READ: House Democrats Release 3rd Coronavirus Response Bill

March 23, 2020 / 11:10 am

caption: House Democrats, led by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, have released their own version of the stimulus package in response to the coronavirus crisis. She's seen here on March 13 ahead of an earlier aid package deal.

In the midst of Senate negotiations on a massive stimulus package in response to the coronavirus pandemic, House Democrats have released a counterproposal, entitled the "Take Responsibility for Workers and Families Act."

In a statement, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the Republican bill before the Senate puts "corporations first, not workers and families."

The Democrats' bill, which is more than 1000 pages long, would prevent corporations from using taxpayer money for stock buybacks, boost unemployment insurance, strengthen the child tax and earned income tax credits, and inject nearly $40 billion into schools and universities to stabilize funding.

It also directs billions in grant funding for states to carry out this year's election through the Election Assistance Commission.

Some elements of this proposal already exist in the bill the Senate is negotiating.

The proposal comes after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blamed Democrats for delaying progress on a response bill.

Senate Democrats have said the final product of the GOP-backed bill didn't meet their minimum demands.

Pelosi's move to release this bill could be a strategic effort to increase pressure on the Senate to reach a deal.

Republicans have criticized Pelosi for wanting to add unrelated provisions in the bill and argued Democrats were trying to take advantage of the crisis for their own wish list of items they couldn't pass through the normal process.