U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks to the media at the Capitol on March 6, 2021. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
In a marathon voting session that lasted more than 24 hours, both parties passed Amendment 1092, sponsored by Republican Rob Portman (R-Okla.), which called for lowering the markup of weekly unemployment benefits from $400 to $300 and making those benefits available through July 18.
But about an hour later, Democrats passed the amendment in question, overturning Portman’s proposal and extending the capped benefits through Sept. 6.
Democrat Joe Manchin voted with all 49 Republican senators present to approve Portman’s proposed amendment, although Manchin later voted yes with his fellow Democrats on their additional amendment. The new amendment also provided that the first $10,200 in unemployment benefits paid to American families would be tax-free.
The second Republican proposal that passed, sponsored by Jerry Moran (R-UT) Amendment 1342, which would have modified the effective date of the income requirement for educational institutions, passed by voice vote with bipartisan approval.
The third Republican proposal to pass was Amendment 1233, sponsored by Senator Lisa Murkowski (D-CA). It includes sending $800 million in emergency relief funds to elementary and secondary schools to help youth and children who are homeless during the Epidemic.
The rest of the amendments offered by Republicans all ended in defeat.
One of those defeated was Amendment 1030, offered by Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), which would have reopened investigations into nursing Home outbreak death data and required transparency of information.
Another defeat was Amendment 1026 by Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), which sought to ensure that schools would be open at least half the Time for half of their students and that schools would have to meet this standard in order to receive grants.
Also defeated was Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.) Amendment 1369, which sought to change the state and local aid formula, noting that the original formula would have been “unfair” and overly generous to blue states.
The bill contains about $350 billion in state and local funds. Compared to the House version, the Senate version has an additional compromise that the money would only cover costs through the end of 2024. It also prohibits states from using the money to offset tax cuts and stipulates that it cannot be used to shore up pension funds.
Other failed Republican amendments, including: restoration of the cancelled Keystone XL pipeline to help communities affected by the outbreak; emergency aid for non-public schools, etc.
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