THE BULLETIN • MONDAY, MARCH 8, 2021 A11
Relief: Second-largest stimulus bill in U.S. history now heads to the House
not processed, the amount you re-
ceive will be based on your prepan-
demic income.
Continued from A1
What’s in the
Senate bill?
Will I get the $300
unemployment supplement if I’m
still working, but my hours were
cut?
It’s an option, but not one that is
widely being used.
The bill continues the expanded
unemployment benefits approved
last year and extends the weekly
$300 federal supplement payment
through Sept. 6.
Most states have programs
whereby if your employer certifies
each week that you are working
reduced hours because of the pan-
demic, the state pays you a portion
of what you would qualify for on
unemployment, plus the flat $300
supplement.
But it’s a complicated process,
and your employer must first seek
and receive approval from the state.
UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS
• The package extends the ex-
isting $300 weekly unemployment
benefit through Sept. 6, as well as
provide a tax break on $10,000
in unemployment benefits. (The
House version would have in-
creased the weekly benefit from
$300 to $400 per week through
Aug. 29.)
• The $900 billion stimulus
package passed in December pro-
vided the unemployed an extra
$300 per week in benefits. That
program expires in mid-March.
STIMULUS CHECKS
• The Senate bill would send
$1,400 stimulus checks on top of
the $600 payments issued through
the stimulus bill passed in Decem-
ber. Roughly $400 billion of the
package would go toward another
round of checks.
• Biden has agreed to narrow el-
igibility for a new round of $1,400
payments to appease more mod-
erate Democrats. Under the new
structure, the checks would phase
out faster for those at higher in-
come levels compared with the for-
mula in Biden’s initial proposal and
the House bill.
• In the Senate version, individ-
uals earning $75,000 per year and
couples earning $150,000 would
still receive the full $1,400-per-per-
son benefit. However, the benefit
would disappear for individuals
earning more than $80,000 annu-
ally and couples earning more than
$160,000. For example, that means
singles making between $80,000
and $100,000 and couples earning
between $160,000 and $200,000
would be newly excluded from see-
ing any benefit under the revised
structure.
STRF/STAR MAX/IPx
President Joe Biden’s signature $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill provides more direct payments to many Americans.
Next steps in D.C.
The $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief measure, called the American Rescue Plan Act, now heads back to the House, where
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said a vote will be held Tuesday. Although some House progressives have complained about
changes made by the Senate, none so far have threatened to withhold votes. Democrats aim to have it signed into law within
the week. Enactment of the second-largest stimulus bill in U.S. history would hand President Joe Biden his first legislative
victory and set the stage for work this spring on a massive infrastructure and manufacturing recovery bill that he wants.
— Associated Press
• An amendment offered by
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., to in-
crease the minimum wage to $15
did not win over enough Demo-
cratic support. (The House bill in-
cluded the minimum raise increase
from $7.25 to $15.)
state and local governments have
shed 1.3 million jobs since the
pandemic began last year — a loss
of more than 1 in 20 government
jobs, according to a Washington
Post analysis of government data.
While tax revenue grew in some
states last year, the majority — at
least 26 states — were hit with de-
clines.
CHILD TAX CREDIT
PANDEMIC RESPONSE
• Under the Senate plan, most
Americans would receive $3,000 a
year for each child ages 6 to 17, and
$3,600 for each child under age 6.
• The provision in the bill would
last one year and be sent via direct
deposit on a “periodic” basis. It is
also a major expansion of the exist-
ing child tax credit, which currently
provides $2,000 a year for children
from birth through age 16.
• More regular payments are in-
tended to help offset costs families
face day to day, instead to sending
families one annual payment.
• Tens of billions of dollars will
fund coronavirus testing and con-
tact tracing; increasing the size of
the public health workforce and
funding vaccine distribution and
supply chains. Biden said last week
there will be enough coronavirus
vaccine doses for “every adult in
America” by the end of May — a
two-month acceleration of his pre-
vious projection of July.
MINIMUM WAGE
AID TO STATE AND LOCAL
GOVERNMENTS
• The Senate package designates
$350 billion for states, cities, tribal
governments and U.S. territories.
