, D.C. qualifies for county aid
- Clarifies inclusion of domestic worker for the Employee Retention Tax Credit
- Creates risk corridor programs for individual, group, and Medicare Advantage health insurance plans during COVID-19 emergency
- Applies anti-discrimination protections to HEROES Act and other coronavirus relief packages
- Restricts use of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans to compensate registered lobbyists
- Makes 501(c)(4) organizations ineligible for PPP if they engage in campaign finance activities
- Clarifies personal protective equipment as eligible use for PPP loans
- Narrows student debt cancellation of $10,000 to economically distressed borrowers
- Includes telecommunications workers as essential workers
- Requires scientific integrity policies for all federal agencies involved in scientific research
They will also vote on the rules change that will allow the House to conduct business more flexibly, with remote work on committees and proxy voting on the floor. Republicans are predicting doom: "I believe these changes will fundamentally alter the nature of the institution and not for the better," said Rep. Tom Cole, an Oklahoma Republican who is ranking member on the Rules Committee. The chair of the committee, Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Jim McGovernor, said: "I don't suggest these changes lightly. I still believe that we do our best work in person and side-by-side, but we must temporarily embrace technology during this unprecedented time."
That's absolutely necessary, because while this bill does some very good things, it doesn't do enough. They will have to do more, spend more to get the nation through this crisis. That's largely because House leadership—especially Pelosi—started listening to her vulnerable Democrats who were yelling about the deficit, and repeating Republican talking points about the bill being a liberal wish-list (looking at you, Virginia Rep. Abigail Spanberger). This bill needs to pass. The Senate needs to be yelled at and threatened by all of us until they do it. And then we have to keep yelling to make them do more.