TIN GIỜ CHÓT: QUỸ CỨU TRỢ ĐỢT HAI 900 TỶ ĐÔ LA.
Lưỡng viện Quốc Hội Hoa Kỳ vừa đồng ý quỷ cứu trợ đại dịch đợt hai với 900 tỷ đô la....
BMH
Sun 12/20/2020 8:02 PM
Xin chuyển tin đến Quý Vị, Quý NT và CH...
Tin Giờ Chót:
Lưỡng viện Quốc Hội Hoa Kỳ vừa đồng ý quỷ cứu trợ đại dịch đợt hai với 900 tỷ đô la,
như thế cho mỗi cá nhân sẽ nhận được 600 đô la, và phụ cấp 300 đô la cho người thất nghiệp mỗi tuần,
và được thêm 11 tuần nữa, đồng thời thêm trợ cấp cho các tiểu thương...
Dự luật dự trù sẽ được thông qua tối hôm nay Chủ Nhật 20/12 hay ngày mai, Thứ Hai, 21/12/2020..
Tổng thống sẽ ký chấp thuận ngay sau đó..
Xin mời Quý Vị xem thêm chi tiết bản tin ở dưới để tường..
BMH ///
Washington, D.C
Second stimulus check update: $600 payments and more in final deal. Here are the details.
Updated 7:11 PM; Today 6:53 PM
Updated 7:11 PM; Today 6:53 PM
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill on Dec. 1, 2020.AP
There’s a $600 government payment, 11 additional weeks of unemployment benefits and more help for small businesses
in the new coronavirus stimulus bill that is expected to pass later Sunday or Monday.
The negotiations are done and congressional leaders of both parties in both houses have signed off on the contents, paving the way for the House and Senate to debate and approve the measure.
“More help is on the way,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., announced on the Senate floor. “It will be another major rescue package for the American people. If our citizens continue to battle the coronavirus this holiday season, they will not fight alone.”
The measure is expected to be added to the massive legislation funding the federal government through Sept. 30. Final passage is expected Monday, requiring another short-term spending bill to keep the government open past Sunday.
The $900 billion stimulus legislation is less than half of the $2 trillion bill approved by House Democrats in October, but more than the $500 billion that Senate Republicans failed twice to pass. More than half of the funds, $560 billion, previously was approved in the CARES Act but not spent.
The price tag is about the amount of the compromise proposal offered by a bipartisan group of senators and representatives, including N.J. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-5th Dist., that jump-started negotiations earlier this month.
Gottheimer called the agreement “a Christmas miracle.”
“This bipartisan, bicameral agreement is an essential down payment that our country desperately needs,” he said.
Gov. Phil Murphy said that the final agreement fell far below the $3 trillion to $4 trillion that was really needed to respond to the pandemic.
“Is the stuff in this bill stuff that we’ll take? Yes,” he said Sunday on MSNBC. “But even those programs are not big enough. and the scope of this compromise is not nearly as big enough in its entirety.”
“This is not a normal, even somewhat normal, recession. This is a historical period, we need to meet this moment with strength and with passion and big numbers. and right now, none of that is happening.”
And Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York bemoaned the absence of direct aid to state and local governments.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re working for a small business, and get laid off if you’re working for a government and laid off,” he said. “You still need to feed your family.”
President Donald Trump, who will have to sign the bill, earlier pushed Congress to act. “GET IT DONE,” he tweeted.
Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
Why isn’t Congress giving our people a Stimulus Bill? It wasn’t their fault, it was the fault of China. GET IT DONE,
and give them more money in direct payments.
226.9K
68K people are Tweeting about this
Here’s what’s in the final deal:
Direct payments. There would be $600 payments for adults and children, though not for adult dependents. The payments would begin phasing out at incomes exceeding $75,000 ($150,000 for couples) up to $99,000 ($198,000 for couples). Couples where one spouse is not a citizen will be eligible for funding.
Unemployment insurance. Pandemic unemployment insurance programs scheduled to expire at the end of the year would be extended 11 weeks into March. Those receiving unemployment insurance would get an extra $300 a week, but those payments would not be made retroactive. The Contract and gig workers would continue to be eligible for unemployment insurance payments.
State and local assistance. While there is no new money, the end of the year deadline for states and localities to spend their previous allocations was extended to the end of 2021.
Small business aid. A $284 billion paycheck protection program would be revived for businesses with 300 or fewer employees that lost a percentage amount of revenue. There are targeted funds for bars and restaurants. There is assistance for for nonprofits and for local newspapers, and television and radio broadcasters.
Rental assistance. States and localities would receive $25 billion to help cover tenants’ rents and utilities, including back payments. A moratorium on evictions would be extended through the end of January.
Live entertainment. Venues hosting live events, independent movie theaters and cultural institutions would receive $15 billion.
Transportation. The legislation includes $27 billion for state highways, public transportation agencies including NJ Transit, Amtrak and airports. There’s also funding for the motorcoach industry.
Vaccines. Around $30 billion is set aside to help distribute the vaccine.
Education. School aid would total $82 billion.
Rental assistance. States and localities would receive $25 billion to help cover tenants’ rents and utilities, including back payments. A moratorium on evictions would be extended to Jan. 31.
Nutrition. The bill includes $13 billion to increase the Supplemental Nurition Assistance Program, better known as food stamps, and child nutrition benefits.
Other funding. There is money for expanded broadband, farmers, child care and the U.S. Postal Service.
CORONAVIRUS RESOURCES: Live map tracker | Newsletter | Homepage
The final hurdle was cleared Saturday evening when a compromise was reached on an effort led by U.S. Sen. Patrick Toomey, R-Pa., to limit Federal Reserve efforts to boost the economy during the current coronavirus-induced economic downturn.
Those programs were scheduled to end Dec. 31, but Democrats said Toomey’s proposal would have made it harder for the Fed to take other steps to help the economy during incoming President Joe Biden’s administration.
On a conference call with reporters on Sunday, Toomey expressed concern that the programs would be used as a back door way to help state and local governments after Senate Republicans successfully kept a $160 billion package out of the final bill after Democrats refused to protect businesses from coronavirus-related lawsuits.
The compromise required those programs approved in the earlier CARES Act to end this year as planned, but allow the Fed to develop other ways to help the economy.
Congressional Republicans, including current Vice President Mike Pence, also had fought Federal Reserve efforts to help the economy recover from the Great Recession once President Barack Obama took office.
U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who tried unsuccessfully to raise the stimulus payments to $1,200, as was in two House-passed bills that the Senate refused to take up, said he would support the $600 figure.
“The fact that we can spend so much on every other priority under the sun tells you where the, sadly where the priorities are in Congress,” Hawley told reporters at the Capitol, according to pool reports. “But I do want to see relief go to working families.”
Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or on Twitter @JDSalant.