Confusion Surrounds Possible COVID Stimulus Bill

The Washington Post: $600 Stimulus Checks Could Be Included In Economic Relief Package Based On White House Demand 
The Trump administration on Tuesday proposed an economic relief package that would offer far skimpier federal unemployment benefits than what has been proposed by a bipartisan group of lawmakers, adding an element of uncertainty into the fragile stimulus negotiations, according to two people familiar with the matter. Instead, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has proposed that lawmakers approve another stimulus check worth $600 per person and $600 per child, the people familiar with the plan said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to share details of private deliberations. (Stein and DeBonis, 12/8)

Politico: Confusion Grips Capitol Amid Flurry Of Stimulus Plans 
No one seems to know what’s going on with coronavirus relief anymore. In the span of an afternoon, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell suggested dropping discussions on the two biggest sticking points. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin offered a new proposal to Speaker Nancy Pelosi. A bipartisan group of senators is still working to finalize language on a $908 billion package. And President Donald Trump endorsed new stimulus checks. (Levine and Everett, 12/8)

The Hill: McCarthy Says He And McConnell Back $600 Stimulus Checks 
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) reportedly told the White House on Tuesday that they would support including $600 stimulus checks in a coronavirus relief package. McCarthy told Axios that he and McConnell would back the amount, which is being sought by the White House as part of its proposed $916 billion package. The stimulus checks were not included in the package McConnell laid out last week. (Axelrod, 12/8)

The Hill: Democratic Senators Push For $1,200 Direct Payments In New Coronavirus Relief Package 
A group of Democratic senators led by Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) are pressing colleagues to include $1,200 direct payments in a new COVID-19 relief package and say a $908 billion compromise proposal endorsed by moderates doesn’t go far enough. “Please join us in demanding that any new COVID-relief proposal includes a $1,200 direct payment to adults and $500 to their children,” the senators wrote in a “Dear Colleague” letter dated Dec. 8. (Bolton, 12/8)

In related news —

The Washington Post: Stimulus Negotiations Hinge On Debate Over Liability Shield 
One of the thorniest issues facing the bipartisan stimulus negotiations is the insistence by Senate Republicans that businesses and other entities have sweeping immunity from coronavirus-related lawsuits. Many Democrats have refused to agree to such language, saying it could imperil workers. But now both sides are attempting to craft a compromise on the “liability shield,” worried that the prolonged impasse could derail the broader spending bill at a time when the economy appears to be softening. (Rosenberg, Stein and DeBonis, 12/8)

Modern Healthcare: McConnell Backs Down On 'Red Line' Of COVID-19 Liability Protections
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday indicated a willingness to abandon liability protections for businesses and healthcare providers to get a COVID-19 relief bill passed by the end of the year. McConnell had called an enhanced liability shield a "red line" for months during failed negotiations. He said he would be willing to push negotiations on liability protections and funding for state and local governments to next year if that's what it took to get relief passed this year. (Cohrs, 12/8)

In other news about COVID's economic toll —

Roll Call: As Congress Talks, Businesses Try GoFundMe To Survive COVID-19
After selling just three drinks on a Sunday in October, Patti Brett worried they might be her last. For more than 40 years, Doobies Bar has been a communal living room for Philadelphia’s Grad Hospital neighborhood, a place to chat with friends and play board games over beers. Brett started working there before her mother bought it in 1978. Doobies’ meaning to the community is evident on its walls, lined with David Bowie memorabilia given to Brett, arguably the city’s biggest fan of the Thin White Duke. But after outlasting the hospital that gave the neighborhood its name, Brett’s bar may now succumb to the coronavirus pandemic. With bills piling up, she turned to the crowdfunding site GoFundMe to solicit donations. “I’m asking for your help because I don’t know what else to do,” she wrote. (Saksa, 12/8)

Houston Chronicle: Vaccinations, Social Distancing Will Be Essential To Economic Recovery. It Could Mean 17k Jobs In Houston
The Houston economy will struggle through the first six months of 2021 as companies continue to lay off workers before picking up momentum in the second half of year and beginning to add jobs, according to a new forecast. The region is forecast to gain between 35,000 and 52,000 jobs next year but barely make a dent in the more than 200,000 jobs the region has lost so far during the pandemic, according to Patrick Jankowski, an economist at the Greater Houston Partnership, a business-financed economic development group. (Carballo, 12/9)