WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Top Democrats in the House of Representatives are working on a $2.2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package that lawmakers could vote on next week, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal said on Thursday.
“I assume, since the House is scheduled to break for the election cycle, then I think next week’s … appropriate,” Neal told reporters, adding that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will determine when to introduce the legislation.
“The contours are already there. I think now it’s about time frame and things like that,” he added.
Asked to confirm that the package would amount to $2.2 trillion, Neal described the sum as being “in the park.”
Neal said the new move toward legislation has been prompted by the Fed chairman’s recent testimony, which reminded people that the U.S. central bank is a lending institution, not a spending institution.
(Reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
