Pelosi did not mention any specific stabilizer proposals, but a few of her caucus members have provided some options.Įarlier this week, Virginia Democratic Rep. In addition to unemployment benefits, Pelosi said automatic stabilizers could be used for other relief like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, informally known as food stamps, and federal Medicaid reimbursement rates, known as Federal Medical Assistance Percentages (FMAP), “so that you don’t always have to say, ‘Let’s debate whether that’s necessary.’” Still, her expression of support for the idea increases the likelihood that some could make it into the measure. She did not explicitly promise that the package Democrats are drafting will include automatic stabilizers but rather presented it as one option that the caucus is discussing. Pelosi’s comments on the matter Thursday are the first time she has publicly weighed in on the idea. The New Democrat Coalition, a group of more moderate House Democrats, has been pushing leadership for months now to include automatic stabilizers in economic relief legislation.
“So if the unemployment rate, say now it’s up at 7 percent, it triggers 26 weeks of unemployment benefits.”Īutomatic stabilizers are a mechanism for keeping government assistance flowing by tying relief programs to economic or timing triggers. “We think that there should be stabilizers in these bills,” Pelosi said during her weekly news conference when asked if a coronavirus relief package that her caucus is drafting will further expand unemployment insurance benefits. Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday endorsed an idea that many Democratic lawmakers have been pushing: to use so-called automatic stabilizers to keep critical coronavirus relief programs running without Congress having to repeatedly re-up funding.
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