Second COVID-19 relief bill signed into law

EBS STAFF

WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Donald Trump signed a $2.3 trillion COVID-19 relief and government funding bill into law on March 27, staving off a government shutdown. 

The COVID-19 relief package articulated in the bill, valued in total at $900 billion, will extend unemployment benefits for certain pandemic unemployment programs, eviction bans and payroll assistance for small businesses. One part of the bill, though, may still be altered—the stimulus portion. Like the first COVID-19 relief package signed by Trump on March 27, stimulus checks will be sent to eligible adults, this time in the amount of $600 with an additional $600 per qualifying child under the age of 16—a significant cut from first stimulus’ cap at $1,200 and $500 per child.

Upon receiving the bill, Trump contested the $600 amount, asking that Congress raise the amount to $2,000 and offer more money to the American people. On March 28, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill that would bump the stimulus up to $2,000. Friction in the U.S. Senate now make it unlikely that the effort to bring the stimulus amount up to $2,000 will be successful.