On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate approved the aid package, providing for sick leave, unemployment benefits, free testing for coronavirus, as well as food and medical assistance to people affected by the pandemic, and sent it to President Trump, who is expected to sign it.
The package was adopted by 90 votes to 8, after the majority leader, Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican from Kentucky, urged the conservatives who did not approve of this, “shut your mouth and vote for him anyway“.
“It’s time for urgent bipartisan action, and in this case I don’t believe we should allow us to be the enemy of something that will help even the subgroup of workers,” said Mr. McConnell, the Senate on Wednesday morning, adding that he would vote for the legislation.
Lawmakers and the White house are already working on another batch of economic stabilization at $ 1 trillion, which will send direct payments to taxpayers and loans to businesses. Mr. McConnell requested the senators to “stay close”.
“How long will it take to go through these steps is unclear, but, as everyone knows, we are moving quickly because the situation requires it”, he said.
Support plan, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times, provides a total of $ 1 trillion in spending on these programs, which also include $ 50 billion for secured loans for the airline industry and another $ 150 billion for secured loans or loan guarantees for other parts of the economy strongly affected by the unfolding financial crisis.
This would allow you to use the Stabilization Fund exchange reserve account in emergency situations, which is commonly used for intervention in currency markets to cover these costs as well as temporarily allow it to guarantee mutual money market funds. On Wednesday, lawmakers quickly moved, trying to include the offer and other candidates from the senators to the legislation that could be voted on in the coming days. But the details remain far from complete.
The proposal of the Ministry of Finance requires that authorities sent two checks for $ 250 billion directly to American taxpayers, the first on 6 April and the second on may 18. Payments will be fixed, and their size will depend on income and family size, said in a summary.
The proposed programme of extending loans to small businesses will allow any employer with 500 or less employees to get loans, equal to six weeks wages till 1540 dollars per employee, provided that the company must continue to pay their employees within eight weeks of receipt of the loan.
The Minister of Finance Steven Mnuchin Wednesday outlined the White house proposal to Senate Republicans, but the document submitted to the offices of Congress and others, have added important new details, some of which are likely to be reconsidered by lawmakers-Republicans and Democrats.
