US House passes $892 billion coronavirus relief package; Senate to vote
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Splash
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Long Read
  • Games
  • Epaper
  • More
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Subscribe
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard
WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 2022
WEDNESDAY, MAY 18, 2022
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Splash
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Long Read
  • Games
  • Epaper
  • More
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Subscribe
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
US House passes $892 billion coronavirus relief package; Senate to vote

Coronavirus chronicle

Reuters
22 December, 2020, 09:00 am
Last modified: 22 December, 2020, 09:07 am

Related News

  • US Air Force says it conducted successful hypersonic weapon test
  • US revises Cuba policy, eases restrictions on remittances, travel
  • At least 2 dead, multiple people injured in shooting at a Texas flea market
  • Surging natural gas prices squeeze US industrial sector
  • Churchgoers hog-tie gunman after shooting in California kills one

US House passes $892 billion coronavirus relief package; Senate to vote

The relief bill includes $600 payments to most Americans as well as additional payments to the millions of people thrown out of work during the Covid-19 pandemic

Reuters
22 December, 2020, 09:00 am
Last modified: 22 December, 2020, 09:07 am
FILE PHOTO: Police officers wearing face masks guard the US Capitol Building in Washington, US, May 14, 2020. REUTERS/Erin Scott
FILE PHOTO: Police officers wearing face masks guard the US Capitol Building in Washington, US, May 14, 2020. REUTERS/Erin Scott

The US House of Representatives passed an $892 billion coronavirus aid package on Monday aimed at throwing a lifeline to the nation's pandemic-battered economy, clearing the way for Senate approval later in the evening.

The House in a pair of bipartisan votes also passed a $1.4 trillion measure that will keep the US government funded for another year, which will also go to the Senate for consideration.

The relief bill, which would become law if passed by the Senate and signed by President Donald Trump, includes $600 payments to most Americans as well as additional payments to the millions of people thrown out of work during the Covid-19 pandemic, just as a larger round of benefits is due to expire on Saturday.

The White House has said Trump will sign the bill.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, urged lawmakers to support the virus relief bill even as she complained it did not include the direct aid for state and local governments that Democrats had sought. She said they would try for it again next year after Democratic President-elect Joe Biden takes office.

The bill, she said, "doesn't go all the way but it takes us down the path."

Republican Representative Hal Rogers, who supported the package, said "it reflects a fair compromise."

Earlier, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, told reporters at the Capitol that passage of the legislation in the Senate would "probably be late, but we're going to finish tonight."

At 5,593 pages, the wide-ranging bill is likely to be the final major piece of legislation for the 116th Congress that expires on January 3.

It has a net cost of roughly $350 billion for coronavirus relief, McConnell said, adding that more than $500 billion in funding comes from unspent money Congress had authorized.

The stimulus package, the first congressionally approved aid since April, comes as the pandemic is accelerating in the United States, infecting more than 214,000 people every day and slowing the economic recovery. More than 317,000 Americans have died.

The legislation also expands a small-business lending program by about $284 billion and steers money to schools, airlines, transit systems and vaccine distribution.

The small-business loan and grant program, known as the Paycheck Protection Program, would exclude publicly traded companies from eligibility.

Amid reports that the Trump Organization received past aid, the bill contains disclosure requirements for the president, vice president, heads of Cabinet departments, lawmakers and spouses and prohibits those individuals from receiving loans in the future.

State and local governments, which are struggling to pay for the distribution of newly approved Covid-19 vaccines, would receive $8.75 billion from Washington, with $300 million of that targeted at vaccinations in minority and high-risk populations.

Scrapped Sticking Points

The deal, worked out in a rare weekend session of Congress, omits the thorniest sticking points, which included Republicans' desire for a liability shield to protect businesses from coronavirus-related lawsuits as well as Democrats' request for a large outlay of money for cash-strapped state and local governments.

McConnell, interviewed by Fox News, pledged to renew his drive for the protections against corporate lawsuits in whatever coronavirus aid bill the incoming Biden administration pursues in early 2021.

The measure is far less than the $3 trillion called for in a bill that passed the Democratic-controlled House in May, which the Republican-controlled Senate ignored.

Biden has urged Congress to consider further stimulus for him to sign into law when he takes office on January 20. "My message to everyone out there struggling right now, help is on the way," he said in a statement.

