What’s in the New COVID Relief Bill?
Ultimately, Congress is set to pass a second COVID relief bill, totaling more than $ 900 billion in funding – and it will include the unexpected addition of $ 600 in direct payments to qualified individuals. The bill also extends unemployment benefits and a moratorium on evictions, which would expire before the end of the year. Here are all the details of what to expect.
What’s in the help package?
The aid bill has been around for a long time. Negotiations dragged on for weeks as lawmakers debated the Democrats opposing COVID protections for business liability and additional government and local funding opposed by Republicans.
The controversial measures were spun off into a separate bill that lawmakers postponed until January, when President-elect Joe Biden is expected to propose additional aid legislation (in a statement, Biden called the $ 900 billion plan “just the beginning”). ). With these items removed, it looks like a relief package will come through in the next few days. The text of the bill is not yet available, but the package is expected to include:
Incentive checks
The package will include direct incentive payments of $ 600 to individuals, plus $ 600 per dependent (the earlier incentive package, the CARES Act, provided for payments of $ 1,200 and $ 500, respectively). Previous payments will be based on individual gross income from 2019, and payments will be reduced if a person’s income exceeds $ 75,000, and canceled when it exceeds $ 87,000 (thus, individuals earning $ 87,000 or more, will not receive any funds), according to the Wall. Street Journal . For married couples filing together, benefits will be reduced starting at $ 150,000 in annual income, and canceled for those earning more than $ 174,000.
Extended unemployment insurance
Unemployed people will be eligible for a federal unemployment subsidy of $ 300 per week. The money is available until March 14th.
The plan also extends the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) programs until mid-March, allowing people to receive a total of 50 weeks of unemployment assistance. These programs expand qualifications for unemployment benefits (by extending them to workers and freelancers, for example) and apply to workers who have exhausted their state unemployment benefits.
According to CNBC , some self-employed, giants and freelance workers who have both regular wages and self-employment income will be eligible for an additional $ 100 per week to make up for deficiencies in how states calculate unemployment compensation.
Rental Assistance and Extension of the Eviction Moratorium
The bill extends the existing eviction moratorium until January 31, and Joe Biden is expected to push for further extensions once he takes office. The package also provides $ 25 billion in rental assistance to those who lost their jobs during the pandemic.
Small business loans
More than $ 284 billion is included in the first and second payroll protection loans, which have been expanded to nonprofit organizations and local newspapers, television and radio broadcasters. There is also $ 15 billion in targeted funding for concert venues, independent cinemas and other cultural institutions. The law will also simplify the process of applying for forgiveness for businesses that take out PPP loans of less than $ 150,000.
Nutrition assistance
More than $ 13 billion will go to food aid. The Supplemental Nutrition Program (SNAP) will increase benefits by 15% over six months, and eligibility will be expanded to include college students. Unemployment benefits also do not count as income when determining if a person is eligible for SNAP, according to CNBC .
The bill also expands access to food for children, as any child under the age of six will be eligible for child care and the right to receive Pandemic EBT (P-EBT) benefits. CNBC also reports that food banks will also receive $ 400 million through the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). Food programs like Meals on Wheels and WIC will receive $ 175 million.
Health financing
The bill includes $ 9 billion for healthcare providers and $ 4.5 billion for mental health, as well as over $ 1 billion for COVID-19 research, according to the Wall Street Journal .
Accordingly, the bill also ended the practice of sudden billing for medical services .
School funding
States receive some indirect compensation for education costs as the law provides for $ 82 billion in public and private K-12 schools and colleges. The bulk of this money will go to a $ 54.3 billion public school fund, while $ 22.7 billion will go towards public and private higher education.
Funding for vaccine distribution
States and federal agencies will receive about $ 20 billion to distribute the vaccine. According to the Wall Street Journal , about $ 9 billion will go to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and individual states to help distribute the vaccine, and $ 3 billion will go towards building a national vaccine stockpile.
This story was originally published on December 7, 2020 and has been updated on December 21, 2020 with more information. It was updated again after publication on December 21st to adjust income limits for direct payments in line with the new bill.