• Local government funding
emerged as one of the top flash
points in stimulus negotiations.
Moderate Senate Democrats have
pushed to redirect some of those
funds to invest in infrastructure
and to expand the broadband
network. Others on the left have
grown concerned that some states
would use federal aid to cut local
taxes instead of spending money on
COVID relief.
• Facing deep budget shortfalls,
NEW PROVISIONS
• The Senate bill provides $510
million for the FEMA Emergency
Food and Shelter Program. That
money would support homeless
services providers for overnight
shelter, meals, one month’s rent
and mortgage assistance and one
month’s utility payments.
• The Senate version expands
the Employee Retention Tax Credit
for start-up companies and other
businesses hit by the pandemic.
• The bill also increases the
value of the federal COBRA health
insurance program from 85% to
100%.
• The bill adds a $10 billion in-
frastructure program to help local
governments continue crucial capi-
tal projects.
• The bill makes all coronavi-
rus-related student loan relief tax-
free.
• The bill increases the total
amount of Amtrak relief funding
by $200 million.
• For education funding, the bill
sets aside $1.25 billion for summer
enrichment; $1.25 billion for af-
ter-school programs and $3 billion
for education technology
• The Senate bill also adds $8.5
billion in funds for the Provider Re-
lief Program to assist rural health
care providers.
How will relief
get to you?
Your questions answered, assum-
ing final passage of the legislation:
First things first. Will I get a
stimulus check?
If your annual income is less
than $75,000, or you file jointly
with a spouse and make less than
$150,000, or file as a head of house-
hold and earn less than $112,500,
you are eligible for the full $1,400,
or $2,800 for those filing jointly.
From there the amount quickly
phases out so individuals with an-
nual incomes of $80,000 or more,
joint filers with annual incomes
over $160,000 and heads of house-
holds earning more than $112,500
would not receive anything.
The Senate significantly lowered
those income caps from what was
passed in the House.
Parents will also receive $1,400
for each child on their tax returns.
Unlike last year’s stimulus pay-
ments, parents will also get that
amount for adult children, like
college students, and those with
permanent disabilities, if they are
claimed as dependents.
Why did they narrow how many
people will get checks?
Several moderate lawmakers
raised concerns about sending
money to people who may not
need it.
The Institute on Taxation and
Economic Policy, a progressive re-
search group, estimated 16.4 mil-
lion fewer Americans nationwide
will receive payments under the
Senate bill than with the House bill.
Will the money be distributed
the same way as last time?
Yes. Within a few weeks of the
bill being signed into law, the IRS
is expected to issue the bulk of the
money directly into Americans’
bank accounts, using direct-deposit
account information on file. In
the previous round of checks, that
method proved the fastest.
The IRS will send out debit cards
or paper checks to those who do
not use direct deposit. Check what
information the IRS has on file for
you at www.irs.gov/coronavirus/
get-my-payment.
The IRS will use the most recent
return filed to calculate how much
money you receive. This means
that if you had a baby last year, or
lost your job and brought in less
money, file your taxes as soon as
possible in order to get the full
amount you’re owed.
If the IRS processes your 2020 re-
turn before sending out the checks,
the amount you receive will be
based on your 2020 income. If it is
Will I get the $300 even if that
means I’ll be receiving more in
unemployment than I did while
working?
Yes, and this has been a major
point of contention. With millions
of people on unemployment, states
don’t have the ability to tailor pay-
ments so that they replace only lost
salary. So in some cases, low-wage
earners will receive more from
unemployment than they earned
when working. Business owners
say that makes it difficult to rehire
workers.
Do I have to pay taxes on my
unemployment benefits?
Usually unemployment com-
pensation is taxable as income.
Some states automatically take out
the taxes. But other times, laid-off
workers find themselves facing a
big tax bill when they file their an-
nual return.
In a last-minute revision, the Sen-
ate made up to $10,200 in unem-
ployment compensation tax-free for
households with annual incomes
under $150,000. If you qualify and
did not already pay taxes on your
unemployment, now you don’t have
to, for up to $10,200. If you’ve al-
ready filed your 2020 return and
paid taxes on the unemployment
benefits, you can file an amended re-
turn to get the money back.
