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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) today said that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) agreed to aim for combining a pandemic relief package with government funding legislation in an “omnibus” bill that would prevent a partial shutdown later this month.

US and UK regulators are urging banks using the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) as a benchmark interest rate to stop writing new LIBOR contracts by the end of 2021, while most legacy contracts will be able to mature before use of the rate sunsets in June 2023.

Commercial real estate executives expressed a modest increase in optimism about market conditions despite serious COVID-related challenges, according to The Real Estate Roundtable’s Q4 Economic Sentiment Index released this week.

A quarterly survey of commercial real estate industry leaders reflects future optimism, despite ongoing serious COVID-related market challenges. Sentiment is somewhat bouyed by positive supply, demand and capital access, as well as hopeful expectations for a vaccine.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin sent a letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell yesterday requesting that five emergency lending facilities, including the Main Street Lending Program (MSLP), should not be extended past their scheduled expiration on December 31, 2020. Mnuchin also requested the Fed to return unused Treasury loan funds from the programs for Congress to re-appropriate.

The Real Estate Roundtable this week held a virtual “town hall” to discuss the election and its impact on national policy issues. Participating in the discussion were Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), Roundtable Chair Debra Cafaro (Chairman and CEO, Ventas, Inc.), Chair-Elect John Fish (Chairman and CEO, Suffolk), Roundtable President and CEO Jeffrey DeBoer and policy staff. The Nov. 9 discussion addressed a wide range of policy issues with nearly 200 Roundtable members in attendance.

A coalition of national real estate organizations, including The Real Estate Roundtable, this week urged federal banking agencies to provide additional guidance that would reaffirm financial institutions may use reasonable judgment when assessing credit risk during the unique circumstances of the pandemic – such as allowing borrowers and lenders additional time to see properties and loans through the pandemic.

The growing number of state and local mandates to reduce GHG emissions and increase renewable energy supplies are driving the need for uniform and voluntary federal-level practices to measure and price carbon, The Roundtable advised in comments submitted on Tuesday.

Ballot counting in the presidential election continued for the fourth day this week as former Vice President Joe Biden made gains against President Trump in key battleground states. Control of the Senate balances on the results of undecided races in Alaska and North Carolina – and on both Senate seats in Georgia that will face run-off elections on Jan. 5.

The Business Continuity Coalition (BCC), which includes The Real Estate Roundtable, announced on Oct. 28 that it aims to develop a public/private business continuity insurance program with policymakers and other stakeholders. Such a program would enable employers, in the event of a government-ordered shutdown, to keep payrolls and supply chains intact; help limit job losses and furloughs; reduce stress on the financial system; and speed economic recovery when government-imposed limitations on operations are lifted.

Current negotiations on a pandemic relief bill remain at a standstill until the results of next week’s elections, which will impact the contours of a potential deal in a “lame-duck” Congress that must also pass funding legislation by Dec. 11 to avoid a partial government shutdown.

The escalating threat of civil unrest related to the election – looting, homegrown violent extremists and organized attacks on properties – continues to be addressed by law enforcement and the commercial real estate industry. Through the Real Estate Information Sharing and Analysis Center (RE-ISAC), The Real Estate Roundtable works with government officials and private sector partners to detect, protect and respond to a multiplicity of such key threats.

The newly formed Business Continuity Coalition (BCC) brings together more than two dozen industries and companies, which represent more than 50 million workers, to develop a plan with policymakers and other stakeholders to protect American jobs and to limit future economic damage from pandemics and other national emergencies that cause business interruptions.

Policymakers signaled this week that pandemic relief negotiations remain at an impasse over federal aid to state and local governments and liability protection for employers – adding uncertainty to prospects for a deal before the election and diminishing chances for a legislative package before Nov. 3.

President Trump will urge Senate Republicans to approve a pandemic relief deal if an agreement can be reached soon with Democrats, according to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. That message was relayed by Mnunchin to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) this week during stimulus negotiations as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) repeated Republican opposition to the latest proposals.