Congress Prepares Legislation for Additional COVID-19 Relief
The U.S. Senate approved a budget resolution early Friday morning that will allow them to pass additional coronavirus relief without Republican support. The budget resolution passed the Senate in a 50-50 party-line vote with Vice President Harris breaking the tie, by joining all Democratic Senators. The House of Representatives followed with their quick approval of the resolution this afternoon. The budget resolution is the first step towards passing a subsequent coronavirus relief bill that can bypass the 60-vote legislative filibuster in the Senate.
The budget resolution broadly authorizes a bill to be drafted for $1.9 trillion for coronavirus relief and includes instructions to congressional committees on drafting the legislation under a budgetary process known as reconciliation. Reconciliation is a parliamentary budget tool Democrats are using to bypass Republicans in the Senate, and requires only a simple majority vote (50+1).
President Biden has proposed a $1.9 trillion plan that includes a $1,400 direct stimulus payment, a $400 per week federal unemployment benefit, $350 billion for state and local governments, a minimum wage hike to $15 per hour and more money for things like child care, schools and vaccine distribution. While President Biden’s proposal doesn’t specify the income levels for receiving payments, previous proposals drew scrutiny because while it increased the size of the check from $600 to $1,400, it didn’t change the structure for phasing out the payments for individuals who made more than $75,000 or couples who made more than $150,000. The White House has indicated that President Biden is sticking with the $1,400 amount for the checks but is willing to negotiate on eligibility. A bipartisan group of senators also signaled support for limiting the federal unemployment benefit to $300 per week.
It is expected that final bill will provide close to $37.5 billion for housing and rental assistance, but how this will be divided in terms of specific funding for emergency rental assistance programs is still unclear at this time. If Democrats try to pass a bill without Republican support, they’ll need near-universal support from House Democrats as well as every single vote of the 50-member Senate Democratic Caucus. The implementing legislation for the budget reconciliation package will start to take shape in various House committees as early as next week. It is expected that the final bill will be voted on in late February or early March, given the time constraints imposed by the impeachment trial set to begin Tuesday.
House Committee Holds Hearing on the Need for Additional COVID-19 Stimulus Funding
On Thursday, the House Committee on Financial Services held its first full Committee hearing entitled, “More than a Shot in the Arm: The Need for Additional COVID-19 Stimulus.” The hearing focused on the negative economic impact from COVID-19 and benefits of providing additional COVID-19 relief as proposed in President Biden’s proposed rescue plan. The Biden proposal includes providing additional direct stimulus payments, rental assistance, unemployment assistance and emergency assistance for state, local and territory governments as well as other critical relief measures to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Witnesses described to the committee members the critical need for Congress to pass another large stimulus package. During the hearing, witnesses described how the United States economy shrunk by the largest amount since 1946 and that 1.2 million small businesses closed between February and June of last year, with minority owned businesses continuing to be the hardest hit. One option discussed that could provide direct relief included reviving the State Small Business Credit Initiative for the hardest hit businesses. Members expressed their support for providing additional rental assistance, including emergency housing vouchers to ensure people in rural and suburban and urban communities can remain stable, and providing additional funding for persons experiencing homelessness. Members and witnesses also discussed the risk of appropriating more money than the economy needs, pushing the economy above its sustainable level of production.
On Wednesday, NAHMA and several national associations that represent for-profit and non-profit owners, developers, managers, housing cooperatives, lenders and housing agencies involved in providing affordable rental and cooperative housing, sent a letter to the House Financial Services Committee and Congressional leadership outlining the need for additional pandemic stimulus and relief.
To view the full House Financial Services Committee hearing, More than a Shot in the Arm: The Need for Additional COVID-19 Stimulus, click here.
To view the joint-industry letter to the House Financial Services Committee urging Congress to support efforts to ensure the continued financial viability and stability of the rental housing industry, click here.
Ways and Means Chairman Details Plan for Health and Economic Equity
Representative Richard Neal (D-OH), Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, recently unveiled the House Ways and Means Committee Democrats’ plan to make the nation a more just and equitable place. The framework, “A Bold Vision for a Legislative Path Toward Health and Economic Equity,” included in the Committee’s report, entitled “Something Must Change: Inequities in U.S. Policy and Society,” examines how racism, ableism, and other social, structural, and political determinants negatively impact health and economic inequity in the United States.
The policy priorities included in the report are intended to guide Congress in their efforts to legislate with a goal of achieving health and economic equity in the United States. According to Chairman Neal, Congress must specifically spur the development of affordable housing and investment in communities of color and areas of concentrated poverty. Other economic equity related policy approaches include increasing the supply of affordable housing through the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), providing deeper targeting of LIHTC to those with extremely low incomes, incentivizing the provision of supportive services to those who need them to retain permanent housing, increasing investments in community facilities, housing, and other development in low-income communities through the New Markets Tax Credit program.
The full report, Something Must Change: Inequities in U.S. Policy and Society, is available here.
To view the framework, A Bold Vision for a Legislative Path Toward Health and Economic Equity, click here.