House Democrats unveiled a modified $2.2 trillion coronavirus economic relief package late Monday night in an attempt to reignite previously stalled stimulus talks. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have also restarted discussions over further stimulus, with Pelosi hoping that an agreement can be reached before the presidential election in November.
The new legislation includes a reinstatement of the $600 per week enhanced unemployment benefit through January, another round of $1,200 direct payments, $436 billion set aside for state and local governments, $75 billion given for increased testing and contact tracing programs, authorizes more money for the Paycheck Protections Program, provides $25 billion for more airline relief, and many other stimulus provisions.
The new $2.2 trillion relief package is a scaled-down version of the $3.4 trillion HEROES Act proposed by the House back in May. However, the bill still remains well above the amount Senate Republicans have indicated they would accept, which is in the range of $500 billion to $1 trillion. Additionally, the Trump Administration has offered to only pass a $1.3 trillion bill for effort to boost the economy.
Major resistance to the updated proposal is also to be expected regarding relief for state governments and $600 per week enhanced unemployment benefits, which are two topics Republicans have opposed in the past. Senate Republicans are also against adding too much money to the already trillions of dollars the government has spent on coronavirus relief, suggesting that the final version of the bill may be much less than the new HEROES Act.
But both sides agree that more stimulus is needed.
U.S. economic recovery has showed some signs on slowing in recent months, most notably unemployment levels still remaining significantly high. The U.S. is also facing high coronavirus infection rates, threatening further recovery as more social restrictions may be needed to curb the spread in the coming colder months.
Air Travel Demand Outlook
The International Air Transport Association (I.A.T.A.) has lowered its outlook on air travel demand for 2020 to reflect what has become a weaker-than-expected recovery to the sector.
While travel bookings have increased since their low-point reached back during the peak of the initial coronavirus outbreak in April, August passenger demand was largely depressed when compared to previous levels.
"Based on flight data, the recovery in air passenger services was brought to a halt in mid-August by a return of government restrictions in the face of new COVID-19 outbreaks in a number of key markets," I.A.T.A. said in a statement. "Forward bookings for air travel in the fourth quarter show that the recovery since the April low point will continue to falter."
For the full year, I.A.T.A. expects global traffic to be down 66% from 2019's demand levels. The international trade group had originally called for a decline of 63% due to the pandemic.
