MORGANTOWN — Sen. Shelley Moore Capito on Wednesday outlined the new, scaled-down COVID relief package Majority Mitch McConnell will bring to the floor Thursday.
It’s a bill, said to be roughly half the $1.1 trillion Senate HEALS Act that stalled before the August break, that she said he can support.
“My feeling is that we need to get a targeted package out that really focuses on where the need still is. This package really hits a lot of those.”
The bill includes $105 billion to help schools, divided between K-12 and higher education. There’s also money for daycare, so parents can get back to work where daycare services are inadequate or entirely absent.
The bill leaves flexibility for how it’s spent, she said, but could be used for such things as PPE for safe workplaces, an extra school nurse, or broadband hotspots for remote learning where in-person schooling isn’t possible.
The bill also expands the Paycheck Protection Program for struggling small businesses and the $300 per week federal unemployment benefit extension.
Answering a question, Capito said the unemployment money would in essence replace the current FEMA-funded program President Trump authorized via executive order and West Virginia is now participating in.
Capito said the bill puts the unemployment funding or more solid ground by codifying it, and specifically appropriates money for it through Dec. 27. Trump’s program draws from the FEMA Disaster Fund – Capito chairs the committee that appropriates that money – and expires when the fund fall below a set point.
The bill also provides money for he U.S. Postal Service, COVID testing and contact tracing, COVID treatments and vaccines. “I think all of us believe that the vaccine holds a great promise for more normalcy,” he said. And it offer legal protections for schools and nonprofits.
Capito said McConnell is trying to get a consensus if not full support to get a package out there. “If we can’t agree on a bigger package let’s at least reach agreement on where we have bipartisan support.”
McConnell had stepped out of the negotiation process for HEALS, letting Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows handle the GOP side. No common ground was fond between the $1.1 trillion GOP proposal and the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi-led $3 trillion Democrat proposal.
The Hill reports that McConnell is hoping to get 51 of 53 Republican senators to vote yes, still not enough to get it passed but enough to show solidarity. Several GOP fiscal hawk had opposed the larger HEALS act.
Capito said, “If this doesn’t work we’re going to keep trying.”
She’s hopeful but not optimistic it will pass. “There’s still a lot of need out there.” Her chief concern is the kids, schools and working parents. “That to me is why this bill should pass: Because what it could do to help the schools.”
A spokesperson for Sen. Joe Manchin outlined some of his concerns about it.
There’s no relief for rural hospitals, dedicated funding for rural broadband or telehealth proposals, the spokesperson said. It doesn’t empower local USPS managers to bring machines back online or prevent additional closures and there’s no assistance for homeless youth.
The proposal is actually less comprehensive than the HEALS Act, the spokesperson said. “Senator Manchin continues to talk with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to try and find a path forward.”
Tweet David Beard@dbeardtdp Email dbeard@dominionpost.com
