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Congress Passes Two Trillion Dollar Stimulus Package to Fight Coronavirus

After Days of Gridlock, Congressional Democrats and Republicans Agree On Aid Package

Reporter Tyler Bagent

On Friday, March 27th, The House passed a stimulus bill to aid Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic. This comes after a week of fighting between Democrats and Republicans, and hours of negotiations between Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. President Trump signed the bill the afternoon that it passed.

The bill includes several provisions that were worked out by Congressional Democrats, Congressional Republicans, and the Trump Administration. These include:

  • Sending $1,200 to each American making $75,000 a year or less.
  • Adding $600 should they be unemployed.
  • Giving $100 billion to hospitals and health providers and increasing Medicare reimbursements for treating coronavirus.
  • Giving $750 million to food banks, to Puerto Rico and the other territories for food assistance, and to programs for food distribution on American Indian reservations.
  • Making $500 billion of loans or investments to businesses, states and municipalities, and $32 billion in grants to the airline industry.
  • Relief for those with federally-backed mortgages.
  • Delaying student loan payments for six months.

(GovTrack)

Despite easily passing (96-0 in the Senate, and Unanimous in the House), it was not without opposition. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) attempted to derail its passing, forcing Representatives to come in to oppose his call for a roll-call vote. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) also left that option on the table, voicing her concerns that the bill gave too much to corporations, and not enough for the American People. In the Senate, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) voiced his concern and proposed an amendment which delayed the vote on the final bill. Later that week, he tested positive for COVID-19, and was not present to vote on the final bill.

Around 4:30pm on Friday Afternoon, President Trump signed the package. On Twitter, he said “this bill will deliver urgently needed relief for our nations families, workers, and businesses.”