In Washington

• We have compiled a list of all the documents released by the Senate Republicans on their Phase 4 coronavirus plan:
  • Section-by-section summary of “American Workers, Families, and Employers Assistance Act” by Committee on Finance
  • Summary of “Continuing Small Business Recovery and Paycheck Protection Program Act”
  • One-pager on “Back to Work Care Grants”
  • One-pager on “Back to Work Child Care Grants”
  • Section-by-section summary of “Safely Back to School and Back to Work Act”
  • Text of the “Safeguarding America’s Frontline Employees To Offer Work Opportunities Required to Kickstart the Economy Act” or the “SAFE TO WORK Act” regarding liability protection.
  • Summary of “Additional Emergency Appropriations for Coronavirus Health Response and Agency Operations”
  • Section-by-section summary on “Safe to Work Act”
  • Section-by-section summary on “Safely Back to School and Back to Work Act”
  • Summary of “Time to Rescue United States’ Trusts Act”
  • Section-by-section summary on “Restoring Critical Supply Chains and Intellectual Property Act”
  • One-pager on “Simplifying Student Loan Repayment”
  • One-pager on “Education Freedom Scholarships”
  • One-pager on “Back to Work Child Care Grants”
• The Wall Street Journal provides a comparison of the House Democratic and Senate Republican plans.
• The administration and Democrats continue to negotiate on a coronavirus stimulus package. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) says he and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will meet with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows again Tuesday night to continue COVID-19 aid talks.
• After considerable blowback by both Democrats and Republican lawmakers, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) says he wants the US$1.75 billion in funding for a new FBI headquarters in downtown Washington removed from the GOP's coronavirus relief package. On Tuesday, McConnell told reporters that he hopes that provision and other “non-germane” items will be removed from the legislation before it’s sent to the president’s desk. “I am opposed to non-germane amendments, whether it’s funding for the FBI building or, for example, in the House bill, whether it’s a tax cut for high-income earners in blue states or other non-germane amendments in the House bill like marijuana studies or aid to illegal immigrants,” McConnell said. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-AL) told reporters that the FBI funding in the bill was a request from the administration.
• Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and House Oversight Chair Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) are asking the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to look into how much the federal government spent and contributed to the development of Gilead’s Covid-19 drug remdesivir. The letter continues the work of the late Elijah Cummings, who as Oversight chair worked with Stabenow to investigate the patents behind Gilead’s HIV drug Truvada. The effort led to Health and Human Services (HHS) suing Gilead over patent infringement last November.
• Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ) and several vulnerable Senate Republicans have introduced their own bill to subsidize employer insurance through the end of this year. The measure requires that none of the funds help plans that cover abortions, making it unlikely to gain Democratic support. Cosponsors include Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX), Steve Daines (R-MT), and Dan Sullivan (R-AK).
• Democratic senators Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) introduced legislation today that would suspend health providers’ abilities to garnish wages, seize bank accounts, and other “extraordinary collection actions,” backdated to February 2020. The bill would also offer protections for patients, including relief on repayment and additional medical costs due to coronavirus testing and treatment.
• U.S. hospitals are lobbying Congress to forgive US$100 billion in Medicare loans that were paid out last spring to help keep the health system afloat. Under the loan program, the administration will start withholding new Medicare payments 1 August, until the loans made last spring are repaid. If the loans aren’t fully paid within a year, providers face a 10 percent interest charge on top of the balance of the loan. The American Hospital Association says health systems just can’t pay that back now.
• White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said Tuesday there are early signs that a coronavirus outbreak could be brewing in Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee and Kentucky.
• President Trump plans to accept the Republican presidential nomination in North Carolina next month, after all, he told a local news outlet on Monday. The announcement is a reversal for the president, who had moved his acceptance speech and other convention events from North Carolina to Florida after North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) insisted on the GOP holding a scaled-down convention because of the coronavirus pandemic.
• CMS data showed that 44 percent of Medicare primary care visits were conducted via telehealth in April amid the pandemic, compared to 0.1 percent in February.

In the News

• The International Air Transport Association released a forecast Tuesday predicting global air passengers won't return to pre-COVID-19 levels until 2024, one year later than they had previously projected.
• Twitter took action against both President Trump and his son, Donald Trump, Jr., for violating the forum’s COVID-19 misinformation after Trump posted a tweet promoting not wearing a mask and phony cures for COVID-19. Twitter removed a Trump retweet in which a doctor proclaims, without evidence, that "there is a cure" for the coronavirus. Twitter also temporarily limited some functionality on Donald Trump Jr.'s account after he tweeted a video that gave misinformation on hydroxychloroquine. The hold will be for 12 hours and Twitter has asked the President's son to delete the tweet with the video.
• As retailers take precautions to a new level to try to welcome shoppers safely back to stores, consumers are still wary of returning to bricks-and-mortar retail, a new survey finds. A 10 July poll of more than 1,200 people by First Insight found that 32 percent of people feel unsafe or very unsafe visiting shopping malls. That’s an uptick from the 29 percent of consumers surveyed on 30 April.
• COVID-19 cases are skyrocketing in states frequently slammed by hurricanes including Texas, Florida, and Louisiana. Experts worry that encouraging people to travel to other cities or states to stay with family, or housing them in crowded gymnasiums and convention centers, isn't in line with pandemic mitigation practices.
• The American Federation of Teachers called Tuesday for “safety strikes” as “a last resort” if negotiations over reopening schools don't meet demands for keeping educators healthy and safe amid the coronavirus pandemic.
• Restaurant transactions have plateaued as COVID-19 surges around the country. The NPD Group reports that after approaching last year’s numbers in mid-June, transactions are flatlining as many states reimpose restrictions on dining out.
• Restaurants are running out of coins too. Amid a national coin shortage caused by a COVID-19-caused decrease in cash flowing through the economy, two Chick-fil-A locations in Alabama and Virginia will now offer free food in exchange for US$10 in change. The U.S. Mint has asked consumers to start spending or depositing coins once again to boost supply.

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