That’ll stuff a lot of stockings!
Congress reached a deal Sunday on a roughly $900 billion coronavirus relief package, including a new round of $600 stimulus checks for most Americans.
“More help is on the way,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky) said on the Senate floor, announcing the breakthrough.
Lawmakers only have to “promptly finalize text” and “avoid any last-minute obstacles” on the bill, McConnell said.
Both chambers of Congress are expected to vote on the package on Monday.
The massive pact will include temporary supplemental payments of $300 weekly for those on unemployment, plus direct $600 stimulus checks to Americans with yearly incomes of up to $75,000.
Under the $2.2 trillion CARES Act passed in March, eligible Americans received one-time $1,200 checks.
Also included is more than $284 billion for businesses decimated by the economic downturn and the revival of the Payment Protection Program, according to The New York Times.
The PPP program was a popular component of the CARES Act, acting as an essential lifeline for businesses struggling amid the pandemic.
The new measure is expected to provide $82 billion for colleges and schools, $25 billion in rental assistance, the extension of the eviction moratorium, and funds for COVID-19 vaccine distribution, according to The Times.
Also included are subsidies for businesses decimated by the economic downturn, plus funds for schools, health-care providers and renters facing eviction.
Leading Democratic lawmakers heralded news of the deal following the announcement by McConnell.
“Today, we have reached agreement with Republicans and the White House on an emergency coronavirus relief and omnibus package that delivers urgently needed funds to save the lives and livelihoods of the American people as the virus accelerates,” said Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, of New York, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, of California, in a joint statement.
“We are going to crush the virus and put money in the pockets of the American people.”
The legislation comes as the death toll from COVID-19 in the US approaches 317,000 and the economy is still reeling from the effects of the coronavirus downturn.
After a long-running series of aborted starts on a follow-up to the March relief package, Schumer and Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) worked past one of the final stumbling blocks to a deal late Saturday.
Toomey sought to bar the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department from restarting emergency lending efforts to corporate, municipal and medium-sized businesses.
Toomey said Sunday that lawmakers were still finalizing the language on the issue, but made it clear he would support the relief effort.
Earlier Sunday, President Trump tweeted that Congress must “GET IT DONE.”
