Pelosi Says ‘Significant Disagreement' Remains as Stimulus Bill Negotiations Continue

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement to her Democratic colleagues on Friday that while she's hopeful the sides will reach agreement on a CCP virus relief bill as talks continue, there remain key areas of "Significant disagreement."

Pelosi identified five "Notable areas of concern" in which the sides do not see eye-to-eye: unemployment insurance, state and local funding, child care support, money for testing and tracing, and appropriations.

The Democrat-controlled House narrowly passed a $2.2 trillion relief bill Thursday night, a move that came after a burst of negotiations between Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on a smaller, potentially bipartisan measure.

A separate report from the Commerce Department showed that while consumer spending, which accounts for around two thirds of U.S. gross domestic product, rose by 1 percent in August, personal income fell by 2.7 percent, while disposable personal income fell by 3.2 percent, suggesting Americans are increasingly having to rely on savings to meet spending needs.

Pelosi also called for more state and local funding, citing Friday's nonfarm payrolls report, which while it showed an overall gain of 661,000 jobs in September, also showed that 280,000 teachers and support staff have lost their jobs, with 49,400 of those lost at the state level and 231,100 lost at the local level.

The $2.2 trillion bill Democrats passed in the House backs an aid package to state and local governments to a still-huge $436 billion, and $225 billion to colleges and universities.

In her statement, the speaker also said Democrats have allocated $57 billion for Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit, while the Republicans are offering $25 billion and Democrats are "Pushing them to come up to the higher level."

https://www.theepochtimes.com/pelosi-says-significant-disagreement-remains-as-stimulus-bill-negotiations-continue_3524540.html