House Includes Media Help In PPP Bill, Little Chance In Senate

House Democrats passed a $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief bill late Thursday over intense GOP opposition, even as bipartisan talks between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin continued.

The Washington Post reports the legislation, which passed 214 to 207, has no chance of advancing in the Republican-led Senate and is opposed by the White House. But it’s been nearly five months since the House passed the $3.4 trillion Heroes Act, which also went nowhere in the Senate. So with the House set to recess Friday through the election, Pelosi (D-Calif.) acceded to demands from moderate Democrats who wanted to take new action to address the toll of the coronavirus pandemic before heading home to campaign for reelection.

Republicans railed against Pelosi for advancing a bill that has no chance of becoming law, accusing her of playing politics instead of trying to strike a bipartisan deal. And even though it was largely pressure from moderate Democrats, some in tough reelection races, that persuaded Pelosi to reverse course and put the bill on the floor, 18 mostly centrist Democrats voted “no” on the legislation Thursday, with some expressing frustration that they were voting on a bill that was headed nowhere instead of an actual deal.

The Heroes Act, includes provisions to expand eligibility for U.S. Small Business Administration loan access to struggling local newspapers and radio and television stations.  This was hailed by the head of the NAB. But, that cheering could simply be symbolic: the bill has a thin chance of passing the Senate or getting the White House to sign it.

The successful passage of the bill comes following the May 2020 introduction by Reps. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) and Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.) of the Local News and Emergency Information Act in the House.

The expansion of PPP for local media would:

• provide television and radio broadcasters, as well as newspapers, the same treatment as hotels and restaurants received under the original CARES Act PPP – eligibility based on a physical location basis;
• require a local station to fit within the SBA size standard for the broadcasting industry;
• ensure that expanded PPP funds would remain at the local level through additional oversight.