With all the fraudulent
unemployment claims, does the
bill make it harder for the self-
employed or gig workers to apply?
This bill doesn’t, but one passed
in December — combined with
alarming reports of widespread
fraud and a more aggressive ap-
proach by the Biden administration
— may mean that the process to
qualify for unemployment for these
categories of workers will become
more rigorous.
More than $40 billion in pan-
demic-related unemployment com-
pensation was pocketed last year by
criminals, including many foreign
scam artists impersonating jobless
Americans online and applying for
the emergency assistance. Most of
the problem arose with these new
categories of eligible workers who
don’t have employers who can ver-
ify their information.
Congress cracked down in De-
cember, requiring states to do more
to verify and document the identity
and work history of the self-em-
ployed, gig workers and contractors
seeking unemployment. For some
people, it has meant lengthy de-
lays in getting unemployment pay-
ments as states implement the new
requirements.
e e
Compiled from Washington Post and
Los Angeles Times reports.
GOP blockade of COVID-19 legislation revives Obama-era strategy
BY LISA MASCARO
AP Congressional Correspondent
WASHINGTON — Ten-
sions were raw ahead of mid-
night as Republican leader
Mitch McConnell rose in the
Senate for the purpose of pub-
licly ridiculing Majority Leader
Chuck Schumer over the day-
long delay as Democrats ar-
gued among themselves over
the $1.9 trillion COVID-19
rescue package.
But 12 hours later on Satur-
day, it was Schumer, D-N.Y.,
reveling in the last word, an un-
abashedly upbeat “help is on the
way” to Americans suffering
through the pandemic and lock-
downs as the Senate prepared
to approve the massive package
without a single GOP vote.
“Lessons learned: If we have
unity, we can do big things,”
AP file
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and his wife, former Secretary
of Transportation Elaine Chao, attend Joe Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20.
Now in the minority, McConnell still holds the line against Biden’s agenda.
Schumer told The Associated
Press in an interview after the
vote.
Stewardship of the massive
pandemic relief package was
an inaugural foray of the new
power dynamics of Washing-
ton, testing Democratic con-
trol of the White House and
Congress for the first time in a
decade, and setting the foun-
dation for what’s possible for
President Joe Biden’s agenda.
So much of Biden’s success
or failure depends on the Sen-
ate, where Democrats are in
command of an evenly split
chamber, 50-50, a majority
so delicate that any one sena-
tor can upend the legislative
agenda. Biden has been telling
senators privately their vote on
pandemic aid will build mo-
mentum for the next priorities.
An ambitious infrastructure
package is emerging, part of
his “Build Back Better” cam-
paign agenda, to bring roads,
broadband and green-energy
projects nationwide.
While no senators appeared
ready to tank Biden’s top prior-
ity, the next votes could prove
more difficult.
Voting rights, immigration
law changes and other bills will
be subject to filibuster rules
that require 60 votes for pas-
sage, rather than 51, a poten-
tially impossible hurdle in the
face of Republican opposition
that is stoking calls to change
the process to ensure Biden’s
priorities don’t flame out.
McConnell led Republicans
to put up a blockade of op-
position, reviving a strategy
used the last time Democrats
held the sweep of power, when
Barack Obama was president,
against the 2009 financial crisis
rescue package.
After Donald Trump won the
White House in 2016, McCon-
nell and Republicans controlling
Congress with only a slightly
thicker Senate margin used
similar procedural tools to pass
the $2 trillion GOP tax cuts on
a party-line vote in 2017. Their
effort to repeal and replace
the health care law known as
“Obamacare” fizzled when a few
Republicans voted with Dem-
ocrats, and McConnell was un-
able to hold his party together.
From his stately office off the
Senate floor, with the lived-in
feel of the rumpled New Yorker,
Schumer pulled out his not-
so-secret weapon, the flat flip-
phone, which he uses for his
constant calls keeping in touch
with senators on their votes.
“Every member of our caucus,
from Bernie Sanders to Joe
Manchin, realize that we had to
pull together, that if we failed,
we’d all be hurt,” Schumer said,
referring to the liberal-most
senator from Vermont and the
centrist from West Virginia.