While it appeared as of Tuesday that Democrats and Republicans had hammered out an agreement on a $2 trillion economic stimulus package to help families, businesses and municipalities struggling over the coronavirus, and Sen. Bob Casey held a telephone news conference to tout Democrats' influence on the bill, it all appeared to be up in the air by Wednesday afternoon.

In addition to payments for every individual and married couple who filed tax returns in 2018 and earned less than $75,000 and $150,000, respectively, the bill was to include $300 billion for small businesses, $150 billion for state and local governments and $130 billion to help hospitals.

The bill was to be fast-tracked to provide the funds to individuals and entities as soon as early April.

Casey in his news conference before reporters who had phoned in from across Pennsylvania said that Democrats fought to “put the bill into much better shape” than the one proposed earlier by Republicans.

He said Democrats got the payments for individuals and families doubled and eliminated a provision that would prevent lower income taxpayers from getting a check. He said the payment amount for individuals was $1,200 in the Republican bill, but could not say exactly how much individuals would get in the new bill.

Casey said Democrats also got more funds for hospitals, nursing homes and community health clinics to the tune of $150 billion.

“If the Republican bill went forward, that number would have been a lot smaller,” he said.

He said Democrats were successful in garnering another month of unemployment for furloughed workers than was included in the Republican bill, and that the GOP was not going to offer funding to state and local governments.

“It's going to be of great help,” Casey said.

Casey credited Democrats with getting an extra $5 billion for transit agencies, at a total of $25 billion.

He said some areas enjoyed bipartisan support, like the $377 billion in funding to help small businesses through grants and loans.

“It didn't require near the hand-to-hand combat of the other provisions,” Casey said.

He also touted his efforts to have provisions for seniors included that would “support seniors at home, including new resources and flexibilities for nutrition services, and to protect nursing home residents from this terrible virus.”

However, he said Democrats made no headway on increasing the amounts for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or relief for mortgage payments or student debt.

Casey said he hoped to have cash in the hands of struggling families and entities as soon as possible.

“I think overall, it's vitally important that this bill move as fast as it can,” he said.

Asked for his reaction to the stimulus package agreed upon by both sides of the aisle on Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-16th, initially responded that the bill “will provide immediate relief for workers, small businesses, and entire industries that have been devastated by the spread of COVID-19.

“It will also aid America's current heroes: our doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals who are caring for the sick on the front line of this pandemic,” Kelly added in his email. “We will defeat the coronavirus, and this legislation is a life-line to American families while we confront this public health emergency together.”

Thirty minutes later, another email from Kelly stated that a drafting error in the legislation may incentivize layoffs and risk life-threatening consequences for critical industries.

Kelly included a statement issued by Senators Tim Scott, Ben Sasse and Lindsay Graham on the matter.

“Unless this bill is fixed, there is a strong incentive for employees to be laid off instead of going to work,” the statement said.

It went on to say that if the federal government accidentally incentivizes layoffs, “we risk life-threatening shortages in sectors where doctors, nurses, and pharmacists are trying to care for the sick, and where growers and grocers, truckers and cooks are trying to get food to families' tables.”

The senators said passing the bill with the faulty language would be the wrong thing to do in a crisis.

“We must sadly oppose the fast-tracking of this bill until this text is addressed, or the Department of Labor issues regulatory guidance that no American would earn more by not working than by working,” the statement concluded.

The Senate was poised to vote on the bill on Wednesday and the House of Representatives to make any changes and vote on Thursday.

It was unclear on Wednesday afternoon whether the brakes have been applied to the bill due to the language on layoffs.