WASHINGTON _ House Democrats hope to vote Thursday on an economic stimulus bill responding to the fast-spreading coronavirus, including provisions that mandate paid leave for sick workers nationwide and provide more than $1 billion in aid to state and local governments for food programs and unemployment benefits.
But Republicans immediately took aim at the proposal, suggesting bipartisan agreement to address the crisis was not near, even as stock markets continued to crater over concerns that the White House and Congress have failed to take needed action.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., paused deliberations on the Democrats' measure Thursday morning to look over proposals that Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin sent on behalf of the administration. Mnuchin and Pelosi spoke twice Thursday morning to discuss ideas, according to Pelosi's representative, Drew Hammill.
But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., trashed the bill. "Instead of focusing on immediate relief to affected individuals, families and businesses, the House Democrats chose to wander into various areas of policy that are barely related, if at all, to the issue before us." He called the bill a "needless thicket of new bureaucracy."
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., signaled his opposition to the Democratic proposal.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told members Thursday morning that the House is still working with the administration and a vote on the bill is still possible later in the day.
"Further information regarding the exact timing of votes will be announced as soon as it becomes available," he said.
White House officials did not specify what changes the administration is asking for.
"The White House does not support much of what the speaker has proposed as currently drafted, but we do support many of the policies reflected in her draft, and are asking that they continue to work with us to find a bipartisan, bicameral agreement," said a White House official who was not authorized to comment by name.
Another House Republican leader criticized the lack of progress in talks so far. "Frankly, while work may have ... continued through the night, there wasn't much bipartisan work," said Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma.
Senate Republicans had largely bowed out of the negotiations, leaving it to Pelosi and Mnuchin to reach a deal.
Even as those negotiations take place, however, President Donald Trump criticized Pelosi for resisting his proposal for a cut to payroll taxes. A payroll tax holiday has little support in either party, with Republicans considering it too expensive and Democrats saying that it doesn't target relief at the workers most likely to be hurt if the economy slips into a recession.
And despite his call Wednesday night for an end to partisan bickering, Trump retweeted a days-old criticism of Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., for his controversial comments on the Supreme Court.
The House Democrats' bill, the text of which was released Wednesday evening, would require employers to give workers seven days of paid sick leave, with an additional 14 granted during a public health crisis, such as the coronavirus outbreak. It would replace about two-thirds of wages for most workers, subject to a maximum.
The proposal would represent a major expansion of paid leave in the U.S. Currently, only about a dozen states mandate paid sick leave. California in 2014 became the second state in the country to do so.
The bill would also provide $1 billion in emergency grants to states to process unemployment benefits and nearly $1 billion for food programs, including help for local food banks and additional funding for programs for pregnant women, children and seniors.
The bill would create a new program for paid leave that would be administered by the Social Security Administration and operate for the next year. Benefits would equal two-thirds of prior average wages, capped at $4,000 per month, and would not be taxable.
It also creates a new program for _ dubbed Paid Sick Days for Public Health Emergencies and Personal and Family Care _ administered by the Department of Labor.
