THE NEW YORK TIMES, TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2020 Y A
Tracking an OutbreakU.S. Fallout
Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Capitol of-
fice suite, meeting with top Demo-
cratic leaders in a reflection of
their influence in the talks.
With the two sides far apart, it
appeared unlikely that they could
bridge their differences in time to
avert the lapse on Friday of the
supplemental jobless aid, nor was
it guaranteed they would be able
to do so at all. That left uncertain
the fate of President Trump’s best
hope of injecting one last shot of
stimulus into the economy before
the general election in November.
Complicating the picture, Re-
publicans and the White House
continued to bicker over the con-
tents of the package even after it
was announced, with Senator
Mitch McConnell, Republican of
Kentucky and the majority leader,
appearing surprised that it includ-
ed funding for a new F.B.I. build-
ing that has long been an obses-
sion of Mr. Trump’s.
“I don’t think there is funding, is
there?” Mr. McConnell said to re-
porters who asked about the
money, which is designated as a
coronavirus-related emergency in
the draft bill. Assured that it was,
he said the administration “will
have to answer the question on
why they insisted on that provi-
sion.”
Republicans had hoped to avoid
this situation altogether, knowing
that many in their ranks had
grown exhausted with the torrent
of federal spending — nearly $
trillion — that Congress approved
in rapid succession in early
spring. They resisted passing an-
other package, gambling that if
they waited, the virus would dissi-
pate and the economy would re-
bound, and that they could push
through a bare-bones package.
Instead, they are now staring
down the beginning of the school
year with skyrocketing cases and
record unemployment levels, with
many in their ranks unwilling to
pour any more money into the
economy. Their proposal spends
more than many Republicans are
likely to support, and it will most
likely grow as Democrats place
their stamp on it.
“There is significant resistance
to yet another trillion dollars,”
Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of
Texas, told reporters on Monday.
“As it stands now, I think it’s likely
that you’ll see a number of Repub-
licans in opposition to this bill and
expressing serious concerns.”
The policy gulf between the two
parties has widened in recent
days to the point where top White
House officials have begun to float
the prospect of a narrow bill to ad-
dress the unemployment benefits,
liability protections and school
funding, eschewing Democratic
priorities and other objectives in
an effort to address what they
deem to be more immediate
needs. Democrats have rejected
such a plan.
“We have produced a tailored
and targeted draft that will cut
right to the heart of three distinct
crises facing our country: getting
kids back in school, getting work-
ers back to work and winning the
health care fight against the vi-
rus,” Mr. McConnell said as he led
about a dozen Republican sena-
tors in unveiling the legislation on
the Senate floor. House Demo-
crats’ proposal, he said, amounted
to a “multitrillion dollar socialist
manifesto.”
The package of bills rolled out
on Monday included a new round
of $1,200 direct payments to
Americans earning $75,000 or less
per year. In line with Mr. Trump’s
demands, it would reserve tens of
billions of dollars in federal fund-
ing for schools that reopen for in-
person instruction.
It would limit legal liability for
businesses that open amid the
pandemic, a top priority of busi-
ness groups in Washington, for co-
ronavirus-related episodes that
take place through October 2024.
It establishes a tax credit for com-
panies to reconfigure their work-places to promote safety from the
virus, and it would expand tax
credits for employers that hire
and retain workers amid the out-
break. The proposal would also of-
fer tax certainty to Americans
who work in one state and live in
another, and are facing the
prospect of paying income taxes
in multiple states if they were
forced to work from home.
The package would both extend
government aid for small busi-
nesses through the Paycheck Pro-
tection Program, which was es-
tablished in March, and narrow
the set of companies eligible to re-
ceive it. It would also create an al-
ternate source of aid for busi-
nesses in low-income, high-pov-
erty areas: a 20-year loan, with an
interest rate of 1 percent, that
would give those businesses
enough cash to replace up to two
years of lost revenues.
It also includes a bipartisan pro-
posal to force Congress to con-
sider future deficit and debt-re-
duction measures.
The introduction of the package
had been delayed for days as Re-publicans worked to resolve inter-
nal divisions with each other and
Mr. Trump and to put forward a
united front before negotiations
with Democrats. But on Monday,
the measure already faced resist-
ance by some rank-and-file Re-
publicans and was scorned by
Democrats in both chambers, who
said it failed to meet even a frac-
tion of the country’s economic and
health needs.
“We have stood ready to negoti-
ate for more than two months,”
Ms. Pelosi said in a statement be-
fore the meeting in her office. “If
Republicans care about working
families, this won’t take long.
Time is running out. Congress
cannot go home without an agree-
ment.”
The disconnect between the
two parties has already allowed
the additional $600-per-week un-
employment benefit to expire for
many workers, a move that could
prove more harmful if households
opt to make precautionary spend-
ing cuts without the guarantee of
more relief.
Mr. Meadows and Mr. Mnuchinsought to leave an indelible mark
on the package on behalf of Mr.
