Top U.S. congressional negotiators reached an agreement Sunday on a new nearly $1 trillion coronavirus economic bailout package that finally provides long-overdue aid to businesses and individuals and funds much-needed vaccines for distribution, the Associated Press reported.
The deal, announced by Senate leaders, would provide $300 a week in temporary unemployment benefits and $600 in direct economic stimulus for most Americans, along with a new round of subsidies for hard-hit businesses and funding for schools, health care providers and renters facing eviction.
A spokeswoman for House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said the House is expected to vote on the legislation Monday. The House is expected to pass a one-day stopgap spending bill to avoid a government shutdown at midnight Sunday. The Senate will likely vote Monday as well. Lawmakers are eager to leave Washington and end a tumultuous year.
The final deal is the largest spending plan to date. It combines the new crown bailout with a $1.4 trillion government spending plan and other measures unrelated to taxes, health, infrastructure and education.
The bill is on the verge of passage as cases and deaths from the new crown virus surge and evidence of a troubled economy grows.
The late decision will limit unemployment benefits to $300 a week for 10 weeks instead of the previous 16 weeks. Unemployment benefits are half of the federal unemployment benefits provided by the CARE Act in March. The $600 stimulus payment paid directly to most people is also half of the March payment, but is subject to the same income limits that begin to phase out after an individual earns $75,000.
This would be the first major legislative response to this new crown pandemic since the near-unanimous passage of the $1.8 trillion CARE Act in March of this year.
Recent Comments