(CNN) - White House officials and Senate Republicans have finalized a bill that would offer $ 1,200 checks to many Americans and that would not renew the total upgrade of unemployment insurance, as part of a proposal for the next bill. Stimulus law to be released Monday, several senior administration officials said Sunday.
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told CNN's Jake Tapper on the "State of the Union" program that $ 1,200 checks to Americans will be part of the new recovery package, in addition to the reemployment, withholding bonds and tax credits for small businesses and restaurants.
Kudlow also commented that the Republican proposal will lengthen the expiring federal eviction moratorium. The weekly boost of $ 600 to unemployment benefits that many Americans have relied on also expires this week.
The new provisions are slated to be unveiled Monday, hoping to replace benefits that officials characterized as potential incentives for recipients not to return to work. "We want to move quickly, the bill will be presented on Monday, we are prepared to act quickly," said Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin on "Fox News Sunday."
Kudlow told Tapper that "we have had an avalanche of inquiries and phone calls and complaints that small shops, businesses and restaurants cannot hire people."
"They went too far," he continued. "Maybe last March it was necessary for that, but really the consequences of people not returning to work ... we want to pay people to go back to work."
The upgrade was designed to keep laid-off people at home instead of looking for work during pandemic-driven restrictions and helping millions pay rent, buy groceries, and cover other bills. But it has also kept some workers on the sidelines, creating headaches for employers trying to get back to work, even as new waves of coronaviruses complicate reopening of states.
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have split over whether to extend the federal push, and Democrats say it should be extended until next year because the economy is still weak and the unemployed say they have trouble finding jobs, and just as carefully. children's.
However, Republicans are concerned that such generous payments may discourage people from returning to their jobs, delaying the economic recovery.
And even as Republicans prepare to launch their coronavirus stimulus bill, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham had a tough prediction for an upcoming vote on such legislation.
"Half of Republicans will vote no on any Phase 4 package, that's a fact," Graham said in an interview on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures," although he noted, "I think we will meet before August 5 to do this".
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said on ABC's "This Week" that "the original benefits will not" be in the new bill, "adding that" the original unemployment benefits actually paid the people for staying home. "
Meadows said the proposal will involve offering higher unemployment benefits that would replace the wages of a laid-off worker by up to 70%, although he acknowledged the challenges some states will face in administering such a complicated benefit. She said she has worked with Mnuchin and Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia to ensure that "outdated computers" in some state benefits offices do not prevent people from receiving their benefits.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi addressed Sunday's possible Republican benefit changes and said on CBS's "Face the Nation" that she would prefer enhanced unemployment benefits to be paid at a flat rate, not As a part of a worker's lost wages as Republicans prepare to propose.
"Let me say: The reason we had $ 600 was its simplicity," Pelosi said, noting that calculating 70% of someone's lost earnings would be difficult for managers. "Why don't we keep it simple? Unemployment benefits and improvement… is so essential right now. ”
Pelosi declined to say whether Democrats would be willing to accept an unemployment insurance upgrade that is less than $ 600.
"We have been eager to negotiate for two months and 10 days," Pelosi said, criticizing Republicans for taking so long to propose another stimulus package.
"We cannot go home without him, but it is very sad that people have this uncertainty in their lives," he said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Sunday that Democrats are against Republican officials' plan to limit unemployment benefits and that internal division remains among Republicans on the issue.
If subsidies end in the US, will there be another stimulus package? 1:20"We are about to extend it ... we should not give a 30% pay cut to those who lost their jobs through no fault of their own," Schumer said at a press conference. "Unemployment insurance has kept millions out of poverty, prevented the recession from turning into a depression, we have to extend it."
He accused the Republicans of "wavering, twisting the thumbs," saying that "the Democrats passed a bill two months ago, and yet we have nothing from our fellow Republicans. President (Donald) Trump is in one place, some Senate Republicans are in another, and some Senate Republicans are in a third. ”
Administration officials rejected the payroll tax cut that Trump has repeatedly demanded after failing to get the support of enough Senate Republicans and after acknowledging it was not a start for Democrats.
"I would have preferred a payroll tax cut instead of that check, but be that as it may, politically it doesn't work, but the check is there," Kudlow said in "State of the Union."
When asked if the change in benefits could harm the economy by endangering those facing bills and evictions, Kudlow said the combination of unemployment benefits with a cap of 70% of wages, reemployment bonuses and bonuses Withholding tax "will more than offset any of those."
"The trick here is to get back to work," he added.
CNN's Tami Luhby contributed to this report.
