Trump signs $484 billion aid bill for employers

-
By Donna Baeck

President Trump signed a $484 billion aid bill into law providing relief to employers and hospitals on Friday at the Oval Office, according to the Associated Press.

The bill will provide additional funding for the small-business loan program, helping employers and business that had to close operations as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to grow. About 26 million people in the United States have filed for jobless aid over the past five weeks, according to the Associated Press.

Trump said it was a "tremendous victory" from Congress to provide critical aid through the bill.

NBC News reported the bill includes $320 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) which was created by the Cares Act that was passed last month. The program would provide forgivable loans to small businesses in order to keep their employees on payroll.

The Associated Press reported the bill also includes $100 billion for hospitals and a nationwide testing program which was demanded by Democrats. 

"Millions of people out of work," said House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi. "This is a very, very, very sad day. We come to the floor with nearly 50,000 deaths, a huge number of people impacted, and the uncertainty of it all."

Democrats said funding for state and local governments is a top priority for them in the following legislation and hope to pass it quickly, according to NBC news.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pete Buttigieg to drop out of presidential race

-
By Donna Baeck Pete Buttigieg will suspend his presidential campaign on Sunday night in his hometown in South Bend, Ind., according to CNN.  After a disappointing loss in the South Carolina primary on Saturday, Buttigieg said he did not want to further his campaign into Super Tuesday. He canceled his plans to fly from Selma, Ala., to Dallas, Texas for a Sunday night rally but told reporters he would be flying back to South Bend to announce the end of his campaign, according to the New York Times. "He believes this is the right thing to do right now for our country and the country to deal this divided nation and defeat President Trump," an aide to Buttigieg said. CNN reported Buttigieg struggled to win voters of color after his success in Iowa and New Hampshire. He finished significantly behind his other contenders in both the Nevada caucus and South Carolina primary. Buttigieg's campaign still made history and broke barriers. He became the first gay candidate to
Read more

Chinese journalist goes missing after reporting details of the coronavirus to social media

-
By Donna Baeck A citizen-journalist exposing the extreme conditions of the coronavirus in Wuhan through social media has been missing since Feb. 6, according to CNN. Chen Qiushi, a 34-year-old lawyer and journalist, was capturing footage inside the Wuhan hospitals that were crowded with patients and frantic medical staff. When Qiushi stopped responding to messages, his friends and family reported his disappearance, according to CNN. CNN reported Qiushi had taken the last train to Wuhan a day after the city was placed under a lock down to stop citizens from traveling and spreading the virus. "What kind of a journalist am I if don't rush to the front line when there is a disaster?" Qiushi said. Time reported Qiushi's friend and well-known martial-artist, Xu Xiandong, announced in a live broadcast that he had been forced into quarantine by the police. The public and state security officers from Qingdao told Qiushi's parents he had been put into quarantin
Read more