Congress Moves To Supplement Small Business Aid, Send More Funds To Hospitals And Expand Testing

The New York Times: Senate Approves Aid For Small-Business Loan Program, Hospitals And Testing
The Senate approved a $484 billion coronavirus relief package on Tuesday that would revive a depleted loan program for distressed small businesses and provide funds for hospitals and coronavirus testing, breaking a partisan impasse over the latest infusion of federal money to address the public health and economic crisis brought on by the pandemic. The measure was the product of an intense round of negotiations between Democrats and the Trump administration that unfolded as the small-business loan program created by the $2.2 trillion stimulus law quickly ran out of funding, collapsing under a glut of applications from desperate companies struggling to stay afloat. (Cochrane and Tankersley, 4/21)

The Associated Press: Congress Set To Pass $483B Virus Aid As Trump Eyes Next Deal
Most of the funding, $331 billion, would go to boost a small-business payroll loan program that ran out of money last week. There would be $100 billion for health care, with $75 billion to hospitals and $25 billion to boost testing for the virus, a key step in building the confidence required to reopen state economies. There is $60 billion for a small-business loans and grants. What started as a Trump administration effort with Republicans to bolster the government’s small-business Paycheck Protection Program quickly doubled in size, second only to the nearly $2 trillion coronavirus rescue package that became law last month. (Mascaro and Taylor, 4/22)

Politico: Senate Passes $484 Billion Coronavirus Deal After Weeks Of Deadlock
Republicans fended off money for state and local governments that Democrats wanted and also got more for small businesses than previously requested. Democrats, meanwhile, were able to deliver on more money for hospitals and testing that they'd requested. Democrats admitted defeat on their demands for $150 billion for states and local governments after McConnell and Mnuchin took a hard line against including that money. Schumer said he was "sorely disappointed" new food aid and more money requested by governors was not included in the package. (Everett and Caygle, 4/21)

The Wall Street Journal: Senate Passes Bill For More Small-Business Stimulus
The package, which lawmakers dubbed an interim emergency bill, also includes funding to ramp up the country’s testing for the new coronavirus, but doesn’t include funding sought by Democrats for hard-hit state and local budgets, which instead was pushed off to the next round of stimulus negotiations. Top Republicans signaled that concerns over the mounting debt would play a bigger role in talks about future stimulus aid, setting up a sharp divide with Democrats worried that Congress has done far from enough. (Peterson and Duehren, 4/21)

ABC News: Democrats Claim Victory Getting Senate To Pass Money For Hospitals, Testing In $484B Small Business Relief Package 
Trump signaled his approval of the deal on Twitter, saying, "I urge the Senate and House to pass the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act with additional funding for PPP, Hospitals, and Testing." The agreement also adds $60 billion for the Small Business Administration’s disaster relief fund, and farms and other agriculture enterprises would now be considered eligible. (Turner, Khan and Siegel, 4/21)

The Washington Post: Lawmakers Aiming For Senate Vote Tuesday Afternoon, House Passage Thursday
Democratic lawmakers say it should be just the beginning. Speaking on the Senate floor shortly before the legislation passed by voice vote, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said lawmakers needed to quickly begin work on another piece of legislation that would match the size and scope of last month’s $2 trillion Cares Act. “I’d remind my colleagues this is an interim measure,” Schumer said. “There’s plenty of hard-won provisions that we Democrats are pleased with, but it’s ultimately a building block. In the weeks ahead Congress must prepare another major bill similar in size and ambition to the Cares Act. The next bill must be big and bold and suited to the needs of a beleaguered nation.” (Werner and Kim, 4/21)

Reuters: $500 Billion Coronavirus Aid Package Passes U.S. Senate, Headed To House
The House is expected to vote on Thursday on what would be the fourth coronavirus-response law. Taken together, the four measures amount to about $3 trillion in aid since last month to confront a crisis that has killed more than 43,000 Americans. (Cornwell and Zengerle, 4/21)

Politico: McConnell Slams Brakes On Next Round Of Coronavirus Aid
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is drawing a line: There will be no more attempts at long-distance legislating on the coronavirus. In a telephone interview Tuesday after passage of a $484 billion coronavirus relief bill, the Senate majority leader made clear that the full Senate must be in session before Congress begins its fifth installment of responding to the pandemic. And he signaled he is growing weary of quickly shoveling billions of dollars out the door even as the economy continues to crater. (Everett, 4/21)

The Wall Street Journal: Hospitals Secure More Aid In Latest Coronavirus Bill
Hospitals and health providers stand to get $75 billion under the coronavirus package passed by the Senate on Tuesday, funds aimed to help offset the costs from a surge in coronavirus cases and lost revenue due to the delaying of elective procedures. In hard-hit areas such as New York City, hospitals have been deluged with patients and had to spend above-market prices for personal protective equipment. Hospitals in some other parts of the country have escaped the surge in cases but have still had to put off nonemergency care that drives much of their revenue. “The need is really there,” said Tom Nickels, executive vice president of the American Hospital Association. (Armour, 4/21)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Administration Slow To Distribute Coronavirus Aid To Hospitals
As Congress puts the finishing touches on a stimulus plan to include new funding to help hospitals survive the coronavirus pandemic, health-care facilities have yet to receive $70 billion of the emergency support allocated to them almost a month ago in the last stimulus package. The Department of Health and Human Services is facing criticism from both parties in Congress, not only for the delay, but also over a failure to provide more information about how the money will be divided up between hospitals and other providers. (Armour, 4/21)

Modern Healthcare: Congress To Replenish COVID-19 Provider Grant Fund With $75 Billion
The Senate on Tuesday passed a bill that gives $75 billion in new grants to providers, expands COVID-19 testing capacity, and replenishes small business assistance programs. The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to pass the bill as soon as Thursday. (Cohrs, 4/21)

The Hill: GOP Senator: 'Unacceptable' That Congress Is In Recess Amid Coronavirus 
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) on Tuesday knocked Congress for taking a weeks-long recess amid the coronavirus pandemic that has roiled the economy. "Congress is in recess. This ... is simply unacceptable. If COVID-19 requires Congress to act then it requires Congress to convene," Lee said from the Senate floor Tuesday. (Carney, 4/21)

The New York Times: House Readies Historic Changes To Allow Remote Voting During Pandemic
Democratic leaders plan to move this week to change the rules of the House of Representatives to allow lawmakers to cast votes remotely for the first time in its 231-year history, a major concession to the constraints created by the coronavirus pandemic. Representative Steny H. Hoyer, Democrat of Maryland and the majority leader, advised lawmakers on Tuesday that they were likely to vote on Thursday on the new rules, which would temporarily allow members to designate another lawmaker to cast votes for them by proxy if they are unable to travel to the Capitol themselves. (Fandos, 4/21)