As Congress prepares to vote this week on a short-term government funding bill, party leaders are discussing the potential for additional virus relief legislation. The House plans to vote Wednesday on a continuing resolution that will fund the government for an additional week. Current funding will otherwise lapse at midnight on December 11, 2020.

Work on a separate virus relief package that could accompany a long-term FY 2021 government funding bill continues behind closed doors. The starting point centers on a proposal unveiled last week by a bipartisan group of Senators and members of the Problem Solver's caucus.

As explained in a press release accompanying the $908 billion bipartisan proposal put forward last week, it includes the following provisions:

• State, Local, and Tribal Governments - $160 billion;
• Additional Unemployment Insurance (UI) - $180 billion;
• Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) including restaurants, stages, and deductibility - $288 billion;
• CDFI/MDI Community Lender Support - $12 billion;
• Transportation (Airlines, Airports, Buses, Transit and Amtrak) - $45 billion;
• Vaccine Development and Distribution and Testing and Tracing - $16 billion;
• Healthcare Provider Relief Fund - $35 billion;
• Education Funding - $82 billion;
• Student Loans - $4 billion;
• Housing Assistance (Rental) - $25 billion;
• Nutrition/Agriculture - $26 billion;
• U.S. Postal Service - $10 billion;
• Child Care - $10 billion;
• Dedicated Broadband Funding - $10 billion; and
• Opioid Funding - $5 billion.

President-elect Joe Biden has also endorsed the proposal. "I think it should be passed," he said in an interview late last week. At the same, Biden says he will press Congress for more relief and recovery legislation early next year. "Congress will need to act again in January," he said, noting that his economic team is currently working on a plan that he "will put forward for the next Congress to move fast and control the pandemic."

Speaking today, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) reiterated his call for a bill that focuses on areas of agreement between the two parties. "We just need both sides to finally do what members of Congress do when they’re serious about wanting an outcome," he said. "Drop the all-or-nothing tactics, drop the hostage-taking, and make law in the many places where we have common ground."

The legislative calendar for December is tight. Realistically, Congress has about 12 legislative days left to finish its work for the year.

Looking further ahead, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) has issued a legislative calendar for 2021 that sets Sunday, January 3, 2021 as the start of the 117th Congress. The Senate has not yet released a legislative calendar for 2021.

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