Several top members of the Trump administration hit the morning shows on Sunday to discuss a new stimulus bill being finalized by White House officials and Senate Republicans, due to be unveiled on Monday.
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said on CNN's State of the Union that the bill would provide for a second round of $1,200 stimulus checks, retention bonuses, and tax credits for small businesses and restaurants. He also said it will extend the federal eviction moratorium that expired on Friday.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the federal government has been supplementing state unemployment benefits by giving workers $600 per week. This is set to expire next week, and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said on ABC's This Week the new bill will not include this benefit, as President Trump and Senate Republicans saw it as people getting "paid to stay home." Under the proposed bill, he said, unemployment insurance will cover 70 percent of a laid-off worker's pre-pandemic wages.
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said on CBS's Face the Nation that calculating this percentage will be difficult for unemployment administrators, which is why a flat rate of $600 was introduced in the earlier coronavirus relief package. "Let me just say, the reason we had $600 was its simplicity," Pelosi said. "Why don't we just keep it simple? Unemployment benefits and the enhancement ... is so essential right now."
In May, House Democrats passed a $3 trillion relief package that called for additional direct $1,200 payments to taxpayers, rental assistance, and mortgage relief, and extended the $600 unemployment benefit.
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