McConnell sets sights on stimulus bill by end of the year

• Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said his top priority will be to pass a new economic stimulus bill before the end of the year, he said in a news conference in Kentucky after he won re-election for his seventh term in the Senate.
• Though there are still some Senate races too close to call, it appears that Republicans will keep control of the Senate.
• McConnell said he hopes that "partisan passions that prevented us from doing another rescue package will subside with the election."
• "And I think we need to do it, and I think we need to do it before the end of the year," he said.
• Talks for further fiscal measures to ease the economic burdens of the coronavirus have been stalled for months. The House, controlled by Democrats, passed a $3T stimulus bill in May, then passed a revised $2.2T package in early October, neither of which were taken up by the Senate.
• McConnell had tried twice, unsuccessfully, to pass a half-trillion-dollar program that provided aid for schools and replenished the PPP small loan program. That was blocked by Senate Democrats who said it didn't go far enough and by some Republicans who said it cost too much.
• With the elections over, McConnell seems to be taking a more conciliatory tone. "We have to deal with the Democrats,” he said.
• https://seekingalpha.com/news/3631436-mcconnell-sets-sights-on-stimulus-bill-end-of-year