The January runoff election for both of Georgia’s U.S Senate seats will determine which party controls the chamber. It also could decide whether Congress passes a new coronavirus stimulus bill.
The reason? If Democrats oust both Republican senators, Kelly Loeffler and David Purdue, the breakdown of the Senate would be 50-50. And that would mean Democrats would be in control as Vice President-elect Kamala Harris can break ties.
Of course, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., instead could decide to make a deal with House Democrats, including a new round of $1,200 checks, before Congress adjourns for the year.
“If the Democrats are smart, they’re going to try to make this a referendum on there not being a stimulus package,” said Micah Rasmussen, director of Rider University’s Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics.
“That’s going to be a really salient powerful issue in Georgia: If the Democrats get these two seats, you get a stimulus package and you’re going to get a check. If you don’t want to see another check, give McConnell the chance to do more of what he’s been doing.”
Americans want a new stimulus bill sooner rather than later, according to a Pew Research Center survey released Friday. More than two-thirds, 68%, said they wanted a bill passed by the current Congress while 11% were waiting to wait until Joe Biden became president. Just 19% said more help wasn’t necessary. The poll of 11,818 U.S. adults was conducted Nov. 12-17 and had a margin of error of 1.6 percentage points.
Negotiations on a new stimulus bill have deadlocked over Democratic demands that it include hundreds of billions of dollars in aid to state and local governments, and Republican demands that it protect businesses from lawsuits if their customers or employers are infected by the coronavirus.
“I think getting a deal done helps both sides,” said Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-5th Dist., co-chair of the Problem Solvers Caucus that proposed compromise legislation.
“Failing to get a deal done hurts both sides. It’s really critical for both sides to show that they can get a bill passed. Either side will be punished for appearing to be obstructionist.”
That may be one reason why House Democrats lost at least 10 seats in the Nov. 3 election after being favored to increase their majority, Gottheimer said, suggesting that voters may have punished them for failing to help those hurting from the pandemic-induced economic downturn.
“It’s becoming more and more clear that a stimulus package is desperately needed,” said Ashley Koning, assistant research professor and director of Rutgers’ Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling. “It would see logical for both Democrats and Republicans to want to come to some kind of consensus on this.”
CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage
Both the Senate and House support renewing aid to small businesses and increasing unemployment insurance payments. McConnell has suggested that Congress approve those provisions and fight about everything else later.
But House Democrats insist that any bill also include federal aid for hard-hit state and local governments, which so far has been a non-starter among Republicans, even as McConnell recently expressed a willingness to consider such assistance.
When Joe Biden was vice president, federal aid to state governments was a key component of the $787 billion stimulus law enacted in 2009 in response to the Great Recession. It accounted for 42% of the package, or $330 billion, according to the California State Legislature’s fiscal and policy analysis office.
Meanwhile, Americans are hurting, statistics show.
About 12% of New Jersey adults living with children — 291,000 — said their children weren’t eating enough because they couldn’t afford to properly feed them, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a progressive research group.
The number of New Jerseyans receiving food stamps rose by 11% from February to July, to 735,000 from 661,000, according to the center. And 17% of renters, 352,000, are behind in their payments.
That’s putting more pressure on both parties to sit down and negotiate, Gottheimer said.
“Right now. both sides aren’t exactly chomping at the bit to get to the table,” he said. “There is value in showing you’re eager to get a deal done. We are going to actually have to work to get a deal done.”
So far, Senate Republicans have been unwilling to spend more than $500 billion, and that includes increased taxpayer subsidies for religious and other private schools.
Their bill didn’t attract enough support to pass their chamber, let along the Democratic-controlled House, which voted to spend $2.4 trillion.
“Whether or not the Senate delivers for the American people has always been up to the majority leader,” said U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J. “Mitch McConnell sets the agenda and, to this point, he’s been unwilling to engage with Democrats in a meaningful way on any new stimulus.”
Gottheimer acknowledged that there was no longer any immediate need for some of the proposed House spending now that the election was over, such as money for local elections officials and the U.S. Postal Service to handle the increase in absentee ballots.
That would lower the size of the bill for now and allow Democrats to come back for more once Biden is inaugurated as president.
“Do you get something or nothing?” Gottheimer said. “I pick something knowing it’s a short-term emergency package to get us into the Biden administration. If we can get the votes for something, and it’s enough of the right something, then we take something.”
Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.
Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com.
"payment" - Google News
November 28, 2020 at 07:40PM
https://ift.tt/3ljKKLY
Second stimulus check update: Your next payment could depend on Georgia Senate runoff election. Here’s the la - NJ.com
"payment" - Google News
https://ift.tt/3bV4HFe
https://ift.tt/2VYfp89
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Second stimulus check update: Your next payment could depend on Georgia Senate runoff election. Here’s the la - NJ.com"
Post a Comment