No deal yet for massive coronavirus aid package

Top congressional leaders said Sunday they have not yet reached an agreement on the latest — and largest — coronavirus response bill, but they plan to keep negotiating in hopes of finishing a package before a Senate vote that’s set for Monday.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters there is still no deal, after a meeting with the four top congressional leaders and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

“We’ll be introducing our own bill,” Pelosi told reporters.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters the sides are “very close” and said the talks will continue.

The package in question is the largest in terms of size and scope, with some negotiators floating a price tag of $1 trillion.

“What we intend to do here in the Senate is to move forward with the Senate bill,” McConnell said at a press conference Sunday. “Make no mistake about it, we’ll be voting tomorrow. The wheel has to stop at some point.”

Among the issues still to be resolved are restrictions on loans made to large corporations, like airlines, according to a source familiar with the talks. Democrats criticized an earlier draft of the legislation, saying it did not include sufficient protections to prevent stock buybacks and make sure that workers keep jobs. Democrats have also called for further protections against executive raises and bonuses.

The Senate will move ahead with a scheduled procedural vote Sunday afternoon on what is known as a shell bill. It is a placeholder that, if passed, will allow the Senate to dispense with necessary waiting and debate periods required by Senate rules.

Earlier this month, President Trump signed into law an $8 billion coronavirus response package, which boosted funding for testing of the virus and lowered costs for related medical treatments. A second measure, signed into law last week, provides paid sick and family leave for some U.S. workers impacted by the illness, expands unemployment assistance, and increases resources for testing.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.