After months of stalemate, Congress struck a deal on nearly $900 billion in Covid-19 relief, including a new round of direct payments and help for jobless Americans, families and businesses struggling in the pandemic.
The agreement includes stimulus checks of up to $600 per person for individuals earning $75,000 per year and $600 for their children – the same requirements as the first round of stimulus checks.
It provides relief for the jobless, including an extension of unemployment insurance and a federal unemployment insurance bonus of $300 per week, over $284 billion more in loans for businesses struggling to pay rent and workers, $69 billion in testing and vaccine distribution funds and $82 billion in funding for colleges and schools.
It also includes the Democrats’ priority of $25 billion in rental assistance and a one-month extension of the eviction moratorium. More than $13 billion in food assistance is also in the bill.
The package excludes the Republican priority of liability protection from Covid-19-related lawsuits for businesses, universities and health care centers. It also doesn’t include hundreds of billions of dollars for states and localities for Medicare and for teachers and first responders who have come under financial distress during the pandemic.
Lawmakers are expected to vote on the package beginning Monday.