A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators and Representatives have proposed a $908 billion coronavirus relief package that they are hoping is used as a basis for jumpstarting negotiations between the House and Senate. The proposed package calls for significantly less funding than the House had previously demanded and more than the Senate’s latest package. The framework includes $160 billion for state and local government aid, $180 billion in additional unemployment insurance, $288 billion for the small business Paycheck Protection Program, and short-term federal protection from coronavirus-related lawsuits, among other things. Senator McConnell has circulated his own framework for stimulus legislation to Republican members that would establish a fresh round of funding for the small-business Paycheck Protection Program and implement widespread liability protections. The liability protections have been a non-starter for Democratic leadership in the House.
