WASHINGTON–Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Sunday a Republican coronavirus relief plan will be released today that will likely include another round of $1,200 payments to many Americans, as well as an extension of the moratorium on evictions.
The total price tag for the GOP plan is expected to be approximately $1 trillion. A $3 trillion package has already been passed by the House.
"We're prepared to act quickly. This is all about kids and jobs, this is our focus," Mnuchin told Fox News Sunday, adding the Trump administration and Senate Republicans are "completely on the same page," and "do have an entire plan."
Mnuchin said he believes “we can move very quickly with the Democrats on these issues," he said.
Mnuchin said Congress has the option of looking to do a large deal, or just addressing certain pieces, such as extending the extra $600 unemployment benefit. But he also told Fox News Republicans want to make sure there's a "technical fix" for unemployment insurance so people aren't being paid more to stay at home than to go to work.
‘Ridiculous’ and a ‘Disincentive’
Repeating earlier remarks, Mnuchin said Republicans are looking to have a federal unemployment benefit to cover 70% of lost wages, and in an earlier meeting with reporters Mnuchin called the $600 payment “ridiculous” and a disincentive for people to go back to work.
Mnuchin said the $1,200 direct payments would be based on the same formula from the earlier aid bill. Individuals making $75,000 or less, for example, received the full amount and those making more than $75,000 received less than $1,200 depending on their income. Individuals earning above $100,000 did not qualify for the payment.
“We’ll get the majority of them out in August and those will help people,” Mnuchin said.
Meanwhile, President Trump’s economic advisor, Larry Kudlow, said the administration plans to extend the federal eviction moratorium, which ended Friday. As many as 12 million Americans that rent were protected from eviction in the four-month period, according to the Washington Post.