By Andrew Kragie

Law360 (April 20, 2020, 9:13 PM EDT) -- Progressive House Democrats outlined their demands Monday for the next major pandemic relief package — free COVID-19 treatment, expanded employee leave, hazard pay and safety rules for frontline workers, temporary universal basic income, and regularization for unauthorized immigrants in essential jobs.

Leaders and members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus said on a news teleconference that they would oppose relief plans that don't address their broad set of priorities, which go well beyond the goals discussed earlier this month by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. They are focused not on this week's limited effort to replenish the small-business support known as the Paycheck Protection Program, which ran out of money last week, but instead on the broader relief package Congress is expected to consider in the next month.

"We need bold solutions that match the scale of the crisis we're facing today," said caucus co-chair Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash. "We have real concerns about giving away leverage now without getting some of the priorities that we need ... We cannot just give away the things that Republicans want most when they are not going to fix the problem that's in front of us."

"We need to be able to play hardball so that working families can get the support they need," said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. "Incrementalism is not helpful in this moment. For people to say, 'Oh, we got something, so we might as well support it. We got a nickel in a trillion-dollar bill, so we should support it' — that is unacceptable."

Progressives echoed Pelosi's calls for cost-free treatment for all COVID-19 patients, an Occupational Safety and Health Administration standard for frontline workers, more mortgage forbearance and further temporary limits on evictions, and more money for the District of Columbia, which has received less funding than any state despite having more residents than two states.

But the progressive demands go beyond what top Democratic leaders have endorsed. The caucus wants more people eligible to receive stimulus payments, including unauthorized immigrants, whom they say should have a path to legal status if they work in essential industries.

Although the speaker has called for more stimulus payments, the progressives urged up to a year of universal basic income with monthly payments of $2,000 to every adult, plus $1,000 for children.

Direct payments have some bipartisan support. Senate Republicans united behind the idea of stimulus checks in the last bill, and Missouri GOP Sen. Josh Hawley has proposed having the government cover up to 80% of wages for any closed company.

Progressives would also expand the CARES Act requirements for virus-related employee leave to cover companies with more than 500 workers, which were exempted. They call for hazard pay for everyone from nurses and grocery store clerks to farmworkers, a proposal backed by Senate Democrats.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., touted her recently proposed Rent and Mortgage Cancellation Act, which would effectively have the government cover all rent and home loan payments as long as President Donald Trump's emergency declaration remains in force. She said it was not enough to offer temporary relief and moratoriums on evictions and foreclosures, because many people have lost jobs and won't be able to make payments.

"As soon as this epidemic ends, that [relief] is going to end. So many people are going to be devastated," she said.

Progressives also want the government to cancel student loans of up to $30,000 per borrower and suspend all consumer debt collection.

Pelosi needs progressive votes to pass bills that lack Republican support, but smaller groups within the Democratic caucus are not essential when measures have broad bipartisan support. It's not clear how much leverage the group will have over the next major relief bill.

One possible scenario would see the House pass a bill with Democratic priorities while the GOP-led Senate passes its own version. The two chambers would then negotiate until they reach a deal that can get approval from both houses of Congress and the president.

Other proposals circulating among House Democrats include major changes to banking and housing such as a blanket ban on stock buybacks, a halt to all evictions and foreclosures, and a pause on any negative credit reporting. The Education and Labor Committee would have the government pay 15 months of insurance premiums for laid-off workers. A group of senior Democrats last week outlined their approach to pricing COVID-related pharmaceuticals with a ban on exclusivity, a requirement of reasonable prices and transparent corporate reporting on expenses.

--Editing by Gemma Horowitz.

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