New Stimulus Package, CARES 2, To Be Introduced Next Week

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced during a speech on the Senate floor that a new stimulus bill, referred to as CARES 2, will be unveiled early next week.

 

White House officials and McConnell have been blunt about their desire for schools to reopen. In his remarks today, McConnell referenced the need for America’s children to be educated and for working parents to have certainty. He also added that the “reopening related funding package north of $100 billion” would be included. Before his announcement, there was speculation of whether funding for schools would be tied to reopening, and this makes it clear that it will indeed be incentive-based.

 

Teachers across the country have protested school reopenings because they fear that schools are not prepared to receive children safely. Several large school districts have already announced the extension of remote classes into the fall, but it remains to be seen whether financial incentives to reopen will make superintendents reconsider.

 

A survey showed that 1-in-3 Americans did not make full on-time rent payments in July, and there are over 17 million Americans who are out of work. These unprecedented circumstances mean that direct payments to American families are necessary for many of them to stay afloat.

 

For the millions of Americans struggling to make ends meet, the GOPs announcement of a new round of stimulus checks and PPP loans will be a relief. The Democrat-led House of Representatives had already passed the $3 trillion HEROES Act in May, but the Republican-led Senate refused to entertain the idea of voting on such an expensive bill.

 

Once CARES 2 is formally introduced negotiations will begin to craft the final bill. The timing for the process is unclear, but unemployment benefits and other protections are set to expire in the coming days.