End the Stalemate Over Coronavirus Relief

Last week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin finally got around to talking about a new round of coronavirus aid, and yesterday the Democrats released a new plan. Not before time. The prolonged failure to extend fiscal relief poses a grave threat to the economy. Differences remain between the two sides, but these disagreements cannot justify doing nothing at all — which, even now, remains a distinct possibility. A compromise should be struck without further delay.

Undoubtedly, Republicans bear most of the blame for the impasse. To replace the expiring provisions of the previous fiscal package, they proposed roughly $650 billion of additional spending. That’s far too little. Their so-called “skinny bill” fails, in particular, to deliver the help that state and local governments — which have already laid off or furloughed more than 1 million workers, and are facing budget shortfalls exceeding $550 billion over the next two years — badly need. It also fails to provide adequate further support for people who’ve lost their jobs because of the pandemic.