Will Congress Blow It Again in this Week’s Pandemic Relief Package?

What can we expect in this week’s small business relief package?

The legislative process was flawed.

While most of our Representatives were home, congressional leaders and a small staff have been meeting with Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and others from the Trump administration behind closed doors negotiating the next coronavirus relief package.

These discussions were out of sight from the American public, and most of our elected representatives were not included in negotiations. Who was likely in the backrooms? Lobbyists, powerful corporate forces, and millionaires.

The legislation will likely be underwhelming and full of loopholes for the wealthy with a few headline-making crumbs thrown in for workers.

It is also likely that congress members will only be able to offer a voice vote, and this package will be passed by consent so no member need have an aye or nay recorded vote on their voting record.

The language (details) of the Bill will be made available only hours before the voice vote. We can expect hundreds or even thousands of pages full of technical legalese drafted by lobbyists intentionally to obfuscate the most pernicious business-friendly proposals and loopholes.

Look for the following proposals to be included:

1. Expect a relief package totaling $450 billion or more. Will anyone ask, ‘how are you going to pay for it’?
2. Approximately $60 billion targeted for small-business relief. Look for how small-business is defined and loopholes for the more significant, more influential, corporate interests.
3. Look for $25 billion or more in funding for coronavirus testing. Significantly increased testing is a pre-requisite for a phased-in approached to ‘opening up the economy’ again.
4. The package might include $75 billion to support hospitals. This is badly needed, but look for how this money is to be disbursed. Will hospitals serving minority communities, smaller, community, rural, or tribal hospitals get a fair share?
5. Will the package include $150 billion in support for states and cities, who have seen their budgets collapse and rainy-day funds disappear during the crisis? What are the criteria to determine who gets what? Is this based on need or politics?
6. The Payroll Protection Program may receive an additional $300 billion to be used for small business loans. The CARES Act passed last month initially funded this program, which has run out of funds after 1.7 million people had loans approved.

Lesson learned from the CARES ACT is the critical importance of oversight. What will this package propose in terms of meaningful, real-time congressional oversight?

The biggest obstacle to a more people-centered package is the opposition by Senate leader Mitch McConnell, the Senate GOP majority, and the Trump administration.

They consider any proposals other than those strictly focused on financial relief for businesses to be legislative poison pills that will result in a whipped no vote from the Republican side.

Progressives demand more

Progressive lawmakers and more than 50 groups have come together to lobby Congressional leaders to put people, not corporate interests, first.

Here are few of their proposals:

1. Progressives are working to have the package include $2,000 monthly payments to adults and $1,000 to dependent children.
2. They say the package should include rent and mortgage forgiveness.
3. The inclusion of undocumented people in all government assistance.
4. Strong pro-worker protections such as the right to organize and defend themselves, putting workers on corporate boards, restricting executive pay and perks and corporate stock buybacks, and enacting other pro-worker provisions.

The AFL-CIO will release “labor’s plan for reopening the economy” this week in a press conference led by President Richard Trumka.

Unfortunately, most of the progressive proposals are not very likely to be included in the final package, but the pressure will continue and escalate.

Be prepared to be disappointed.

This package is intended to support small business and coronavirus relief efforts. Pro-business groups, Trump, bankers, and Wall Street, are happy.

Already the president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has called the latest package “a good first step,” and Trump has signaled his support for the broad-stroke outline above.

We are told that some of the people-oriented and progressive proposals might be considered in the next round of legislation (phase 5) sometime in May or June. For working people, that is far too little, far too late. Again.