Senate Republicans released the roughly $500 billion package Sept. 8. It is about half of the $1.1 trillion bill that Republicans introduced in July, according to the report.
“Today we’re releasing a targeted proposal that focuses on several of the most urgent aspects of this crisis, issues where bipartisanship should be especially possible,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said during a Senate floor speech, according to The Hill.
The scaled-down bill would provide liability protections from certain lawsuits related to COVID-19 and an additional $16 billion for coronavirus testing, but it doesn’t include several other healthcare industry priorities. The bill would also provide a $300 per week federal unemployment benefit through the end of 2020 and includes $105 billion for schools, according to the report.
Democrats aren’t expected to support the bill.
“This emaciated bill is only intended to help vulnerable Republican senators by giving them a ‘check the box’ vote to maintain the appearance that they’re not held hostage by their extreme right-wing that doesn’t want to spend a nickel to help people,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi D- Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D.-N.Y., said in a joint statement Sept. 8, according to The Wall Street Journal.
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