What to know about the second COVID-19 relief package in US?

OCY December 22, 2020 | 16:23

The second COVID-19 relief package is approved after a long consideration. Stimulus checks are included in the deal and there will be an extension of federal unemployment benefits, money for schools. Read on to find more about the deal and who will receive the bill.

Stimulus Deal: COVID-19 relief package is finally approved

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Photo: chicagotribune.com)

After months of failed negotiations, lawmakers have reached a deal on a second stimulus package, according to Forbes.

Known as “the four corners,” congressional leaders House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, met multiple times throughout the week and weekend and have reached an apparent deal. Included in the deal are stimulus checks, an extension of federal unemployment benefits, money for schools, and more.

In the months of back and forth, two issues held up a deal. Democrats wanted aid for state and local governments whose budgets have been hit hard by the effects of the pandemic. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell led Republicans in a demand for liability shields for businesses and colleges and universities. However, Congressional leaders agreed to put those two issues aside, which helped them make a deal.

Lawmakers struck a roughly $900 billion COVID-19 stimulus deal that includes another round of stimulus checks and badly needed jobless benefits for struggling Americans, ending a long standoff in Washington with one of the biggest rescue bills in U.S. history.

After months of impasse, negotiations came down to the wire as 12 million people are set to lose unemployment benefits the day after Christmas. The deal includes restarting a $300 boost to the federal unemployment insurance benefit, extending eviction moratoriums for renters by a month and a $600 direct payment to most Americans, according to the 5,600-page text of the bill.

Even though lawmakers reached a deal, some jobless Americans could see their unemployment benefits lapse because outdated state systems could slow down the distribution of aid, experts say.

The measure will help Americans in the near term, but it stops short of mitigating the economic fallout that households have endured during the pandemic, some economists and unemployment experts say. The final bill provides five fewer weeks of unemployment benefits than the compromise reached by a bipartisan group of senators earlier this month, cites forbes.com.

The measure was tied to a $1.4 trillion spending bill to fund federal agencies and programs through Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year.

The Senate resoundingly passed the package late Monday, sending the bill to Trump to sign.

Here's what is in the stimulus package:

Who can receive the COVID-19 relief package?

The measure contains a $600 direct payment to Americans who earned up to $75,000 in 2019. That is less than the $1,200 checks approved in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act in March.

It provides $600 per child, up from $500 in the spring. The bill also includes $1,200 for couples making up to $150,000 a year.

The size of the benefit would be reduced for those earning more than $75,000, or $150,000 per married couple, similar to the last round of stimulus checks.

The amount will decrease by $5 for every $100 of income above those thresholds, phasing out entirely at $87,000 for individuals and $174,000 for couples.

There is no cap on the number of children a household can claim, so a family of four would receive up to $2,400.

Mixed-status households, or those where a family member doesn’t have a Social Security number, will be eligible for stimulus payments, a key change from the CARES Act.

Those without Social Security numbers, typically unauthorized immigrants, still aren’t eligible. But it would allow U.S. citizens who are married to foreign nationals without Social Security numbers to receive the aid.

When will stimulus checks be sent?

Photo: New York Magazine

The government will begin to send out direct payments to millions of Americans next week, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Monday.

“People are going to see this money the beginning of next week,” Mnuchin said in a CNBC interview. "This is a very, very fast way of getting money into the economy. People go out and spend this money, and that helps small businesses. And that helps getting more people back to work."

Mnuchin said the government would begin sending the money out via direct deposit next week. In the spring, physical checks were mailed to Americans who didn't have a bank account or for those the federal government didn't have direct deposit information.

Are unemployment benefits extended?

The bill would extend all pandemic unemployment programs set to expire at the end of December by 11 weeks through mid-March, less than the 16 weeks that a bipartisan plan had called for earlier this month.

The deal came as two unemployment programs were set to end on Dec. 26: the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, which provides aid to self-employed, temporary workers and gig workers; and the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program, which provides an additional 13 weeks of benefits beyond the typical 26 weeks that states provide to jobless workers.

Are eviction moratoriums extended?

Yes. It would offer $25 billion in emergency rental assistance and provide an extension of eviction moratoriums by one month through Jan. 31.

The loss in jobless aid and other stimulus relief would have put 30 to 40 million people at risk of eviction as moratoriums were set to expire in January, according to the Aspen Institute, a think tank.

The bill doesn't extend a freeze on payments and interest for federal student loan borrowers, which will affect millions of borrowers who face resuming payments as early as February.

In March, the CARES Act gave 42 million borrowers relief during the pandemic.

Earlier this month, Trump paused federal student loan payments for another month through Jan. 31.

What else is in the package?

The package includes an extension of the small business Paycheck Protection Program, which expanded eligibility to local newspapers, broadcasters and nonprofits. It will direct another $20 billion to small business grants and $15 billion to live event venues.

The measure increased funding for vaccine distribution and coronavirus testing.

It also provided $13 billion in increased benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, according to usatoday.com.

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