On Sunday evening, December 20th, Congressional leaders announced that they had agreed upon the terms for an additional stimulus package to help ease the economic impacts of Covid-19. The forthcoming bill would provide an additional $900 billion dollars to help individuals and small businesses in various ways to cope with lingering pandemic. The more notable provisions include the following:
- $600 stimulus checks per person, including adults and children. That means a family of four would receive $2,400, up to a certain income threshold. Individuals making over $75k per year would have their stimulus checks reduced, while those people making over $99k per year would not receive any stimulus checks.
- Congress will extend unemployment benefits of up to $300 per week. The benefit could start as early as December 27th (depending on the date the new bill is signed not law) and run at least through March 14, 2021.
- The bill includes more than $284 billion for forgivable Paycheck Protection Program loans.
- Businesses that receive PPP loans and have them forgiven will be allowed to deduct the costs covered by those loans on their federal tax returns.
- The deal also includes $20 billion for targeted grants through the Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) program.
- The agreement extends until January 31, 2021, a moratorium on evictions that was set to expire at the end of 2020.
- $20 billion for the purchase of vaccines that is designed to make the vaccine available at no charge for anyone who needs it. The deal also provides $8 billion for vaccine distribution and includes $20 billion to assist states with testing.
- Colleges and schools will have $82 billion to help cover HVAC repair and replacement to reduce the risk of coronavirus infections and reopen classrooms.
The exact text of the legislation has not yet to be drafted. And once completed and passed by Congress, the proposed legislation would still need to be signed by President Trump before it could take effect.