Trump, spending a weekend on
Capitol Hill meeting with Senate
staff — an unusual step for senior
cabinet officials — to hammer out
the technical details of the unem-
ployment proposal.
While the two men ultimately
agreed to drop demands for a pay-
roll tax cut — a presidential pri-
ority dismissed by members both
parties — they succeeded in se-
curing $1.75 billion for the design
and construction of a new building
for the F.B.I. Headquarters across
from Mr. Trump’s luxury hotel in
downtown Washington, in which
he has repeatedly shown a per-
sonal interest.
The proposal to cut the jobless
aid by two-thirds is likely to be
among the most bitterly contested
issues in the negotiations to come.
Many Republicans oppose the
supplemental jobless aid, arguing
that it is a disincentive to return-
ing to work because it exceeds
what some workers can earn in
regular wages. The Republican
plan envisions eventually shiftingto a new system of calculating fed-
eral aid that would cap benefits at
about 70 percent of a worker’s pri-
or income, which would also
amount to about $200 per week.
Most Democrats say state unem-
ployment systems were already
struggling to handle distribution
of the $600 lump sum, and would
be challenged to adapt to a new
system.
The Republican proposal would
also establish a liability shield for
businesses, schools and hospitals
open during the pandemic from
facing claims over incidents relat-
ed to the coronavirus. Mr. McCon-
nell has repeatedly deemed such a
provision to be a prerequisite for
any further aid bill, while Demo-
crats have instead pushed for fed-
eral protections for workers
against the coronavirus.
Republicans also set aside $
billion in aid for schools, with $
billion going to elementary and
secondary schools, two-thirds of it
reserved for institutions that have
begun reopening and holding
some in-person classes. Another
$30 billion would go to colleges
and universities.CONGRESS
G.O.P. Relief Plan Slashes Extra Pay for Unemployed by $400 a Week
From Page ASenator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, appeared surprised the bill included funding for a new F.B.I. building that has been an obsession of President Trump.ANNA MONEYMAKER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMESity of this situation.”
For many Americans, the long-
delayed return of baseball was a
sign of normalcy during a pan-
demic that has shut down much of
the nation and thrown daily life
into disarray. Even without fans in
the stands, the league’s return had
seemed like a triumph, or at least
a comforting sight, after more
than four months with a largely
shuttered sports landscape.
But the news about the Marlins
was a stark reminder of the chal-
lenge facing a country trying to
find a more normal routine. If
baseball, a $10 billion industry op-
erating in a controlled envi-
ronment and employing frequent
testing cannot prevent infections,
then how are schools, restaurants
and other retail businesses going
to do so?
“I think it’s another indictment
of the United States’ overall ap-
proach to Covid,” said Dr. Michael
Saag, an infectious diseases ex-
pert at the University of Alabama
at Birmingham. He added: “We
find ourselves impatient. And
that’s what I think we’re suffering
from, both in terms of not just Ma-
jor League Baseball but for every
other thing we’re trying to do.”
The crisis baseball is con-
fronting also raises concerns for
other sports planning their re-
turn, particularly professional
and college football, given the
shifting geography of the out-
break. While many leagues are
preparing for contained envi-
ronments, playing all their games
in one or two locations, the Na-
tional Football League is planning
on holding games at its usual sta-
diums across the country, like
baseball.
The Marlins, for now, are stay-
ing in Philadelphia, Jeter said,
while awaiting the results of an-
other round of testing. The
Phillies were tested at their ball-
park on Monday while the Yan-
kees stayed at their hotel, which
the Marlins did not share. The Ori-
oles, who were in Miami, made
plans to return to Baltimore,
where they are to host the Marlins
on Wednesday and Thursday.
The Marlins news heightened a
sense of dread among players and
coaches who opted to participate
in this season. At least a dozen
players opted out before the sea-
son began.
“This thing really hits home
now that you see half a team get
infected and go from one city to
another,” Washington Nationals
Manager Dave Martinez said.
He added: “I’ll be honest with
you, I’m scared, I really am.”
Kansas City Royals first base-
man Ryan O’Hearn, who returned
to his team on Monday after miss-
ing the opening series following a
positive test, said the outbreak
was sobering.
“It seems like it’s spreading like
wildfire,” O’Hearn said. “It’s defi-
nitely a scary situation. Everyone
realizes the kind of risk we’re tak-
ing.”
The Marlins played two exhibi-
tions in Atlanta last week and then
played three games at Citizens
Bank Park in Philadelphia over
the weekend. Before Sunday’s se-
ries finale, Miami learned that
four players had tested positive.
Manager Don Mattingly changed
starting pitchers — replacing Jose
Urena, who was reportedly one of
the players who tested positive —
but told reporters later that the
team had “never really consid-
ered not playing.”
On Friday, the first day of
games for most teams, the league
announced that only six of 10,
samples it had tested that week
returned new positives. But most
of those tests were conductedwhile teams were training at their
home parks, before traveling.
