Senate Republicans are crafting a scaled-back version of the HEALS Act for potential consideration. The draft virus recovery bill, entitled the "Delivering Immediate Relief to America's Families, Schools and Small Businesses Act," excludes direct relief payments to taxpayers. 

The proposal does include liability relief, $300 per-week in bonus unemployment benefits, an extension of the Paycheck Protection Program, and funding for the U.S. Postal Service to help the agency handle election-related concerns.

The following excerpt lists the draft bill's provisions from its table of contents:

DIVISION A—LIABILITY PROTECTIONS, CONTINUED RELIEF FOR SMALL BUSINESSES AND WORKERS, PUBLIC HEALTH ENHANCEMENTS, AND EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT

Subtitle A—Liability Relief

PART I—LIABILITY LIMITATIONS FOR INDIVIDUALS AND ENTITIES ENGAGED IN BUSINESSES, SERVICES, ACTIVITIES, OR ACCOMMODATIONS

• Sec. 1121. Application of part.
• Sec. 1122. Liability; safe harbor.

PART II—LIABILITY LIMITATIONS FOR HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS

• Sec. 1141. Application of part.
• Sec. 1142. Liability for health care professionals and health care facilities during coronavirus public health emergency.

PART III—SUBSTANTIVE AND PROCEDURAL PROVISIONS FOR CORONAVIRUS-RELATED ACTIONS GENERALLY

• Sec. 1161. Jurisdiction.
• Sec. 1162. Limitations on suits.
• Sec. 1163. Procedures for suit in district courts of the United States.
• Sec. 1164. Demand letters; cause of action.

PART IV—RELATION TO LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT LAWS

• Sec. 1181. Limitation on violations under specific laws.
• Sec. 1182. Liability for conducting testing at workplace.
• Sec. 1183. Joint employment and independent contracting.
• Sec. 1184. Exclusion of certain notification requirements as a result of the COVID–19 public health emergency.

Subtitle B—Products

• Sec. 1201. Applicability of the targeted liability protections for pandemic and epidemic products and security countermeasures with respect to COVID–19.

Subtitle C—General Provisions

• Sec. 1301. Severability.

TITLE II—ASSISTANCE FOR AMERICAN FAMILIES

• Sec. 2001. Short title.
• Sec. 2002. Extension of the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program.

TITLE III—SMALL BUSINESS PROGRAMS

• Sec. 3001. Small business recovery.

TITLE IV—POSTAL SERVICE ASSISTANCE

• Sec. 4001. COVID-19 funding for the United States Postal Service.

TITLE V—MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

• Sec. 5001. Emergency designation.

Although the House plans to return to session this Saturday to consider postal funding legislation, the Senate adjourned last week for a three-week recess. It is not clear if this early draft bill will actually be brought to the Senate floor for consideration next month or serve as a potential negotiating position with Congressional Democrats over the coming days.

Face-to-face bipartisan negotiations on a coronavirus recovery bill have been have been stalled for more than a week. "I can't tell you with certainty we're going to reach an agreement," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) told reporters yesterday.

The Senate is scheduled to return from its summer recess on September 8, 2020.

The 169-page text of the draft legislation is posted here.

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