This bill includes additional individual stimulus checks, federal unemployment benefits extension and an extension of the spending deadline for state and local government Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) dollars. President Donald Trump is expected to sign it into law this week, and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said Americans could start seeing stimulus checks as soon as next week.
“We can finally report what our nation has needed to hear for a very long time,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said after the agreement was reached. “More help is on the way.”
Key areas of the legislation:
- Provides stimulus checks of $600 per adult making less than $75,000 per year and $600 for each dependent child;
- Extends federal unemployment benefits at $300 a week for 11 weeks Dec. 26, 2020, through March 14, 2021;
- Allocates around $325 billion in business relief, with $284 billion in funds going to Paycheck Protection Program loans for small businesses and some nonprofit organizations;
- Dedicates $20 billion for coronavirus vaccine procurement and distribution;
- Provides $45 billion for transportation, including money for highways, transit and airports;
- Allocates $300 million toward the Broadband Infrastructure Program to deploy broadband in underserved areas;
- Provides $25 billion in rental assistance; and
- Extends the deadline for state and local governments to spend money allocated through the CRF until Dec. 31, 2021 - KACo will be looking into how this might affect counties and will provide an update soon;
Click here to view NACo’s in-depth summary.