The bill would be the second-largest stimulus package in US history, behind the roughly $2 trillion aid bill passed in March. Experts said that money played a critical role as social-distancing measures shuttered wide swaths of the economy.

Top News / World+Biz

US House of Representatives / Coronavirus relief package / Covid-19 bill / coronavirus bill / relief package / USA

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Social safety budget to stay same despite inflation rise
    Social safety budget to stay same despite inflation rise
  • Graphics: TBS
    Facebook and Bangladeshi politicians: A new tide in mass political communication?
  • RMG makers worried over move on power tariff hike
    RMG makers worried over move on power tariff hike

MOST VIEWED

  • North Korea Covid outbreak is 'worrying' for new variants -WHO
    North Korea Covid outbreak is 'worrying' for new variants -WHO
  • People watch a TV broadcasting a news report on the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak in North Korea, at a railway station in Seoul, South Korea on 17 May 2022. Photo: Reuters.
    N Korea Covid outbreak could have 'devastating' impact on human rights, UN says
  • Two women hug at a closed street during lockdown, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Shanghai, China, May 16, 2022. REUTERS/Aly Song
    Shanghai achieves 'zero Covid' status but normal life is weeks away
  • People wearing protective face masks commute amid concerns over the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Pyongyang, North Korea March 30, 2020, in this photo released by Kyodo. Picture taken March 30, 2020. Mandatory credit Kyodo/via REUTERS
    N Korea mobilises army, steps up tracing amid Covid wave
  • Customers wait in front of a restaurant in Beijing, China April 15, 2022. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/Files
    China's economy skids as lockdowns hit factories, retailers
  • A medical worker in a protective suit collects a swab from a resident at a makeshift nucleic acid testing site inside a residential compound under lockdown, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Shanghai, China April 14, 2022. REUTERS/Xihao Jiang
    Shanghai aims for return to normal life from 1 June

Related News

  • US Air Force says it conducted successful hypersonic weapon test
  • US revises Cuba policy, eases restrictions on remittances, travel
  • At least 2 dead, multiple people injured in shooting at a Texas flea market
  • Surging natural gas prices squeeze US industrial sector
  • Churchgoers hog-tie gunman after shooting in California kills one

Features

Graphics: TBS

Facebook and Bangladeshi politicians: A new tide in mass political communication?

37m | Panorama
Despite Bangladesh having about 24,000 km of waterways, only a few hundred kilometres are covered by commercial launch services. Photo: Saad Abdullah

Utilising waterways: When common home-goers show the way

20h | Panorama
Illustration: TBS

How Putin revived Nato

22h | Panorama
The reception is a volumetric box-shaped room that has two glass walls on both the front and back ends and the other two walls are adorned with interior plants, wood and aluminium screens. Photo: Noor-A-Alam

The United House: Living and working inside nature

22h | Habitat

More Videos from TBS

Genome sequencing: best ways to diagnose pediatrics

Genome sequencing: best ways to diagnose pediatrics

27m | Videos
Reasons behind the sudden fall in stock market

Reasons behind the sudden fall in stock market

27m | Videos
The first mosque in India was built Prophet Mohammad time

The first mosque in India was built Prophet Mohammad time

13h | Videos
After six decades ,the Archies is back

After six decades ,the Archies is back

13h | Videos

Most Read

1
Representative Photo: Pixabay.
Bangladesh

Microplastics found in 5 local sugar brands

2
Mushfiq Mobarak. Photo: Noor-A-Alam
Panorama

Meet the Yale professor who anchors his research in Bangladesh and scales up interventions globally

3
The story of Bangladesh becoming a major bicycle exporter
Industry

The story of Bangladesh becoming a major bicycle exporter

4
How Bangladesh can achieve edible oil self-sufficiency with local alternatives
Bazaar

How Bangladesh can achieve edible oil self-sufficiency with local alternatives

5
Govt tightens belt to relieve reserve
Economy

Govt tightens belt to relieve reserve

6
Impact of falling taka against US dollar
Banking

Taka losing more value as global currency market volatility persists

The Business Standard
Top
  • Home
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • About Us
  • Bangladesh
  • International
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Economy
  • Sitemap
  • RSS

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net

Copyright © 2022 THE BUSINESS STANDARD All rights reserved. Technical Partner: RSI Lab