The league is attempting to
stage a 60-game regular season
using 30 stadiums across the
United States, including a Class
AAA ballpark in Buffalo for the To-
ronto Blue Jays, who were banned
from playing home games by the
Canadian government because of
the travel risk.
Baseball’s decision to play
games at home sites stands apart
from pro basketball and hockey,
which are set to resume play in
contained environments, rather
than across the continent. The Na-
tional Basketball Association,
which will resume its season on
Thursday, is housing players and
holding games at Walt Disney
World near Orlando, Fla., while
the National Hockey League is us-
ing sites in Toronto and Edmon-
ton, Alberta, when it restarts on
Saturday.
Those leagues are also using
fewer teams and planning fewer
games than baseball is; both were
deep into their seasons when
sports shut down in mid-March,so hockey teams will move di-
rectly to the playoffs, with 24 of 31
teams taking part, while the
N.B.A.’s plan involves only 22 of its
30 teams for the end of its season.
The pro football season is set to
begin on Sept. 10, while decisions
about fall college sports, including
football, have been largely left to
university presidents and confer-
ences. While some conferences
have pared their schedules, most
major universities expect to move
ahead with varsity sports. But
even they have acknowledged the
tenuous nature of those plans.
“I’m personally concerned
about schools reopening in hot
spot states, and we know where
they are,” Dr. Saag said. “I think
Major League Baseball is kind of
the vanguard on this, and the
other collections of people — be it
students or campuses or the
N.B.A. perhaps — it’s all going to
follow suit because we’re in such a
big hurry.”
In an interview with The New
York Times in May, Commissioner
Rob Manfred outlined the chal-
lenges of planning baseball dur-ing the pandemic.
“One of the things that floated
up from one of the experts is, ‘Gee
whiz, a way that you can do this is
to quarantine players,’ ” Manfred
said, adding later, “And then
you’re going to start a four-and-a-
half month season, and your life is
going to be hotel to ballpark, back
to hotel, room service, not see
your family.”
“So then we realized, gee, that’s
pretty tough. So then we started
talking about including families,
and you realize as you get into that
phase that you get into quarantine
numbers that are insane.”
Manfred said that the league
had considered holding games in
three hubs: Arizona, Texas and
Florida.
As baseball considered that
plan late in the spring, though, the
spread of the virus ebbed in some
hard-hit parts of the country and
businesses began to reopen. Base-
ball shifted its focus to playing in
stadiums with no fans while out-
lining extensive health and safety
protocols, even as the coronavirus
began to spread in wider swaths
of the country.
While many players opposed
the quarantine idea, some may
now question the wisdom of the
path the sides chose.
“You just see comments, ‘Oh,
this was expected,’ ” Yankees
pitcher Adam Ottavino said in an
interview on Monday. “To me, OK,
so, well, if it was expected, it’s just
so reckless in my opinion. But a lot
of guys didn’t want to do the bub-
ble.
“I would’ve been willing to do
the bubble. I thought, personally,
that was a no-brainer,” he said.
In an interview with MLB Net-
work on Monday night, Manfred
said, “We knew that we were go-
ing to have positives at some point
in time. I remain optimistic that
the protocols are strong enough
that it will allow us to continue to
play, even through an outbreaklike this.”
Baseball adjusted its schedule
so teams would play only in their
geographic divisions, yet reduced
travel is still travel. Some of the of-
ficial safety rules seemed unreal-
istic and have been routinely bro-
ken, such as the ban on high-fiving
and spitting.
Scott Servais, the manager of
the Seattle Mariners, said on Mon-
day that players and staff must be
more vigilant. At big moments in
games, he said, safety protocols
have been ignored.
“We’re saying all the right stuff,
but then you watch the games,” he
said. “We have to do the right
thing. And sometimes you let your
emotions get in the way, you just
react, and we weren’t clearly
thinking and slowing it down
enough in those spots.”
David Price, a veteran pitcher
for the Los Angeles Dodgers who
opted out of playing, questioned
the sincerity of baseball’s commit-
ment to players’ well-being.
“Now we REALLY get to see if
MLB is going to put players health
first,” Price wrote on Twitter on
Monday.
With player availability ex-
pected to be in flux because of the
virus, teams are carrying four
more active players, with a pool of
30 additional players available at
an alternate training site near
home ballparks. But the idea was
to cover a few absences, not an
outbreak like what the Marlins are
experiencing. The league has
known all along that such an out-
come could be devastating.
“If we have a team or two that’s
really decimated with a number of
people who had the virus and can’t
play for any significant period of
time, it could have a real impact on
the competition,” Manfred said in
an interview on “The Dan Patrick
Show” on July 2. “And we’d have to
think very, very hard about what
we’re doing.”
That day has arrived quickly.THE QUEST FOR NORMALCY
Baseball’s Nightmare Scenario Becomes a Reality: 14 Infections on a Single Team
James Wagner contributed report-
ing.
From Page AUp-close celebrations like the one the Marlins had after a victory
on Friday have become a fraught issue in baseball’s restart.MITCHELL LEFF/GETTY IMAGES