Senate and White House negotiators reached a deal early this morning on Stimulus 3 Covid-19 legislation with a price tag coming in at just under $2 trillion. The Senate will convene at noon today and begin voting shortly thereafter. The legislation has been well-received by Senators on both sides of the aisle and we expect passage in the Senate mid-afternoon. We do not currently see any chance of a failed vote in the Senate.
Given that the House is out of session and Members of Congress are not in Washington, passage in the House will be trickier. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is fully supportive of the measure and aims to pass it by unanimous consent - a parliamentary procedure used to speed up consideration of legislation with widespread support. But, but, but - one Member of Congress could upend that maneuver and Republicans have yet to review the legislative text. And, progressive Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY) apparently is in Washington DC and has been making noise about the measure and could derail it as well (someone please tell us why she's not back in her district?). In any event, Pelosi appears to have a backup plan - but we just want to caution clients that it may take longer than currently being reported for the House to pass Stimulus 3 legislation. Enough votes to pass are there, but Members of Congress are not here - and again, that may make the path to final passage in House thornier.
Highlights are along the lines of what we've been discussing for the past week:
- $250b in direct payments of $1200 to adults earning up to 75K and $500 for children
- $500b fund for distressed industries
- $150b for state and local governments
- $367b loan program for small businesses
- $130b for U.S. hospital systems
- Expansion of unemployment insurance by 13 weeks
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