After months of negotiations, Congress on Monday finally struck a deal on a $900 billion stimulus bill, though some are wanting more. As the bill now heads to President Donald Trump’s desk for a signature, Democrats are issuing calls for more coronavirus relief legislation to be enacted early in the incoming Biden administration.
Delivering remarks from the House floor Monday night ahead of a vote on the package, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made a call for action, dubbing the bill the “first step” in providing much-needed relief. Pelosi went on to state, “we will need to do more, more to get more virus assistance to crush the virus.” Pelosi also indicated that more funds are needed to purchase and distribute vaccines.
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“So, yes, there is more work to do, and it will cost some money, but it will protect jobs and, most importantly, it will meet the needs of the American people: to crush the virus and to do so in a way that brings us all into the future in a very safe way,” she said. “Of course we want more, but for now, this will see us through.”
Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal echoed that call, stating that a much larger package is necessary to address the pandemic. Democrats for months have been pushing for a more wide-scale bill with a much higher price tag than the $900 billion total of the approved bill. In May, they introduced the $3.4 trillion HEROES Act, which was dubbed a “left-wing wish-list” by their Republican counterparts, who wished to keep any additional relief bill under $1 trillion.
“We must listen to the experts and economists who have told us that the dangers of going too small far outweigh the risk of going too big,” Jayapal said, according to The Hill. “In the coming months, Congress must pass a comprehensive package that meets the scale of the crisis, prevents this economic crisis from worsening, and brings real, substantial relief to the millions of individuals and families living on the brink.”
In the coming weeks and months, as the Biden administration moves to the Oval Office, Democrats are reportedly hoping to see a bill come to fruition that, among other things, extends the enhanced unemployment insurance and eviction moratorium. Another provision they are pushing for is aid for state and local governments, something that did not make it into the approved bill. Democrats are hopeful that such provisions will be included in legislation that could be enacted under the Biden administration, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Sunday stating he is “very optimistic that we can get a lot more done in a Senate, certainly if there’s a Democratic majority, but even if a Republican majority remains, with a new president who’s going to focus the issue.” Biden himself has dubbed the new bill a “first step.”
