By Jon King / jking@whmi.com


With time running out, lawmakers are closing in on the final language for a $908 billion COVID-19 relief proposal that would provide $300 in extra federal weekly unemployment benefits, but likely won’t include $1,200 in direct payments to most Americans.

The basis for the negotiations is a plan announced last week by the bipartisan Problem Solver’s Caucus that would fund transportation, a new round of PPP grants to help businesses pay their employees, food assistance and coronavirus testing centers. 8th District Democrat Elissa Slotkin is one of four Michigan House members in the caucus, along with fellow Democrat Debbie Dingell and Republicans Paul Mitchel and Fred Upton.

Speaking Sunday on WDIV’s Flashpoint program, Slotkin said a deal is long overdue. "It should have happened before the election, but election politics got in the way. We worked through Thanksgiving, people like Fred Upton and others, really, really drilled down on the details and we came up with a joint bipartisan proposal. We had a biog press conference on it and it is now, happily, the basis of negotiations that are going on right now, in real time, which is great, but we've been really, really clear; no one should be going home for Christmas until and unless we get a COVID deal. So we're just frustrated and we're urging all of our collective leadership to just put the mission first and get something done so that people have some hope of recovery."

One issue that seems to be a sticking point is aid for struggling states and local governments to fund programs like unemployment and rental assistance that will expire at the end of the month. The issue of cash payments to individuals will also be left for President-elect Joe Biden to wrestle over with a new Congress next year.