03/07/2021
FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO KNOW WHATS IN THE SENATE VERSION OF THE NEW BILL.
-1,400 stimulus checks: There’s been a lot of back-and-forth about who will get stimulus checks, and after lots of haggling, Democrats finally landed on some parameters. The bill would distribute $1,400 stimulus checks to single people earning $75,000 and $150,000 for couples. Payments would then be reduced and phased out for single people making up to $100,000 and couples making up to $200,000. During Senate negotiations, lawmakers changed the parameters around the phaseouts. Now, stimulus checks phase out for single people at $80,000, head-of-household filers at $120,000, and couples at $160,000. That means some people won’t get stimulus checks who did in the past. However, it is worth noting that the legislation also includes checks for adult dependents, such as college students and people with disabilities, so some people will be getting checks for the first time.
-Unemployment insurance: As with stimulus checks, Democrats had some back-and-forth on unemployment benefits. The bill provides an additional $300 in weekly unemployment benefits from the federal government through September 6, 2021. It also extends the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program for self-employed workers and contractors, and the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program, which tacks on extra weeks of state benefits, through that date. Importantly, it makes the first $10,200 of unemployment benefits non-taxable for households with incomes of under $150,000, preventing many workers from receiving a surprise tax bill they can’t pay.
-Tax credits: The bill expands the child tax credit to $3,000 per child up to age 17 and $3,600 for children under age 6 for 2021, and it modifies the child and dependent care tax credit so that families can claim up to half of their related care expenses. It also enhances the earned income tax credit for people without children.
Obamacare premium subsidies: The bill increases the Affordable Care Act premium subsidies for two years for low- and middle-income Americans, or those making up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level. That would make health care through the ACA marketplace more affordable in 2021 and 2022. The bill also adjusts subsidies for people who make more than 400 percent of the poverty level to make sure that nobody pays more than 8.5 percent of their income for coverage.
-Money for schools: The bill calls for $170 billion toward schools, including reopening and directing funds to areas such as ventilation system upgrades, reduced class sizes, and personal protective equipment to help make schools safer, and ensures the money is directed toward public schools. Schools are required to put 20 percent of the money toward learning loss, meaning efforts to make up for lost ground with students missing school. It also has funding for higher education.
Vaccines, testing, and tracing: The bill directs $46 billion to the Department of Health and Human Services to detect, diagnose, trace, and monitor Covid-19.
-Rental assistance: Democrats are aiming to put $25 billion toward emergency assistance to renters.
-State, local, tribal, and territorial funding: The bill directs $350 billion total toward state, local, tribal, and territorial funding, split into 60 percent for states and 40 percent for localities.
A restaurant revitalization fund: House Democrats are seeking to put $25 billion toward a new program at the Small Business Administration that would support restaurants, $5 billion of which will be set aside for businesses with under $500,000 in revenue in 2019. The restaurant industry has been particularly hard hit in the pandemic — the National Restaurant Association estimates industry losses in 2020 to be $240 billion.
Energy assistance: The bill directs $4.5 billion to HHS to help low-income people pay their energy and water bills.
-Internet connectivity: The bill establishes a $7.6 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund to be enacted by the Federal Communications Commission, to expand internet connectivity to students and teachers during the pandemic.
The package includes funding for stimulus checks, vaccine distribution, and school reopenings.
