Support grows in Congress for $908 billion bill including state, local aid

“It's less money, but over a shorter period of time," Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters Friday at her weekly news conference. “And we need to do it, to save lives and livelihood, with the hope that much more help is on the way.”

Support is growing in Congress along with a sense of urgency to rally around a $908 billion compromise emergency coronavirus relief package in light of Friday’s report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics that the recent rebound in jobs slowed in November.

Payroll employment gains slowed to 245,000 in November and the jobless rate ticked lower by only two-tenths of a percentage point to 6.7% while the number of unemployed Americans remained at 10.7 million.

Congressional Republicans and Democrats blamed each other for the delays while also highlighting the need for an agreement.

House Ways and Means Committee Ranking Republican Kevin Brady said the jobs report provided “clear evidence that Speaker Pelosi’s efforts to sabotage the economy ahead of the election hurt a lot of workers and small businesses.”

“Democrats must not let this year end with politics,” Brady said.”It is time for action.”

Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregan, ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee called the report “bad news all around,” pointing to Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell as the obstacle to a deal.

Unemployment is expected to rise again unless Congress renews a number of federal benefits that expire at the end of the month.

State and local governments also are expected to continue layoffs if a new round of federal aid is not approved.

Employment in local government education declined in November by 21,000 jobs, continuing to trend down.

State government employment outside of education also lost 4,100 jobs. On the plus side, state government education gained 4,500 jobs and local government apart from education grew by 7,200 jobs.

Transit agencies also are preparing for additional layoffs as commuters continue to work from home.

The bipartisan plan unveiled Tuesday by Senate and House lawmakers includes $160 billion for state and local governments, $82 billion for schools, $15 billion for transit agencies, and $4 billion for airports.

Public transit officials told Bloomberg that the $15 billion, while welcome, would not be enough nationwide, to avoid service cuts and layoffs.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who endorsed the plan on Wednesday, noted that President-Elect Joe Biden is supporting the package as “just a start.”

“And that's how we see it as well,” Pelosi told reporters Friday at her weekly news conference. “It's less money, but over a shorter period of time. And we need to do it, to save lives and livelihood, with the hope that much more help is on the way.”

Biden said Friday that Congress should approve the $908 billion package but “will need to act again in January.”

“As we inherit this economic crisis, Vice President-elect Harris and I are working on the plan we will put forward for the next Congress to move fast and control the pandemic, revive the economy, and build back better than before,” Biden said. “And, we hope to see the same kind of spirit of bipartisan cooperation as we are seeing today.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has not endorsed the plan, but the total number of Republican senators who do has grown to nine.

Five Republican senators have joined the original four.

The original four are Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Mitt Romney of Utah.

The additional five are Republican Sens. Joni Ernst and Charles Grassley, both of Iowa, along with Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, John Cornyn of Texas, and Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, according to the Washington Post, which says they have “signaled their openness to the package.”

Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, told reporters outside the White House on Friday that the Trump administration is letting McConnell and Pelosi handle negotiations.

“They're talking,” said Kudlow. “I would say it has a somewhat more optimistic tone.”

Kudlow said the issue is not so much on the top line dollar amount of $908 billion as policy areas. “There's a couple of key targeted areas that our team, and the Senate leadership, want,” he said.

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