New US Stimulus Proposal May Include $288 Billion In Small Business Aid

The U.S. Senate may as early as Monday take up a new $908 billion stimulus package that includes help for small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and state and local governments but will not include checks to U.S. households, the Financial Times (FT) reported.

The package, according to FT, which cited multiple public statements by lawmakers, includes: $288 billion for SMBs; $180 billion to bolster unemployment benefits with an extra $300 per week; $160 billion for state and local governments; and $17 billion for airlines.

An obstacle to passage cited by FT is the objection of Democratic senators to providing aid to corporations, especially when families aren’t getting direct payments.

“That’s wrong morally and it’s wrong economically,” Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is independent but caucuses with Democrats, Tweeted Friday, according to FT.

FT quoted Sen. Mark Warner as having said to CNN Sunday: “We may have to go through a few more days of drama.” Warner is among a group of centrist Republicans and centrist Democrats who support the package.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer have come out in favor of the $908 billion proposal, but it’s two-to-three times the amount of spending Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he favors.

McConnell has said he wants aid to be more “targeted” than the spending called for in the Democratic plan. McConnell and other Republicans reportedly have indicated they favor giving direct funding to households but are against sending federal money to cities and towns.

In late November, a group of more than 125 economists publicly called for more federal aid to combat the effects of the pandemic. They argued that $1,200 payments to households would do more good than increasing unemployment benefits.