Just weeks after a $500 billion GOP-introduced “skinny” package failed in a Senate vote, another stimulus relief bill is set to be taken up on Capitol Hill. This week, the House of Representatives is slated to vote on the HEROES Act 2.0, a scaled-back version of the original Democratic-backed bill that was introduced in May.
According to Politico, the House is anticipating a vote on the new proposal as soon as Wednesday. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who introduced the bill Monday, did not confirm such in a letter to colleagues Monday night, though Democratic lawmakers and aides have said that a vote is expected if a last-minute agreement with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is not reached. The two are scheduled to talk Tuesday morning, and an agreement seems unlikely.
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The new proposal is almost guaranteed to pass in a House vote, which would occur before lawmakers depart Washington for another congressional recess. However, as with the original HEROES Act, it is unlikely that the bill will be brought for a vote in the Republican-controlled Senate. As Pelosi has pointed out numerous times on Twitter, it has been more than 100 days since the original HEROES Act passed the House, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refusing to bring it to the Senate, dubbing it a “$3 trillion left-wing wish list.” Although he has yet to comment on the most recent proposal, it is likely that he and other Republicans will take issue with the more than $2 trillion price tag, as Republicans have remained steadfast in their belief that another relief bill should not surpass $1 trillion, citing concern for the national debt.
It is also unclear if the bill would receive the approval of President Donald Trump, who would have to mark it with his signature before it could become law. As Forbes points out, while Mnuchin has repeatedly stated that the president believes another stimulus package is necessary, it is unclear just how high of an amount he would be willing to support. The White House has indicated that it will back a bill worth up to $1.5 trillion.
Introduced Monday evening after Democrats spent much of the day and weekend finalizing the roughly 2,152-page bill, the HEROES Act 2.0 has a price tag of $2.2 trillion, roughly $1.2 trillion lower than its predecessor, though still more than $1 trillion more than the HEALS Act. The bill, among other things, includes $436 billion in emergency aid for state and local governments, $225 billion for schools and child care, $75 billion for testing, contact tracing and other health care efforts, funding for housing assistance, $25 billion in funding for airlines, the restoration of the expired $600 weekly enhanced unemployment benefit, and an additional round of stimulus checks.
