People are hurting as unemployment boost runs out. Why don’t lawmakers have a deal?
The $300 a week unemployment benefit has expired. States and cities can’t get the federal funds they say they desperately need to help pay for police, schools and other services. A lot of small businesses say they’re slowly dying and need help.
And Congress went home Thursday without doing anything to provide relief. It’ll return late Tuesday.
The parties blamed each other for the ongoing impasse.
House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said this week there is “No telling how many people have been laid off because of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., charged President Donald Trump’s actions “resulted in 200,000 deaths.”
Constituents clearly want something done, and do not appear optimistic.
Nearly three of four California adults believe the state remains mired in a recession, according to a Sept.4-13 Public Policy Institute of California poll Thirty-one percent approve of the job Congress is doing — the same approval rating President Donald Trump receives.
People are not inclined to blame their own member of Congress. Fifty-five percent approve of the job their specific member is doing.
The only break in the Washington deadlock, and so far it’s a tiny one, could come in the House, where Democrats are trying to build a new plan and perhaps vote next week.
But they’re talking about crafting a $2.4 trillion package, an amount far above what the White House and Senate Republicans have signaled they would accept.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin this week told the Senate Banking Committee he hopes to begin negotiating again with Democrats. He cited areas where they generally agree, including help for small business and extended unemployment benefits. But the two sides remain at odds over some key points, including aid to state and local governments and liability protections for business.
Who’s to blame for gridlock?
The feeling in Congress is largely this: Each side is convinced that people will be outraged that the other party is being stubborn about economic relief.
“People understand we’re trying real hard,” said Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho. Who they blame, “kind of depends on their political perspective,” he said.
The Bee asked senators and congressmen this week if there’s clamor back home for economic aid, and whether constituents are angry at Washington lawmakers for the gridlock.
While economic indicators have shown some rebound, the numbers still reflect deep trouble. The national unemployment rate last month was 8.4% and in California, it was 11.4%. Before the coronavirus pandemic sent the economy reeling, the state’s jobless rate was 3.9% in February and the national rate was 3.5%.
Lawmakers from both parties agreed constituents want something done, but they say the failure to make a deal is largely the other party’s fault.
“It’s heartbreaking. I mean, it really is, you know, just the amount of pain that people are going through. And they, you know, they want help. And I think part of our job is to try to secure that for them,” said Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Wash.
“Sometimes they (constituents) have frustration that Congress hasn’t gotten something done, that Democrats and Republicans can’t work together,” said Rep. Ami Bera, D-Calif.
But the target of voter ire is President Donald Trump, he said, just as it was for President Barack Obama during his administration, because “The president is most visible.”
Asked what he tells wary constituents, Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Calif., explains the House passed a $3.4 trillion relief package in May, but it was quickly rejected by Senate Republicans. It included extending the $600 weekly unemployment supplement people received from late March to late July until Jan. 31, 2021. It also had $500 billion in aid for states and $375 billion for local governments.
DeSaulnier tells people in his district he supports compromise, but it’s often difficult these days. with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky thwarting Democratic efforts. “It’s a minor miracle the economy has stayed where it is.,” he said.
Senate plans to vote on Supreme Court
Congress is likely to leave at the end of next week and not return until after Election Day — except for the Senate, which is expected to come back next month to consider Trump’s Supreme Court nominee.
Spencer Kimball., director of Emerson College Polling, which surveys California voters, .saw that question providing little impetus for compromise. “I think that is a logical argument but in today’s hyper partisan politics it will only further divide voters as opposed to benefiting any particular party,” he said.
Asked if people are asking why there’s time for a nominee but not a relief plan, Crapo said flatly, “No.”
Anyway, said McCarthy., constituents know Republicans care.
“Every time we tried to bring relief to the American people, unfortunately, Speaker Nancy Pelosi always slowed it down,” he charged. “No telling how many Americans were laid off because of her actions.”
Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., found constituents are blaming Gov. Gavin Newsom’s economic policies for their troubles, not Congress.
“The fast-growing sentiment I’m hearing is that Newsom’s lockdown has had a devastating impact on families and there’s no substitute for allowing Californians to get back to work,” he said.
Republicans are unenthusiastic about any new Democratic plan that spends above $2 trillion, period.
“I think that’s too big,” said Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo.
This story was originally published September 25, 2020 at 2:09 PM with the headline "People are hurting as unemployment boost runs out. Why don’t lawmakers have a deal?."
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