COVID-19 Stimulus: A big week ahead
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic Americans have looked to the government to provide financial assistance and support in this time of crisis. Both in the federal government and at the state level, officials are in negotiations for a new stimulus package aimed at providing financial support to those in need.
Looking back: In April 2020, the federal government passed a historic $2 trillion relief package that included a $1,200 stimulus check given to citizens across the country. Officials hoped the $1,200 payment could help provide assistance for those struggling to pay for necessities like food, rent, medical bills, and more.
In addition to the individual stimulus payments, government officials have pushed various funding around to help sustain other groups in need of financial assistance. In March, the CARES Act passed, providing an additional $600 weekly unemployment benefits through August. After that expired, President Donald Trump signed an executive action to give an extra $300 in weekly unemployment benefits. Supplemental unemployment aid is set to expire on Dec. 26 for roughly 12 million jobless workers.
Monday Dec. 14, 2020
As we near the holidays and the new year, lawmakers are entrenched in negotiations of a new COVID relief package. Many of those bills have been shut down, however three new proposals are currently in negotiations as we speak.
What’s on the table: Over a dozen Republican and Democratic leaders worked for weeks to find a compromise, presenting a bipartisan $908 billion aid package. The bill was passed by the House and moved into congress to be voted on this Friday.
The package adds $180 billion to unemployment benefits, creating an additional $300/week payments for those on unemployment.
It does not include a second economic stimulus payment, which many lawmakers said made the bill “doomed” from the start.
The proposal also adds $288 billion to the Paycheck Protection Plan, which assists small businesses. According to the Washington Post, these benefits are targeted at businesses hit the hardest by the closures, like restaurants and gyms.
From the White House, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin took the alternative route, proposing a new $918 billion relief package.
This package would provide $600 stimulus checks to qualifying adults and children.
To offset the cost of the stimulus checks, the proposal significantly reduced the amount of federal unemployment aid. As mentioned previously, current unemployment is set to expire by the end of the month.
The bill also provides $320 billion to the Paycheck Protection Plan for small businesses.
For many, the most popular relief topic is the individual stimulus payments. Republican Sen. Josh Hawley and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders partnered up to present an amendment to the bipartisan $908 billion bill.
This amendment is focused solely on providing Americans with another round of $1,200 payments.
On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell shot down the bipartisan relief package, saying that Republican senators won’t support $160 billion in state and local funds as part of a potential trade-off in the deal. The other deals on the table also don’t appear to have majority support in the House or the Senate, causing a federal stalemate in negotiations.
Looking ahead: With an apparent majority disapproval of the bills on the table, lawmakers now face a difficult week ahead as they race to find a bill they can agree on. To add to the urgency, if the bill does not clear congress on Friday Dec. 18, that would trigger a federal government shutdown. Last Friday, President Trump signed a spending bill that authorizes government programs to operate for another week, giving the White House and Congress just days to resolve numerous budget disagreements.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that congress would keep working up to or even after Christmas to get an agreement. “Now if we need more time then we take more time, but we have to have a bill and we cannot go home without it.”
Each day, KHQ will be tracking information on stimulus packages and providing updates on what you need to know. New updates will post daily on KHQ.com at 5:00pm PST.