Relief Package Includes $600 Payments; $284B In Business Loans

Dec. 21—A new federal relief package is said to feature direct "stimulus" payments of $600 to qualified adults and $600 per child.

It is believed that the $900 billion package would invest $284 billion into Paycheck Protection Program small business loans, and include funds for loans from small and minority-owned lenders. It would fund another $20 billion for small business grants and $15 billion to live event venues, according to early reports.

Treasury Secretary Mnuchin expects direct deposits of $2,400 for a family of four to begin arriving as soon as next week, a Washington Post reporter said.

The $600 direct payments are to be paid to individuals making up to $75,000 per year and couples making $150,000 per year — with payments phased out for higher incomes — with $600 additional payments per dependent child, the Associated Press has reported.

Also added would be a $300 federal unemployment supplement and temporary maintenance — until mid-March — of pandemic-era programs that expanded unemployment insurance eligibility.

Some key federal jobless benefits have been nearing expiration, including the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program.

PUA benefits provide up to 39 weeks of unemployment payments to those who are not usually eligible for regular state aid but lose work, through no fault of their own, in the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Gig workers in particular were expected to benefit from PUA payments.

Kim Hall, director of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS), had noted that the state's lower unemployment rate triggered federally mandated expirations in the federal programs, including PUA.

That unemployment rate had dropped to 5.6% in October from 8.3% in September. But since then, the October jobless rate has been revised upward to 6.1%, and the November unemployment rate of 5.7% has been released.

Questions were sent Monday morning to an ODJFS spokesman.

Other expected features of the bill: Rental assistance would be extended until Jan. 31, $20 billion would be made available for vaccine payment aid and an increase in SNAP funding — the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly the food stamp program — of 15%.

The package, if passed, would also deliver $54 billion to public K-12 schools affected by the pandemic and $23 billion for colleges and universities; $4 billion would be awarded to a Governors Emergency Education Relief Fund; nearly $1 billion for Native American schools, according to the AP's account.

It was unclear Monday morning when a congressional vote would take place.

Ohio Sen. Rob Portman and his Problem Solvers Caucus released a statement Sunday evening praising the emergency relief package.

"Following months of deadlock in Congress while millions of Americans were at risk of losing their lifelines, we put our heads down and worked around the clock for nearly a month to produce a bipartisan, bicameral bill to address the emergency needs of our country," said the statement released by Portman's office. "We are relieved Congress has finally agreed on a COVID-19 emergency relief package.

"Our consensus bill was the foundation of this final package and we applaud Congressional leadership for finishing what we started," the statement added. "Workers, businesses, and families need help right now and we urge our colleagues to quickly pass this bill and President Trump to immediately sign the legislation to provide Americans with relief."

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