This Week on Hill: Lawmakers Formulate Coronavirus Response Package

Both chambers of Congress will resume legislative business later this afternoon. As Congressional appropriators continue work on an emergency spending package to bolster coronavirus response efforts, consideration of the supplemental funding bill could occur as early as Wednesday in the House amid rising concerns about a domestic outbreak of the virus. The final figure for the measure is expected to fall within the $6-8 billion range after lawmakers expressed bipartisan concerns that President Donald Trump’s $2.5 billion request would be inadequate. 

On the House floor for today, lawmakers will consider four suspension bills out of the Financial Services Committee, including a measure that seeks to promote greater transparency about the terms and conditions of financing provided by China to member states of the international financial institutions. Other measures up for consideration today would: (1) review Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage insurance practices for small-dollar mortgage lending (H.R. 5931); (2) amend the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act to provide enhanced protection against debt collector harassment against members of the military (H.R. 5003); and (3) require certain grantees under title I of the Housing and Community Development Act to submit a plan to track discriminatory land use policies (H.R. 4351).

In the upper chamber, Senators are set to begin consideration of a massive, bipartisan package of energy-related bills this week. Sponsored by Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Joe Manchin (D-WV), the American Energy Innovation Act compiles more than 50 bills that were considered by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee over the last year that are aimed at fostering more innovation in clean energy technologies. In particular, the 555-page measure includes provisions that focus on energy efficiency, emerging renewable energy sources, energy storage, carbon capture technology, nuclear power, and electric vehicles.

Meanwhile, former Vice President Joe Biden scored a key victory in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary over the weekend with a commanding victory in Saturday’s contest in South Carolina. Vice President Biden won the Palmetto State with 48 percent of the vote, with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) finishing second and earning a small share of the delegates. Sen. Sanders and Vice President Biden are now neck and neck on the delegate leaderboard heading into the “Super Tuesday” primaries, where 14 states will hold primaries that will allocate more than 1,300 delegates.