Lawmakers Stuck On Stimulus Relief Efforts As Deadline Looms
WASHINGTON, D.C. (KDKA) -- Time is ticking in Washington as lawmakers are stuck on stimulus relief efforts.
The deadline put in place by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi expires today.
Speaker Pelosi said Sunday if no agreement could be reached by Tuesday night, it would not be possible to get legislation passed before Election Day in two weeks -- so time is running out.
According to the Washington Post, Speaker Pelosi says there are signs of progress in the ongoing talks.
She hopes everyone can come to the table today and work something out.
The speaker has been working with treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin.
The Washington Post says their bill would spend between $1.8 trillion dollars to $2.2 trillion dollars to help both the economic and health responses to the Coronavirus.
Some of the issues being fought over include funding for state and local governments, language on health care spending and testing, and small business funding.
President Trump has argued to go big on a stimulus bill.
If this does pass the House, the next challenge is the Senate, and some senators have said it would be hard to get enough support to pass this bill.
According to Politico, a bulk of senate republicans are not happy with that number being tossed around, claiming it's too high.
The article says Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey said this bill would divide republicans.
Senate Republicans want to see a bill for about $500 billion for schools, hospitals, and small businesses, while Senate Democrats like minority leader Chuck Schumer says this bill is designed to fail.
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