Happy Tuesday and welcome back to On The Money. I’m Sylvan Lane, and here’s your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line.
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THE BIG DEAL–Senate aims to approve more small-business aid on Thursday: Senate leadership is moving quickly to approve additional aid for small businesses, which have been hard-hit by the coronavirus outbreak, after a rocky rollout last week of the program aimed at helping them.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Tuesday that he is working with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) to approve additional funding later this week.
“Congress needs to act with speed and total focus to provide more money for this uncontroversial bipartisan program. I will work with Secretary Mnuchin and Leader Schumer and hope to approve further funding for the Paycheck Protection Program by unanimous consent or voice vote during the next scheduled Senate session on Thursday,” McConnell said in a statement.
Hold on…
- A spokesman for Schumer said the Democratic leader “has not heard from” McConnell, and that Sen. Ben Cardin (Md.), the top Democrat on the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, has not heard from Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the committee chairman.
- Those comments came after Rubio said the two Senate leaders were working on passing more funding.
The Hill’s Jordain Carney tells us more here.
House Republicans back additional funding, Dems want new standards: House GOP leaders are rallying around Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s call for an additional $250 billion to be made available for small business loans, according to The Hill’s Juliegrace Brufke.
The request, made by Mnuchin to the four congressional leaders in both parties, comes less than two weeks after President Trump signed into law a $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief package that included $350 billion for small business loans known as the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
But Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) suggested Tuesday that Democrats will demand certain conditions on new funding for small-business loans amid the coronavirus pandemic to ensure that minorities and underserved communities aren’t left out of the program. The Hill’s Mike Lillis tells us why.
LEADING THE DAY
Pelosi: Next round of coronavirus relief will top $1 trillion: Pelosi is also telling fellow Democrats that the next phase of emergency coronavirus relief will top $1 trillion.
- In a conference call Monday with more than 180 House Democrats, Pelosi said the $2.2 trillion economic rescue plan enacted less than two weeks ago is insufficient to help the medical workers, businesses and employees affected by the fast-spreading pandemic.
- She and a number of committee heads are busy drafting another round of emergency funding designed both to supplement the assistance already provided and expand it to include more affected populations, particularly rural, low-income and other vulnerable people left struggling to make ends meet.
- Democrats are aiming to boost funding for medical equipment and personal protective supplies for health care workers, expand unemployment benefits from four to six months, provide another round of cash payments to individuals and extend food stamps, particularly for children who might miss meals as a result of mass school closures.
Mike Lillis breaks down the new Democratic proposals here.
States battle each other for equipment in supply chain crunch: States across the country are racing to stockpile ventilators, personal protective equipment and necessary medical supplies as they prepare for brutal surges of coronavirus cases in the coming weeks and months.
But a bottleneck in the global supply chain has forced those states to compete with each other, and often with the federal government, for limited supplies. In many states, governors have reached deals with suppliers only to have those suppliers tell them later they received a better price from another state. The Hill’s Reid Wilson tells us more about the dire situation here.
GOOD TO KNOW
- Stocks retreated from a heady day of gains on Tuesday, defeating hopes for a second blockbuster day in a row and closing in the red.
- An IRS watchdog on Tuesday urged people to watch out for possible scams related to the federal government’s coronavirus assistance to taxpayers as lawmakers and government officials are seeking to prevent people from falling victim to schemes about the forthcoming recovery checks.
- At least two auto insurance companies say they will refund Americans some of their monthly premiums as millions stay at home due to the coronavirus outbreak.
- The Wall Street Journal:”A top U.S. regulator said he isn’t likely to heed mortgage companies’ calls to help ease the cash-flow crunch they are expecting when Americans who lose their jobs stop making mortgage payments.”
- Senate Democrats are proposing to give doctors, nurses and other essential workers, such as grocery store clerks, up to $25,000 in hazard pay as part of the phase four coronavirus relief bill.
ODDS AND ENDS
- Twitter founder Jack Dorsey announced Tuesday that he would transfer $1 billion of his equity in Square to a new foundation that will support coronavirus relief efforts before transitioning later to focus on other causes.
- WhatsApp announced Tuesday it will limit users’s ability to forward messages in an attempt to curb the spread of coronavirus misinformation.