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US Lawmakers Race to Help Economy Hit Hard by Coronavirus

Katherine Gypson

   WASHINGTON - U.S. lawmakers are racing to enact a massive rescue
   package to prop up an American economy increasingly paralyzed by
   efforts to contain the novel coronavirus.

   Stock markets plunged last week -- wiping out nearly all gains recorded
   during Donald Trump's presidency -- as activity in public places across
   the country ground to a halt.

   With factories, businesses, restaurants and schools shutting down and
   entire industries in shambles, workers are facing layoffs, cutbacks in
   hours or having to make the difficult choice of working while ill if
   they lack paid sick leave.

   Despite positive test results for lawmakers in both chambers that have
   forced self-quarantining measures, Democratic and Republican leaders
   say lawmakers must stay in Washington to finish work on an economic
   stimulus package.

   "The coronavirus is slowing our economy to a near standstill," Senate
   Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said on the Senate floor last
   week. "We're almost certainly anticipating a recession."

   Lawmakers and the White House have devised a series of phases to rescue
   the U.S. economy. Here is a summary of what each phase has been
   designed to do.

   Phase One

   Lawmakers initially focused on funding U.S. public health efforts to
   combat the coronavirus, passing an $8.3 billion package earlier this
   month.

   Trump asked Congress for little more than $2 billion in funding, with a
   plan to fund $535 million of that request by rerouting unused funds
   allocated to fight Ebola. Democrats pushed back on that plan and
   ultimately negotiated a bill with the White House that included $3
   billion for coronavirus vaccine development and $1 billion for U.S.
   international aid efforts to combat the virus.

   Trump signed that bill on March 6.

   Phase Two

   The Democrat-majority House of Representatives took the lead on
   negotiating the first bill with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to
   address the devastating economic impact of the crisis.

   The Senate passed "phase two" of the bill last week by a 90-8 vote. The
   bill offers COVID-19 testing without cost, an extension of unemployment
   benefits to address the needs of workers who may be laid off due to the
   crisis, as well as paid sick leave for workers at some U.S. companies.

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