As noted yesterday, House committees that received instructions to craft specific parts of the larger COVID relief package will begin to act today, with the Education and Labor Committee marking up its bill at 3 PM today (the session will be webcast here). The Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I), Financial Services, and Agriculture Committees are scheduled to follow suit by marking up their bills on Wednesday. Copies of the T & I and Financial Services bills were released late yesterday.
The House Ways and Means Committee is expected to take up its piece of the COVID package next week during a markup that is expected to take multiple days. The entirety of the Ways and Means package and summaries of each section are available here. Provisions of interest in the bill include, for example:
- $1,400 credit for both children and non-child dependents;
- Tax credits for state and local governments to provide paid family and medical leave created by Families First Corona Response Act, which would become effective March 31, 2021; and,
- Extension of the employee retention tax credit.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Capitol complex, the full Senate today is scheduled to start the trial to convict former president Donald Trump. Once the trial officially starts, both sides can use up to 16 hours to make their case.