Looking Forward: House Democrats to release CARES 2 proposal

As anticipated, House Democrats are preparing for House operations to resume and moving quickly on a CARES 2 legislative proposal. We anticipate House Democrats will release their proposal in the next few days. Members will likely return to Washington and vote on the package the week of May 18th. Philosophical and partisan differences remain and adoption of new CARES legislation is at least several weeks away if the differences can be bridged with Senate Republicans and the Trump Administration.

While discussions on the Democratic side are ongoing and fluid, we anticipate the proposal to include additional priorities identified by the following committees:

APPROPRIATIONS

• At least $875 billion in assistance to state, county, local and tribal government funding.
• Stabilization funding for K-12 and higher education, tribal and rural communities, and additional monies for Community Development Block Grants.
• Funding for state DoT’s and mass transit systems.
• Funding for 2020 national election including funds to encourage vote by mail.
• Postal Service funding.

EDUCATION AND LABOR

• Hazard pay funding for frontline workers.
• Expansion of OSHA for essential workers.
• Student loan debt relief.
• Subsidized COBRA benefits.
• Education funding through the state, local and tribal mechanisms.

ENERGY AND COMMERCE

• Broadband expansion.
• Enforcement of price gouging.
• Consumer protections against shutoffs of utilities of water, electric, gas.
• Funding for national testing, supply chain improvements and contact tracing.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

• Ban on foreclosures and evictions.
• Ban on negative credit reporting.
• PPP reforms to include how financial institutions are paid for loans.
• A $75 billion homeowner assistance fund.
• A $100 billion emergency rental assistance fund.
• Additional student loan assistance.

SMALL BUSINESS

• Additional PPP funding, including monies for community and microlenders and nonprofits.
• Extend PPP loans through at least end of August.
• Extend loan term to 5 years, lower fees, and clarify loan forgiveness.
• More funding for EIDL.

WAYS AND MEANS

• Extension of the unemployment insurance time period.
• Expansion of the employee retention tax credit.
• Bolster multiemployer pension plans.
• Childcare assistance for frontline workers.
• Second round of stimulus checks.