Pictured Above: Students may use the $1,400 stimulus checks to pay their tuition. The financial aid and cashier’s offices are housed in Bayboro Hall.
Courtesy of Tara Zimmerman
By Catherine Hicks
In a 50-49 party-line vote, the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus package was approved by U.S. Senate on March 6.
As one of the largest stimulus packages in history, the bill includes a range of provisions for individuals, businesses and states.
Some of these provisions include $1,400 stimulus payments, an extension of the $300 weekly federal unemployment benefit, and a host of tax benefits. These tax benefits include making $10,200 of unemployment received in 2020 non-taxable income and expanding the earned income and child tax credit.
In a decided difference from the previous stimulus packages passed in 2020, adult dependents will be included in this stimulus package.
Following passage, the Senate version of the package returns to the House on Tuesday for a second vote to approve Senate changes. It was originally approved by the House in late February.
The most notable changes made by the Senate include removing a provision that raised the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour after the Senate parliamentarian ruled it couldn’t be passed under budget reconciliation and further tightening the income eligibility for the $1,400 stimulus payments.
Stimulus payments will be distributed for single tax filers earning $75,000, head of household filers earning $112,000 and couples earning $150,000.
The package also provides $170 billion toward schools, targeting reopening procedures and requiring schools to direct 20 percent of the funds towards learning loss, which targets making up lost education time for students missing school.
$46 billion is to be directed to the Department of Health and Human Services to detect, diagnose, trace and monitor COVID-19.
The bill also directs $350 billion toward state, local, tribal and territorial funding, 60 percent of which will go to states and 40 percent to local governments.
For assistance programs, the bill allocates $25 billion toward emergency rental assistance programs and $4.5 billion to the U.S. Department of Health and Human services to provide low-income individuals with help on energy and water bills.
Following the House vote on Tuesday to re-pass the package, it will be presented to President Joe Biden for his final signature to enact it into law.
