Democratic and Republican lawmakers reached a deal for the emergency interim coronavirus relief bill Tuesday.
The vast majority of the funds — $310 billion — will go to replenishing the small business paycheck protection program (PPP) that dried up Friday. Of that, $60 billion will be set aside for small business lenders and community banks.
It will also include funds for an expanded list of programs that Democrats had pushed for over a week of negotiations, including $60 billion for small-business loans and grants in economic disaster funds, $75 billion for hospitals, and $25 billion for coronavirus testing.
The Senate is aiming to pass the bill by a voice vote Tuesday evening.
“Republicans never wanted this crucial program for workers and small businesses to shut down. We tried to pass additional funding a week before it lapsed,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement.
Democrats defended the delay, arguing Senate Republicans tried to shortcut negotiations.
“Democrats flipped this emergency package from an insufficient Republican plan that left behind hospitals and health and front-line workers and did nothing to aid the survival of the most vulnerable small businesses on Main Street,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer said in a joint statement.
The House advised members they could vote on the package as early as Thursday.
Initially, Republicans wanted a straightforward extension of the $251 billion in funding of the PPP, but Democrats held out to extend funds to other key areas such as hospitals and state and local governments.
Generally, lawmakers agreed that all of those items needed more funding, but clashed on whether Congress should address them all together or in more narrow bills.
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