Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell popped up Tuesday morning with a proposal that he made sound like a done deal for additional stimulus money, pushed in the Senate by unanimous consent as soon as Thursday, to pump more money into the already-troubled small business lending program. It's a startling concession from McConnell, who has up until now steadfastly maintained that Congress had done plenty. Democrats need to seize on that and make this new urgency count with some demands of their own.
McConnell announced "I will work with Secretary Mnuchin and Leader Schumer and hope to approve further funding for the Paycheck Protection Program by unanimous consent or voice vote during the next scheduled Senate session on Thursday." However, a Schumer spokeseperson says "Senator Schumer has not heard from Senator McConnell, and Senator Cardin has not heard from Senator Rubio." Cardin and Rubio, along with Sens. Collins and Shaheen drafted the PPP provision of the stimulus bill.
McConnell is correct in saying "it is quickly becoming clear that Congress will need to provide more funding or this crucial program may run dry." Too bad he hadn't come to the realization of the scope of this crisis while the legislation was coming together, and fought harder for the $500 billion for corporate giveaways instead of the $350 billion to keep people employed and small businesses afloat.
Democrats should probably agree to a new infusion of funds, but they can't do it without demanding something in return. That something should, at the very least, be Schumer's proposal for direct payments of up to $25,000 to the "heroes" in the epidemic, frontline healthcare and service industry workers. Additionally, there is House Speaker Pelosi's call for another round of direct payments to everyone as well as more food assistance under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
"They get lots of applause and kudos," Schumer said of his plan, but they need pay. "This is a heroes' fund and they deserve it," Schumer said. His proposal would provide up to $25,000 in hazard pay, with bigger corporations footing the bill for their own employees and the federal government picking up the funding for smaller companies.