WASHINGTON, BALIPOST.com – Another stimulus package worth millions of dollar being agredd by US lawmakers on Sunday. As quoted from AFP, US lawmakers agreed on a nearly $900 billion Covid-19 relief package for millions of Americans, in a deal that follows months of wrangling and comes as the nation battles the world’s largest outbreak of the virus.
The package includes aid for vaccine distribution and logistics, extra jobless benefits of $300 per week, and a new round of $600 stimulus checks — half the amount provided in checks distributed in March under the CARES Act. It comes after months of partisan debate and finger-pointing as well as last-minute negotiations that culminated in a deal lawmakers said they hoped to formally approve on Monday.
Negotiations had taken place amid a highly contentious campaign for the US presidency and Donald Trump’s subsequent refusal to concede defeat to Democrat Joe Biden. “We’ve agreed to a package of nearly $900 billion. It is packed with targeted policies to help struggling Americans who have already waited too long,” Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement.
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer confirmed an agreement had been reached with Republicans and the White House on a deal that “delivers urgently needed funds to save the lives and livelihoods of the American people as the virus accelerates.”
The agreement also contains $25 billion in housing aid to prevent evictions and nearly $100 billion to help schools and childcare facilities re-open, a statement from Pelosi and Schumer said.
Congress was working under a deadline of midnight Sunday, needing to reach consensus both on assistance to hard-pressed American households and companies and on the 2021 federal budget in order to avoid a government shutdown.
Number two Democrat in the House of Representatives Steny Hoyer said he expected the deal to pass on Monday and then head to the Senate.
That meant it required passage of a stopgap measure — to be signed by Trump by midnight Sunday — to keep the federal government funded an extra 24 hours and avert a shutdown.
The House and Senate approved the stopgap measure on Sunday night.
“The House will move swiftly to pass this legislation immediately, so it can quickly be sent to the Senate and then to the president’s desk for his signature,” Schumer and Pelosi said in a statement.
“With the horrifying acceleration of daily infections and deaths, there is no time to waste.”
In the wake of the deal, president-elect Biden — who has promised to pass another massive bailout when he takes office in January — welcomed the agreement but said more will need to be done.
“Immediately, starting in the new year, Congress will need to get to work on support for our Covid-19 plan, for support to struggling families, and investments in jobs and economic recovery,” he said in a statement. (kmb/balipost)
