(Newswire.net — December 28, 2020) —
United States President Donald Trump signed off on a corona virus stimulus bill on Sunday evening, in the final moments before the Monday-evening government shutdown. The relief package is worth $900 billion and is accompanied by a $1.4 trillion government funding bill.
Trump’s reluctance to sign the bill earlier has caused strain on the economy and the job market with many people being laid off, and families that have had their income affected have seen bills pile up and credit card debt soar.
In the last days of his presidency we have seen Trump issue pardons to his allies and go on a federal execution spree, but there was a delay in signing the relief package. That delay comes from Trump’s disapproval of the size of the direct payment checks to citizens, which he wants to increase from $600 to $2000.
“Increase payments to the people, get rid of the ‘pork’,” tweeted Trump, adding “Remember, it was China’s fault!”
Both Republicans and Democrats supported Trump’s decision to sign the bill.
Initial reluctance to sign the bill continued, seemingly, without end. With the government lockdown approaching Trump was unfazed, as could be seen through the weekend in the president’s visit to his Florida golf course, while Vice President Mike Pence was skiing in Vali.
Trump still wants reductions in certain areas of spending proposed by the bill, remarking that he is “making it clear to Congress that wasteful items need to be removed.”
The bill that was signed covers a wide variety of needs of millions of Americans, covering those who have lost their jobs, small business, education, and nursing homes. All of this comes together to form a 5500 page document.
Some of the more notable issues that were covered are:
Individual payments and unemployment benefits– direct payments of $600 going to individual adults (with adjusted gross income of up to $75,000), and a federal unemployment benefit of $300, lasting 10 weeks, however those payments will still need some time to go through, with some receiving their payments within two weeks. The unemployment benefits of $300 are half of what was provided in the spring.
Resources for education – $82 billion will be provided for schools, colleges and universities. Most of the money is meant for K-12 schools ($54 billion).
Broadband infrastructure access – in order to expand access to the internet and to help cover internet bills for low income families $7 billion is included in the bill, as well as $1,3 billion for developing infrastructure in rural and tribal areas.
Small business aid – loans for small businesses in the Paycheck Protection Program will receive $285 billion. These come with strict terms, such as setting loan caps to $2 million, and making them available to those with less than 300 employees.
Funding for vaccines – the bill includes a package worth $20 billion for the purchase of vaccines and $8 billion for their distribution