Last night the House of Representatives passed the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act, or “HEROES” Act on a 208-199 vote. The measure totals $3 trillion and is widely viewed as the House Democrats opening bid of “Phase IV” legislation to provide further relief from the COVID-19 pandemic. Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has called the bill “aspirational” and has stated several times he does not plan to act immediately on another round of stimulus legislation. However, Leader McConnell and Senate Republicans have begun developing their own legislative package of COVID-19 related liability reforms to foster economic recovery. Any “Phase IV” legislation that gets signed into law will be a result of negotiations between the House Democrats, Senate Republicans and the Administration, and will likely be significantly different than the version of the HEROES Act that passed the House yesterday. Deliberations are expected to move well into June before consensus on a bill is reached.

SFA will continue to engage with Capitol Hill as negotiations on “Phase IV” legislation continue and will keep our members informed of what is likely to be included in the final bill. Please reach out with any questions.