Several months have passed since the first COVID-19 Relief Bill was passed. Since August, negotiations between political parties have stalled.

Now, just before election day, some good news. 

When asked late yesterday where her and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin were at in talks of a second stimulus package, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi seemed optimistic.

"It's close", Pelosi said. "It's close. We are putting pen to paper in certain, easier parts of the bill."

The announcement came on a day where the DOW Jones saw a rise of 150+ points. Stock market officials attributed this to hope that a bill would soon be passed. 

In order for a prospective bill to pass before election day, Pelosi said that it would have to be written and offered to congress by next Tuesday, October 27th. That would give congress a week to approve before the November 3rd election. 

There are, however, several disagreements that both Democrats and Republicans continue to have. These include discrepancies over how to spend state and local funding, liability insurance, and the overall price tag of the bill. 

To date, the White House has offered $1.8 trillion, while the House of Representatives made a slightly larger offer of $2.2 trillion. The United States Senate has made previous offers, all smaller than those two amounts, but each bill was rejected.

It's unknown whether both sides would be able to come to an agreement before election day, even if a bill were to be passed. Yesterday, at the debate, President Donald Trump criticized Pelosi, saying "Pelosi doesn't want to approve anything, because she would love to have some victories on a date called November 3rd. Nancy Pelosi does not want to approve. [Republicans] are ready, willing, and able to do something."

Pelosi says there are other things the parties don't see eye to eye on. "One of the big issues is education. We have a different view of how money should be spent on education", she said.

For people in Erie, it is likely that if a bill were to be passed before election day, eligible individuals could get a stimulus check (assuming one is included in the bill) as quickly as the middle of November. There was not concrete evidence that a second round of stimulus check would be included in a potential bill, although several previous versions did come with $1,200 payments for Americans. 

This story was supported by the Economic Hardship Reporting Project.