The chances for a badly needed stimulus bill getting passed as early as next week have improved for the first time since the election.
On Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin unveiled a $916 billion stimulus plan that would reauthorize the Paycheck Protection Program, the crisis-era small-business refundable-loan program, and issue $600 stimulus payments to individuals. It also offers increased liability protections for businesses and funding for state and local governments–yet it fails to offer any support for supplemental unemployment benefits.
Mnuchin announced the plan, which was approved by both the White House and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in a telephone call with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). She quickly decried the plan for its absence of unemployment funding but cheered the offer as a cause for optimism.
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