House Democrats pass doomed $3T coronavirus relief bill

Congress must act to provide relief to the American people,” said Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), chairman of the House Democratic Caucus.The bill passed with 14 left-wing and centrist Democrats voting “no” and a single Republican — Rep. Peter King of New York — voting in favor.Before passing the bill, Democrats authorized proxy voting for future legislation and defeated a GOP push to ban illegal immigrants from getting stimulus checks.Congress previously passed four major coronavirus relief packages after laborious late-night negotiations between Democrats and White House representatives.After passing the fourth major package last month, Republicans had said they wanted to pause for reflection and criticized proposed state bailouts.The new relief bill includes almost $1 trillion in funding for state and local governments, which Republicans including Trump are wary of granting.It would authorize another round of stimulus checks up to $1,200, create a $200 billion “heroes fund” giving hazard pay to medical workers, allocate $175 billion to rent and mortgage aid and spend $75 billion on virus testing and contact tracing.The bill also would extend the $600-per-week federal boost in unemployment insurance payments through January 2021. The boost currently runs through July.Additional items include a boost in food stamps payments expected to cost $10 billion, a $25 billion bailout for the Postal Service, $3.6 billion for state elections offices and $5.5 billion for expanding high-speed internet to libraries and homes.The bill also proposes new funds for the Census and health insurance programs.The bill would give relief to wealthy residents of high-tax states like New York by waiving the $10,000 cap on the federal State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction for 2020 and 2021.Republican opposed provisions they said steer funds toward abortions and away from deporting illegal immigrants.In a reflection of the wide-ranging priorities included in the package, the bill would authorize banks to work with state-legal cannabis businesses.“This really is an exercise in legislative futility,” said Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), who managed House floor debate for Republicans.