House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is keeping the coronavirus aid bill on track for a vote Thursday, even as negotiations remain open.
Mrs. Pelosi, California Democrat, said she has been in talks with Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin throughout the morning about the bill and that many of his suggestions were “very reasonable.” She expects the final tweaks can still be made in time for a vote on the scheduled fly-out day.
Earlier, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy suggested members delay their one-week recess in order to finish combing through the multibillion-dollar package.
The speaker rejected that, saying the negotiations were close as is.
“We don’t need 48 hours — we just need to make a decision to help families right now,” she said. “Everybody could have a complaint about this or that. I say, save it for another day. … Right now we have to find our common ground, work together, to get this done as soon as possible.”
The ambitious package includes Democrats’ top three priorities: free coronavirus testing, paid emergency sick leave for all workers and shoring up unemployment insurance with $1 billion in grants for state programs.
It also addresses food security for those hit by school closures or are otherwise isolated, and expands Medicaid.
One of the biggest sticking points appears to be the emergency sick leave plan, which would allow workers to receive two-thirds of their wages for three months. This plan would expire on Jan. 21.
The bill also creates a federally mandated benefit that requires employers to make 14 days of paid sick leave available immediately for all workers and allow them to accrue up to seven days.
Mr. McCarthy explained he was concerned about the pressure the bill would put on Social Security, which would be responsible for administering the emergency sick leave plan.
“This will hurt the very population that we’re supposed to be helping,” he said. “It forces permanent, paid sick leave for all business without exemptions and no sunsets.”
Mr. McCarthy also said Republicans would like a provision to boost the mask supply for health providers.
The first votes were delayed Thursday morning as lawmakers worked behind the scenes to finalize negotiations to the bill.
• Gabriella Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
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