House, Senate, and White House negotiators resumed discussions this week on COVID-19 relief legislation. The House passed the “Heroes Act” (H.R.6800) on May 15th, while Senate Republicans introduced the “Heals Act” last week. There are significant policy disagreements in multiple areas. The table below outlines the estimated budgetary impact by major policy category, showing just how large some of those disagreements are based on the numbers alone.
| Spending and Tax Relief Categories (in $ billions) |
House Heroes Act
|
Senate Heals Act |
| State, local government assistance | $ 945 | — |
| Stimulus checks | $ 554 | $ 300 |
| Unemployment relief | $ 437 | $ 110 |
| Education / Student Loans | $ 266 | $ 105 |
| Homeowner and renter assistance | $ 219 | $ 3 |
| Testing, tracing, hospitals, providers, vaccine | $ 194 | $ 104 |
| Heroes Fund | $ 190 | — |
| Small business loans and grants | $ 10 | $ 158 |
| Medicaid | $ 81 | — |
| Pensions | $ 52 | — |
| Nutrition | $ 40 | — |
| Agriculture | $ 33 | $ 20 |
| Transportation | $ 31 | $ 10 |
| Defense | — | $ 30 |
| Postal Service | $ 25 | — |
| Other Spending | $ 58 | $ 43 |
|
SUBTOTAL: SPENDING
|
$ 3,135 |
$ 883 |
| Stimulus (dependents, EITC, SALT) | $ 166 | — |
| Workers (employee retention, COVID expenses) | $ 294 | $ 210 |
| Limitation on Net Operating Losses | ($ 254) | — |
| Private health plans (coverage, premium subsidies) | $ 100 | — |
| Other | $ 4 | — |
|
SUBTOTAL: TAXES
|
$ 310 |
$ 210 |
|
TOTAL
|
$ 3,445 |
$ 1,093 |
Sources: CBO estimate for H.R.6800, the Heroes Act, as Passed by the House of Representatives on May 15, 2020 (https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2020-06/56383-HR6800.pdf); What’s in the HEALS Act? Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, July 29, 2020 (http://www.crfb.org/blogs/whats-11-trillion-heals-act)