New Stimulus Package is on the way!

Both the house and senate has passed Biden's $1.9 Trillion Corona Relief Bill. What’s in covid bill: Checks, unemployment insurance and more...

Here’s a rundown of the American Rescue Plan:

Unemployment benefits:

• The package extends the existing $300 weekly federal unemployment benefit through Sept. 6, as well as provides a tax break on $10,000 in unemployment benefits.

• Earlier proposals would have increased the weekly benefit from $300 to $400 per week. But that amount was lowered to $300 after a lengthy standoff in the Senate.

Stimulus checks:

• The bill would send $1,400 stimulus checks on top of the $600 payments issued through the stimulus bill passed in December. Roughly $400 billion of the package would go toward another round of checks.

• Under the new structure, the checks would phase out faster for those at higher income levels.

• Individuals earning $75,000 per year and couples earning $150,000 would still receive the full $1,400-per-person benefit. However, the benefit would disappear for individuals earning more than $80,000 annually 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 seeing any benefit under the revised structure.

Child tax credit:

• Under the legislation, most Americans would receive $3,000 a year for each child ages 6 to 17, and $3,600 for each child under 6.

• The provision in the bill would last one year and be sent via direct deposit on a “periodic” basis. It is a major expansion of the existing child tax credit, which provides $2,000 a year for children from birth through age 16.

• The more regular payments are intended to help offset costs families face day-to-day, instead of sending families one annual payment.

Aid to state and local governments:

• The package designates $350 billion for states, cities, tribal governments and U.S. territories.

Housing assistance

• The bill sets aside more than $20 billion in emergency rental assistance and other relief for the homeless.

• Another $10 billion goes to mortgage and homeownership assistance.

School support

• The bill sets aside almost $130 billion to help K-12 schools reopen. That money would go to improving ventilation systems, reducing class sizes, buying personal protective equipment and implementing social distancing.

• Colleges and other higher-education institutions would receive almost $40 billion. That money could help support financial aid grants to prevent hunger, homelessness or other challenges for students during the pandemic.

• Additional funds would go to child-care providers through the Child Care and Development Block Grant program. The bill also sets aside $1 billion for the Head Start program, which provides early-childhood education, health and nutrition services to low-income children and families.

Aid for multi-employer pension plans

• The bill includes an $86 billion bailout for failing pensions.

• Democrats say the provision gives struggling pension plans enough money to pay hundreds of thousands of retirees their full pensions for the next few decades.

• But the bailout has been criticized for having little to do with the current health crisis, especially since many pension plans were on the verge of collapse well before the pandemic hit.

New provisions

• The 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.

• It expands the Employee Retention Tax Credit (PPP) 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 percent to 100 percent.

• The bill adds a $10 billion infrastructure program to help local governments continue crucial capital projects.

• The bill makes all coronavirus-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 after-school programs and $3 billion for education technology.

• The Senate bill also adds $8.5 billion in funds for the Provider Relief Program to assist rural health care providers.

Jeff Stein, Erica Werner and Tony Romm contributed to this report

Read the American Rescue Plan Here