US CONGRESS AGREES TO $900B COVID-19 RELIEF PACKAGE

Mon 21 December 2020:

Congress reached a deal Sunday on a $900 billion coronavirus relief package, a long-delayed effort to boost an American health-care system and economy buckling under the weight of the pandemic.

In addition to direct payments, the legislation is also expected to include efforts to further unemployment assistance and assist small businesses struggling to cope with the economic destruction wrought by the pandemic, though the text of the bill has yet to be released.

The relief plan includes direct payments of $600 to most adults and $600 per child, Pelosi and Schumer said in a statement.

The Democrats said it would put $284 billion into Paycheck Protection Program small business loans, and include funds for loans from small and minority-owned lenders. It would direct another $20 billion to small business grants and $15 billion to live event venues.

It would also add a $300 federal unemployment supplement and temporarily keep in place pandemic-era programs that expanded unemployment insurance eligibility. It was not immediately clear how long each of those measures would last.

If the jobless benefits expansion expires the day after Christmas, 12 million people will lose unemployment insurance.

“As the American people continue battling the coronavirus this holiday season, they will not be on their own,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Twitter. “Congress has just reached an agreement. We will pass another rescue package ASAP. More help is on the way.”

Chuck Schumer, the Senate’s top Democrat, also confirmed the deal, saying it will be the second largest fiscal stimulus effort in American history after lawmakers passed a $2.2 trillion bill to bolster America’s economic stability in March as the coronavirus was forcing widespread shutdowns.

“It will deliver emergency relief to a nation in the throes of a genuine emergency. We must make law as soon as possible,” Schumer said in a series of tweets. “By all rights, a #COVIDrelief bill of this urgency should have passed months ago. The country needed it.”

Across the legislature, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also confirmed the agreement.

The COVID relief is being bundled with a wide government funding bill that combined accounts for over $2 trillion in spending, according to multiple reports.

Final votes are expected at some point Sunday night before a midnight deadline. US President Donald Trump has signaled his eagerness to see a bill enacted into law, saying on Twitter Sunday morning that lawmakers should “GET IT DONE, and give them more money in direct payments.”

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