- Unemployment Compensation: Expansion of unemployment benefits to $600 per week in addition to the base max eligible for unemployment insurance;
- Funding HBCUs: $447 million to HBCUs of the $1.05B for Minority Serving Institutions;
- Direct Financial Payments: Direct payments for as much as $1,200 for individual taxpayers, and $500 per child, phased out when incomes exceed $75,000 for individuals and $150,000 for couples filing jointly.
- Protection for Families: $15.5 billion in additional funding for SNAP to ensure all Americans, including seniors and children, receive the food they need.
- Support for college students: Provides temporary moratorium of 6 months for federal student loans.
- Protecting Homes: Temporary Moratorium on eviction filings for all federally backed mortgage loans
- Black Businesses: Gives the Minority Business Development Agency $10 million to make grants to minority-owned businesses.
- Small Businesses: Provides funding through the Small Business Administration for special emergency loans of up to $10 million for eligible nonprofits and small businesses.
- Criminal Justice Support and Reform: $100 million for the Federal Bureau of Prisons to respond to the coronavirus pandemic with critical resources. Additional benefits for the prison system will include: ensuring all incarcerated individuals and staff are tested for Coronavirus, prioritizing the release of incarcerated individuals in prisons, jails, and detention centers through clemency, commutations and compassionate release; immediate temporary release to home confinement for those determined to be low-risk defenders; and for individuals who will remain incarcerated during this time the allowance of video conferencing and telephone calls free of charge to preserve families and their visitation needs
- Anti-poverty support: Provides $1 billion for the Community Services Block Grant and $750 million for Head Start.
- Community Development: Authorizes $2 billion in Community Development Block Grants to build healthier communities.
- Protection for the Homeless: $4 billion in homeless assistance grants
- Health Care: $127 billion for medical response efforts, including tax credits for manufacturers of ventilators, masks, and other resources; both funding and flexibility to address the surge in mental health needs.
- Protection for Our College Students: Use of Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG) for emergency financial aid to assist undergraduates or graduate students; also allows institutions to make Federal Work-Study payments to students unable to fulfill their work obligations up to one year.
- Support for Education: $1.1 billion of emergency education relief funds will go directly to Title I, ESEA schools; $100 million for Project SERV to help schools implement distance learning; $25 million for Distance Learning and Telemedicine to expand investments in telemedicine and broadband; and an additional $100 million for the Rural Utilities Service’s Distance Learning, Telemedicine, and Broadband Program, and prioritize 90 percent of the funds to go to rural areas.
African American news blog that features news that may get little or no coverage in the mainstream media
Saturday, March 28, 2020
The Congressional Black Caucus Statement on Senate Passage of Coronavirus stimulus package
Thursday, March 19, 2020
Republican Sen. Tim Scott votes against coronavirus stimulus package
Republican U.S. Sen. Tim Scott voted against a $100 billion stimulus package to blunt the economic impact of the coronavirus that has sent the American economy into a free fall.
The Senate overwhelmingly passed the measure with a 90-8 vote Wednesday, sending it to President Donald Trump who later signed the package.
Though the legislation provides free testing, expands unemployment benefits and provides paid sick leave to some displaced workers due to the COVID-19 virus emergency, Scott, the junior senator from South Carolina, was one of eight Republicans to vote against it.
In a statement released after the vote, Scott said the “well-meaning” legislation would have a “disastrous effects for South Carolina’s small businesses.”
Later Wednesday night he issued an updated response.
“The provisions in the bill as it relates to paid leave place a mandate on small businesses without a corresponding immediate cash flow,” he said.
“We all agree that paid leave needs to play a significant role in relief packages, but to mandate paid leave and then tell businesses they will get it back in a tax credit, is not a good path ...,” he added.