Several changes have been made from a proposal submitted by a bipartisan group of lawmakers almost two weeks ago. Instant incentive checks were introduced at the last minute. Direct aid to states and corporate liability protection were omitted.
The full text of the bill had not yet been released on Sunday evening. Here’s what we know so far from summaries released by the Democratic and Republican leaders:
Stimulus Controls
Eligible families would receive an additional $ 600 per child – that’s $ 100 more than Congress gave families in the first round of emergency relief last spring.
Unemployment benefits
Under the deal, the unemployed would receive a weekly federal benefit of $ 300 for 11 weeks, from late December to mid-March. The amount is half of the previous federal boost, which went up in late July.
The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program extends unemployment benefits to gig workers, freelancers, independent contractors, self-employed workers and certain people affected by the coronavirus. The Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program provides 13 weeks of additional payments to those who have exhausted their regular government benefits.
Both programs would close for new applicants in mid-March and then be phased out for existing applicants in early April.
The final agreement is less generous than the original two-tier deal released earlier this month. It would have delivered 16 weeks in increased payments and pandemic benefits.
Loans for small businesses
It specifically designates $ 12 billion for minority and very small businesses.
Contrary to the CARES law, this bill will release $ 15 billion for live venues, independent cinemas and cultural institutions. It also extends eligibility to more nonprofits and local newspapers, TV and radio broadcasters.
Funding for schools and childcare
An additional $ 10 billion is included to support childcare providers grappling with the pandemic.
Hire assistance
The bill would be extended until Jan. 31, and eviction protection would expire at the end of the year. It would also provide $ 25 billion in rental assistance to individuals who lost their source of income during the pandemic.
Help with nutrition
The deal would increase SNAP benefits by 15% for six months, but would not increase eligibility. This is more generous than the original bipartisan agreement from earlier in December, which called for a four-month increase.
Democrats have been calling for expansion of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, as food stamps are formally known, since the start of the pandemic, but the provision never made it into previous aid packages.
The bill would also extend the Pandemic EBT program to families with children under the age of six, assuming they are “enrolled” in childcare and eligible for benefits. It now gives money to low-income families and school-aged children in place of the free, reduced-price meals they would have received at school.
The deal would also send $ 400 million to food banks and food pantries through the Emergency Food Assistance Program.
It would also bring in $ 175 million for senior food services, such as Meals on Wheels, and $ 13 million for the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, which serves more than 700,000 older Americans every month.
Financing of vaccines
The deal would raise $ 20 billion for the purchase of vaccines so that they can be available for free to those who need them, and another $ 8 billion for vaccine distribution.
It would also provide states with $ 20 billion to aid in the testing.
What’s not on the bill – state and local government funding
The determination was one of the most controversial negotiations. House Democrats had made $ 875 billion available in the emergency that passed the chamber in May to aid states and local governments struggling with lower tax revenues as a result of the pandemic.
But Republicans are opposed to granting additional aid in excess of the $ 150 billion provided for in Congress’s $ 2 trillion emergency relief bill in March, which could only be used for coronavirus-related spending. GOP lawmakers have said they don’t want to save states that have mismanaged their finances.
State and local officials have overthrown lawmakers in recent days when it became clear that immediate aid was being neglected.
In a joint statement Sunday night, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer pointed out that the final agreement would provide emergency resources for schools, $ 27 billion for state highways, struggling transit agencies, Amtrak and airports, and $ 22 billion for health care. related expenditures of state, local, tribal and territorial government.
In addition, the agreement calls for $ 2 billion to be made available to support intercity buses.
State and local officials had also asked to use some of the funding to fill budget deficits.
CNN’s Manu Raju and Clare Foran contributed to the reporting.