On Monday evening, Congress voted to approve the $900 billion Covid rescue package that promises to accelerate vaccine distribution and deliver much-needed help to small businesses hit hard by the global pandemic.
The White House has said that seating President Donald Trump will sign the legislation once it reaches his desk.
The final passage of the rescue package came after Hill leaders announced last Sunday evening they had finally reached a deal after months of bitter partisan stalemate and days of contentious negotiations that created uncertainty over whether an agreement could be reached at all or if talks would collapse.
The Covid rescue package, which was negotiated on a bipartisan basis, was combined with a huge $1.4 trillion government spending bill to fund federal agencies for the new fiscal year in a 5,593-page bill.
This includes direct payments of up to $600 per adult, enhanced jobless benefits of $300 per week, roughly $284 billion in Paycheck Protection Program loans, $25 billion in rental assistance, an extension of the eviction moratorium, and $82 billion for schools and colleges.
On Sunday night, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced the deal, saying: “We can finally report what our nation has needed to hear for a very long time: More help is on the way.”
A deal was reached only after both parties renounced some of their key demands along the way to make it happen.
Faced with Republican opposition, Democrats were forced to abandon a push for roughly $160 billion in aid to cash-strapped states and cities, while Republicans dropped a demand for liability protections after Democrats signaled that was a red line.
Democrats are already signaling that they want to see more relief passed in the next session of Congress after President-elect Joe Biden takes office in January.
“I consider this the first step and again, more needs to be done,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. “That will be happening under the Biden-Harris administration.”
According to summaries of the legislation released by Democratic and GOP leadership, the key provisions that will be included as part of the agreement are as follows:
- Direct payment checks of up to $600 per adult and child
- Aid for struggling small businesses, including more than $284 billion for forgivable Paycheck Protection Program loans and $15 billion “in dedicated funding for live venues, independent movie theaters, and cultural institutions”
- $300 per week for enhanced unemployment insurance benefits
- $20 billion to buy vaccines and make “the vaccine available at no charge for anyone who needs it” and $8 billion for vaccine distribution
- $20 billion for coronavirus testing efforts
- $25 billion for rental assistance and an eviction moratorium extension
- $82 billion for education providers like schools and colleges, including aid to help reopen classrooms safely and $10 billion for child care assistance
- The deal will rescind “$429 billion in unused funds provided by the CARES Act for the Federal Reserve’s emergency lending facilities”
- $13 billion in increased Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and child nutrition benefits
- $7 billion to bolster broadband access to help Americans connect remotely during the pandemic
- $45 billion to support transportation services, including $2 billion for airports, $1 billion for Amtrak and $16 billion for “another round of airline employee and contractor payroll support”
- A tax credit “to support employers offering paid sick leave”