On October 1, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin remained far apart from reaching an agreement on additional COVID-relief funding legislation before Congress adjourns for the November 3 election. Among the areas where agreement remains elusive include the amount of additional funding for state and local governments, businesses and schools. Consequently, House Democrats are expected to pass their own $2.2 trillion COVID-relief bill largely along party lines with little to no prospects for passage by the GOP-controlled Senate. For the construction industry, many COVID-relief priorities too will likely wait until after the election, if not 2021, including additional funding for transportation, schools, hospitals and water projects, COVID liability protections for businesses and the deductibility of Paycheck Protection Program loan funds used for business expenses. AGC will continue to press for enactment of these priorities.
For more information, contact Jimmy Christianson at jimmy.christianson@agc.org.