Congressional leaders have hashed out a massive, year-end catchall bill that combines $900 billion in COVID-19 aid with a $1.4 trillion omnibus spending bill and reams of other unfinished legislation on taxes, energy, education and health care. The huge, still-unreleased bill is slated for votes on Monday — with lawmakers having only a few hours to read it before casting their votes.
Highlights of the measure with overall funding amounts and specific amounts for some but not necessarily all initiatives:
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DIRECT ECONOMIC RELIEF ($286 billion)
Unemployment insurance ($120 billion). Revives supplemental federal pandemic unemployment benefits but at $300 per week — through March 14 — instead of the $600 per week benefit that expired in July. Extends special pandemic benefits for “gig” workers and extends the maximum period for state-paid jobless benefits to 50 weeks.
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Direct payments ($166 billion). Provides $600 direct payments to individuals making UP TO?? $75,000 per year and couples making $150,000 per year, with $600 additional payments per dependent child.
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SMALL BUSINESS ($325 billion)
Paycheck Protection Program ($284 billion). Revives the Paycheck Protection Program, which provides forgivable loans to qualified businesses. Especially hard-hit businesses that received PPP grants would be eligible for a second round. Ensures that PPP subsidies are not taxed.
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VACCINE, TESTING, HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS ($69 billion)
Delivers more than $30 billion for procurement of vaccines and treatments, distribution funds for states, and a strategic stockpile. Adds $22 billion for testing, tracing and mitigation, $9 billion for health care providers, and $4.5 billion for mental health.
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SCHOOLS ($82 billion)
Delivers $54 billion to public K-12 schools affected by the pandemic and $23 billion for colleges and universities; $4 billion would be awarded to a Governors Emergency Education Relief Fund; nearly $1 billion for Native American schools.
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RENTAL ASSISTANCE ($25 billion)
Provides money for a first-ever federal rental assistance program; funds to be distributed by state and local governments to help people who have fallen behind on their rent and may be facing eviction.
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FOOD/FARM AID ($26 billion)
Increases food stamp benefits by 15% and provides funding to food banks, Meals on Wheels and other food aid. Provides an equal amount ($13 billion) in aid to farmers and ranchers.
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CHILD CARE ($10 billion)
Provides $10 billion to the Child Care Development Block Grant to help families with child care costs and help providers cover increased operating costs.
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POSTAL SERVICE ($10 billion)
Forgives a $10 billion loan to the Postal Service provided in earlier relief legislation.
20 thoughts on “Congress Agrees on Covid Relief Bill, Omnibus Spending”
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Seems like they stuck in some FAA / AR reforms in the bill as well.
https://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/congress-on-the-brink-of-major-faa-oversight-reform-in-wake-of-boeing-737-max-crashes/Report
They have one Constitutionally mandates job, which they are abysmal at (appropriating). We keep sending them back despite their continued failures.
No wonder they don’t alter course.Report
The bill includes officially telling China that we agree with the Dalai Lama and how if he says that the responsibility rests with the Gaden Phodrang Trust then we agree that that’s where it rests.
Which, you know, kinda strikes me as taking a position on theology.Report
Jo Jorgensen’s running mate points out:
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And I don’t think all 328M are getting it.Report
Yeah. And of those that aren’t getting it, it includes a number of people who would seriously benefit from it.
And of those that will be getting it, it includes a number of people who have not lost their jobs but transitioned to working from home.Report
+5 Insightful
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And people complained about the PPACA at 906 pages. What’s the over/under on the number of drafting errors?Report
Assuming 1 per page, that’s… 5593?Report
Additional information on the whole error mitigation thing:
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Also, there’s the question of when the 10-day veto clock starts. Presumably that’s when the final text hits the White House. If so, and it doesn’t get there today, it looks to me like a pocket veto is possible. New Congress has to convene on Jan 3, and if the veto clock is still ticking, the bill dies with the old Congress.Report
Yeah, I did some light googling as to when the veto clock starts and couldn’t find a good answer.
Here’s this:
I’m guessing that Congress won’t adjourn over the next couple of weeks but will, instead, probably offer a handful of sticks/carrots to the freshmen from the class of 2018 to stick around and keep Congress “officially” in session. (A good trick! Used to excellent effect against Obama for recess appointments.)
Other stuff I saw talked about the show Big Brother.Report
There is also 15 billion dollars for music venues.Report
This is the gov’t that you want…..you keep voting in these asshats.Report
Welp, looks like it got vetoed.
Which is good? I think?
A lame duck can kick from time to time.Report
From the horse’s mouth:
Congress says that they’re planning to override the veto.Report
Funny thing is he’s kind of right and it’s too bad him and his party are such hypocrites and jackasses. But not a dime should go to foreigners including the ones in the country illegally. It’s also not the time to appropriate money to closed museums, even if they are valuable institutions.Report
Timing could get really strange if he waits until the absolute last minute to actually veto. Absent unanimous consent in the Senate, debate rules might — and I’m far from certain on this — push the debate past the point where Congress is adjourned, the bill dies, and the new Congress has to start over.Report
Pelosi is calling for an immediate veto.
For what that’s worth.Report
Hasn’t it been at $300 (with an optional state-funded $100) since July? My understanding is that it never fully expired, but was simply cut down to a level where it wouldn’t be unambiguously preferable to working for half the labor force.Report