Deal Reached To Tack $900 Billion COVID-19 Relief Package on to Spending Bill
A Sunday agreement between Democrats and Republicans in Congress will result in another round of relief checks going out and a continuation of expanded federal unemployment benefits. The new $900 billion bill is part of a larger $1.4 trillion spending bill to keep the federal government and its programs funded through next September.
Both the House and the Senate are expected to debate and vote on the COVID-19 relief package today.
The White House has already indicated that President Donald Trump will sign.
>@BenWilliamson45 on Covid relief bill: “President Trump has pushed hard for months to send Americans badly needed financial relief. We look forward to Congress sending a bill to his desk imminently for signature.”
So, Trump will sign.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) December 21, 2020
“After months of impasse, negotiations came down to the wire as 12 million people are set to lose unemployment benefits the day after Christmas,” notes USA Today. “The deal includes restarting a $300 boost to the federal unemployment insurance benefit, extending eviction moratoriums for renters for an unspecified amount of time and a $600 direct payment to most Americans.”
The one-time $600 checks would go to Americans making less than $75,000 a year.
The full text of the COVID-19 bill has not been released yet. But rumor has it that it may also expand a tax deduction for corporate meal expenses. From The Washington Post:
Since the 1980s, businesses have only been able to deduct 50 percent of their meal expenses off their federal taxes. A proposal championed by the White House and Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) would increase that deduction to 100 percent allowing companies to deduct the full cost of a business meal off their federal taxes.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin included the meal deduction as a White House priority in negotiations, two people with knowledge of matter said. A Treasury Department spokeswoman declined to comment.
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