Paid sick leave: Employers would get advance funding on a payroll tax credit to offset the cost of providing expanded paid sick leave and family and medical leave.And a portion of employer-provided student loan repayment assistance would be excluded from taxable income. Loan repayments would be canceled for students who must withdraw from classes because of a qualifying emergency. Eligibility for Pell grants or student loans would not be affected by absence from school due to the coronavirus. College aid: Monthly payments on federally held student loans would be suspended through September, with no interest accruing during that time.Coverage of testing: Health care plans would be required to provide full coverage of diagnostic testing for COVID-19 without cost-sharing.The employer share of payroll taxes would be suspended for two years. Worker retention: The bill would provide employers a tax credit to offset the cost of employment taxes equal to 50 percent of a worker’s wages, up to $10,000 per employee.The loans would be administered by the Treasury and Federal Reserve and would be monitored by an inspector general, a regulatory oversight board and a congressional review panel. Another $17 billion in loans would be set aside for “businesses critical to national security,” which lawmakers have said would include Boeing Co. Airlines could tap up to $29 billion in loans, though they'd get another $32 billion in direct cash grants to keep workers on payroll. Aid to industries: About $500 billion would be available in loans to struggling industries including airlines, hotels and more, as well as to state and local governments.Small business loans: To help small businesses avoid layoffs, the bill provides about $377 billion in loans, much of which would be forgiven if workers are kept on the payroll.Another $450 million would go to food banks. Expanded food aid: The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps, would get an additional $15.5 billion to help address rising demand as unemployment increases.The size of the checks would be smaller for single filers making more than $75,000 and joint filers making more than $150,000 in adjusted gross income, phasing out by 5 percent of earnings above the thresholds. Cash payments: The package calls for sending tax rebate checks of up to $1,200 for individuals and $2,400 for married couples filing jointly, with an additional $500 per child.Sanders wants stronger conditions imposed on $500 billion in loans to struggling businesses to ensure worker protections for aid recipients.Īmong the other major elements of the bill, it seemed like most of the key details had been settled on based on various drafts and summaries trickling out: Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent still in the running for the Democratic presidential nomination, said if the GOP persists in trying to change the unemployment language he'd put a "hold" on the package. Bernie busts inīut it wasn't yet clear whether any "fix" proposed by Republicans would pass muster with Democrats, who all along in the negotiations had been pushing for the extra $600 a week unemployment benefit. Scott and Sasse are on the Finance Committee that negotiated the unemployment provisions, and they said the panel was working on an amendment. Graham along with fellow South Carolina Republican Tim Scott and Ben Sasse, R-Neb., said they'd oppose the bill without a legislative fix or some sort of Labor Department regulatory change. The delay appeared to be at least partly due to what Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and other Republicans called a "massive drafting error" that could incentivize layoffs by providing unemployment compensation over and above replacement wages. households, nearly $900 billion in business loans and expanded unemployment insurance intended to fully replace lost wages for four months, hadn't yet been released, though drafts were floating around the Capitol. The remainder of the bill, including tax rebates for most U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed support for the measure.īut so far one relatively small piece of the package - only in the current context could $340 billion be considered small - has been officially released: supplemental appropriations for hospitals as well as various federal agencies on the frontlines of attempting to contain the pandemic. The sweeping legislation was slated to get a Senate floor vote sometime Wednesday before being sent to the House. Senate leaders were preparing to unveil a roughly $2 trillion financial rescue package Wednesday that offers payments to families, loans to businesses, expanded unemployment insurance benefits, relief for states and a massive cash infusion for hospitals buckling under COVID-19's strain.
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