This week should decide if you get coronavirus stimulus checks pre-election

Updated on

To give a push to the stalled relief package negotiations, the House Democrats, on Monday, came up with a new bill. Along with introducing the new proposal, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also resumed negotiations on Monday. The new proposal, as well as resumption of negotiations, does raise hopes of another round of coronavirus stimulus checks pre-election.

Get The Full Series in PDF

Get the entire 10-part series on Charlie Munger in PDF. Save it to your desktop, read it on your tablet, or email to your colleagues.

Q2 2020 hedge fund letters, conferences and more

Democrats’ new bill: what does it include?

On Monday, House Democrats introduced a new proposal for the coronavirus stimulus package costing $2.2 trillion. Though the bill is expected to break the months of stalemate over the coronavirus stimulus negotiations, it will likely face stiff opposition from the Republican-controlled Senate.

This new bill is a revised version of an earlier bill, called the HEROES Act, introduced by the House Democrats in May. The new bill is about a trillion-dollars less than the HEROES Act, and is in line with what Pelosi has been asking for the next relief package.

This new bill offers $1,200 in stimulus checks, $600 unemployment benefit through January, help for the airline industry, assistance for small businesses and more. Further, the bill also includes $120 billion in grants for restaurants; $15 billion for the United States Postal Service; $75 billion for COVID-19 testing, tracing, and isolation measures; $225 billion in education funding; $436 billion for state, local, and tribal governments; and increased food assistance benefits.

"Democrats are making good on our promise to compromise with this updated bill, which is necessary to address the immediate health and economic crisis facing America's working families right now," Pelosi said in a letter to Democrats. The House could vote on the bill this week.

Coronavirus stimulus checks pre-election?

In a push to give Americans another round of coronavirus stimulus checks pre-election, Pelosi and Mnuchin had a telephonic conversation on Monday evening after Democrats introduced their new bill. The two also agreed to speak again on Tuesday, according to Pelosi's deputy chief of staff Drew Hammill.

The talks between Pelosi and Mnuchin are seen as the final attempt to reach a deal on a relief package before the November election. The lawmakers are scheduled to leave Washington next month for reelection campaigning. So, Pelosi and Mnuchin likely don’t have much time to reach a consensus. Pelosi, however, has assured that the House would return any time to strike a deal.

In case the House Democrats vote on the new bill this week, it would suggest that the talks between Pelosi and Mnuchin have collapsed. Only after talks collapse, would Pelosi likely move forward with the new bill to give Democrats something to talk about when they return home for campaigning.

So, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that this week will likely decide whether or not you will get coronavirus stimulus checks before the election.