A deal between the President and congressional leaders of both parties on an interim coronavirus measure that would primarily provide more funding for the now-exhausted CARES Act Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and for hospitals could be announced as soon as April 20 and cleared by Congress as soon as Wednesday, April 22.

While nothing has been announced and everything in Congress is subject to change, press reports indicate the emerging measure could provide:

• $310 billion for the PPP, with some directed to those who have struggled to get loans from banks
• $75 billion for hospitals
• $25 billion for testing
• $60 billion for disaster loans (Economic Injury Disaster Loan program)

Additional aid to the states would not be provided in this round of relief, but, despite some Republican resistance to more funding — a Wall Street Journal editorial over the weekend said it would "slow the recovery because it gives governors an incentive to stay locked down for longer" — President Trump said he supports state money in the next round of crisis relief, which is expected to be larger than the interim bill. "It will probably be our next negotiation … " the President said during his regular evening news conference. "I'm in favor of it, I will say, and I told the Republicans today, I had a great talk with Republican senators today. … That will be a very big topic over the next couple of weeks. It's very important."

On prospects for the interim measure, the President said, "we have some very good negotiations going on right now and I think you're going to have a nice answer tomorrow."

The Senate appears poised to be able to pass the interim bill by unanimous consent during one of its regular pro forma sessions. The next one is set for April 20 at 2 p.m. House leaders expect to at least need a quorum — more than 200 members — to pass any measure, and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) announced last night that the House could meet as early as Wednesday, April 22, at 10:00 a.m.

While party leaders were in a standoff posture heading into the weekend over what should be included in the deal, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) both subsequently signaled support. McConnell briefed members via conference call and noted that state funding is excluded, and the Speaker said in a taped ABC interview yesterday, "I think we're on a very good path."

On testing, Vice President Pence said during the briefing that the Administration would be working with governors, and earlier said of the 150,000 tests per day conducted now, "if states around the country will activate all of the laboratories that are available in their states, we could more than double that overnight and literally be doing hundreds of thousands of more tests per day in a very short period of time." Members of Congress have increasingly turned to the Administration for answers on testing capacity, and the Washington Post reported over the weekend that the issue "dominated a contentious, hour-long conference call between Vice President Pence and Democratic senators Friday afternoon as the lawmakers pressed administration officials on the availability of testing and on other specifics." The report cited Senator Angus King (I-ME) as saying the government's failure to develop a national testing regimen for the virus was a "dereliction of duty" and declared that "I have never been so mad about a phone call in my life."

On state funding, National Governors Association Chair Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has called on Congress to appropriate an additional $500 billion. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ), both Finance Committee members, have announced a bipartisan approach to create a $500 billion fund to "help states and local governments respond to the current public health and economic crisis, while maintaining essential services." They will outline, and possibly introduce, the legislation later on April 20

The timeframe for and specific menu of items to be included in a major bill #4/CARES 2 proposal are unknown, though Speaker Pelosi has said a priority will be on additional funding for CARES Act components. Today's Wall Street Journal reported, of additional proposals being rolled out for a next tranche, that some are "looking at measures to contain health-care costs connected to the virus and its treatment, for example."

The night of April 19, the White House released an Executive Order on National Emergency Authority to Temporarily Extend Deadlines for Certain Estimated Payments.

EY Alerts and other resources are here.

The global EY Tax COVID-19 Response Tracker has been updated through April 16.

EY Webcasts this week include:

• April 20. COVID-19: Payroll and employment tax considerations, 2:00 p.m. ET. To help you navigate the broad spectrum of challenges employers face at this time, we have brought together our employment tax and tax incentives professionals to discuss the payroll and employment tax considerations of the COVID-19 national emergency. Register.
• Tuesday, April 21. Tax in a disrupted market: Final and proposed hybrid arrangement regulations, 1:00 p.m. ET. In this fourth webcast in the series, please join our panelists for an in-depth discussion of the recently released final and proposed regulations under IRC Sections 245A, 267A and 881 on various hybrid arrangements and under IRC Section 951A on certain prepaid deductions. Register.
• Friday, April 24. Tax in the time of COVID-19, 12:00 p.m. ET. Details and registration information forthcoming.

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