Congress is officially in recess until April 20, but there's every indication that next week will bring more work on an interim bill to fix some of the problems in the small business lending provisions of the big Phase 3 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) and work toward a CARES 2 big bill.
Let's call the interim bill Phase 3.5—the one that Sen. Mitch McConnell tried to jam through but failed this week when Democrats refused to be rolled. McConnell wanted an additional $250 billion for the $350 billion lending program for small business that was passed in CARES. Democrats pointed out not all of the money in the first round had begun to be spent, so there’s plenty of time to figure out how to fix the problems that have emerged from the Trump administration's rollout of the program. Those problems are detailed in this compilation of news stories from around the country released by Senate Democrats.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have both had discussions with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin about the interim Phase 3.5 bill. Pelosi wants $500 billion in this mini-package: $250 billion for small businesses with provisions to make sure that rural businesses and businesses run by people of color have easy and quick access to the fund; an additional $150 billion for state and local government to boost their emergency response; and $100 billion more to hospitals and community health centers providing front-line care. "There’s no reason why we can't come to a bipartisan agreement by early next week," Schumer said about Phase 3.5 after talking to Mnuchin.
As for Phase 4/CARES 2, the Democratic leaders are drawing some lines in the sand. Schumer tweeted Friday: "The right of every American citizen to vote must be protected. […] In the next comprehensive response bill (COVID 4), we'll fight to ensure states have all they need to hold safe, free, fair elections." Pelosi agreed, telling reporters on a call Thursday: "We have a different value system [from Republicans] about what voting means to a democracy. […] Clearly, we want to remove all obstacles to participation."
In addition to a vote-by-mail provision, Pelosi is focusing on a "CARES 2 package to put additional money in the hands of those who need it most and ensure our frontline workers have the resources they need," according to her spokesman Drew Hammill. McConnell fairly successfully boxed her out of the CARES Act negotiations, and she's working now to elbow him out by leading discussions with Mnuchin early. Expect her to lead with many the provisions the House had in the first big stimulus bill McConnell blocked out, including expanded paid medical and family leave, more in direct cash payments, relief for student loan borrowers, housing assistance, coverage of coronavirus health care, and possibly a new push for incentives to states that haven't expanded Medicaid to do so.